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Pregnant employees experience considerable interpersonal discrimination. This study explores the range of possible reactions of observers to pregnancy self-disclosure, interpersonal discrimination and various allyship interventions, and the attentional processes that lead to those reactions. Consequently, it uncovers socio-cognitive processes underlying support for and backlash toward pregnancy in the workplace.

This study used a thought-listing technique to explore observers’ spontaneous thoughts related to pregnancy. Working adults were randomly assigned to read through one of the six scenarios depicting pregnancy self-disclosure, interpersonal discrimination and male allyship interventions (i.e. stating the organization’s anti-discrimination policy, confronting the transgressor by calling out sexism, pivoting the conversation to highlight the strengths of the pregnant employee and a hybrid intervention combining highlighting strengths and confrontation) after which participants listed the top three thoughts that came to their mind (1,668 responses). Responses were thematically analyzed to explore spontaneous reactions toward the pregnant employee, transgressor and ally in the scenario.

Surprisingly, across all scenarios, the most sexist thoughts emerged during pregnancy self-disclosure, even in the absence of any transgression. After a transgression occurred, any allyship intervention was better than none in eliciting lesser sexist backlash against the pregnant employee. Stating the organization’s anti-discrimination policy was most beneficial for the pregnant employee in eliciting the least sexist backlash but at the cost of generating unfavorable impressions of the ally. Calling out the transgressor’s bias elicited the most sexist backlash toward the pregnant employee, yet it created favorable impressions of the ally. In contrast, highlighting the strengths of the pregnant employee created the most favorable impression of the ally while eliciting a few sexist thoughts about the pregnant employee. Overall, the hybrid intervention was the most effective at balancing the competing goals of generating support for the pregnant employee, creating favorable impressions of the ally, as well as holding the transgressor accountable.

This study demonstrates that the type of allyship intervention critically redirects the attentional focus of observers to certain aspects of a discrimination episode and relevant schemas which can generate support or backlash toward targets, transgressors and allies, thereby advancing or obstructing equity and inclusion in organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the different contextual and psychological determinants of organisational resilience (OR) in the context of global mobility in multinational enterprises (MNEs). Banking upon the conservation of resources theory, this paper studies how and when reattachment to work (RTW), work engagement (WE) and two types of presenteeism lead to OR. Further, in the backdrop of the post-pandemic world of work, this paper also conceptualises the conditional effects of trait resilience (TR), organisational support (OS) and expatriation type (ET) on the aforementioned linkages.

This paper develops a conceptual framework that depicts various antecedents of OR in MNEs. Several testable propositions are also offered alongside the model’s moderated mediation and moderated moderation relationships.

The conceptual framework depicts the causal relationships between RTW and OR, such that Flexible RTW increases OR through higher WE and functional presenteeism under the conditional influences of TR, OS and ET, whereas rigid RTW decreases OR through lower WE and dysfunctional presenteeism under the conditional effects of TR, OS and ET.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first of its kind that explores the psychological and contextual antecedents of the OR of MNEs and offers numerous testable propositions. The nexus of unique relationships presented in the conceptual framework bridges a crucial gap in the literature that explores the complexities of the post-pandemic workplace in the context of global mobility.