Is ‘be yourself’ always the best advice? The moderating effect of team ethical climate and the mediating effects of vigor and demand–ability fit

Although we know that individuals who tend to reveal their true selves to others at work are better performers, little is known about why this is the case or in which workplace environments this trait will be most helpful. In the present study, we leveraged self-verification theory to better understand the internal and interpersonal effects that self-verification striving has on employees. Specifically, we proposed and found that self-verification striving serves to increase both employee vigor and demand–ability fit, ultimately leading to better job performance. Results of a multilevel, two-wave study involving 222 employees and their supervisors further revealed that ethical climates also play a critical role in affecting the self-verification striving–employee outcome relationship. Specifically, self-verification striving leads to higher vigor and better demand–ability fit and subsequently higher job performance only in teams with high ethical climates. Our results contribute to the literature by describing how and when self-verification striving may augment performance.