Flutterby™! : Workers don't like unselfish colleagues

crash had a link to this ScienceDaily article which is a reprint of this Washington State University press release about some interesting research:

Four separate studies led by a Washington State University social psychologist have found that unselfish workers who are the first to throw their hat in the ring are also among those that coworkers most want to, in effect, vote off the island.

The PubMed abstract for The desire to expel unselfish members from the group (DOI link), by Craig Parks and Asako Stone in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, says:

An initial study investigating tolerance of group members who abuse a public good surprisingly showed that unselfish members (those who gave much toward the provision of the good but then used little of the good) were also targets for expulsion from the group. Two follow-up studies replicated this and ruled out explanations grounded in the target being seen as confused or unpredictable. A fourth study suggested that the target is seen by some as establishing an undesirable behavior standard and by others as a rule breaker. Individuals who formed either perception expressed a desire for the unselfish person to be removed from the group. Implications are discussed.

This would explain a lot about my career. Sigh.