The increased datafication of work has given rise to gamified work environments emphasizing competitive elements as a basis for constant social comparison. Drawing on social comparison theory, we investigate whether and how gamification fuels feelings of envy and perceptions of being envied through different forms of competition. We report two studies: the first (Study 1) surveyed journalists in a Nordic media organization whose work is continuously tracked and ranked using audience analytics. Findings show that gamification elements—such as leaderboards and real-time performance metrics—are positively associated with envying others among journalists through coworker competition, increasing envy among journalists. The second study (Study 2), conducted with a broader sample of employees, replicates these results and further demonstrates that status competition mediates the link between gamification and envy. Additionally, awareness of gamification elements amplifies feelings of being envied, suggesting that employees may be caught between enviously comparing themselves to high-performing colleagues and worrying about becoming envied targets themselves whenever they successfully participate in workplace gamification. A potential mitigating factor is metric quality, demonstrating that this moderates the effect of gamification on competition. When employees perceive performance metrics as fair, accurate, and relevant, the positive association between gamification and coworker competition weakens. These findings advance gamification, social comparison, and datafication theory by highlighting the emotional and relational costs associated with gamified systems. Our results highlight the importance of designing high-quality performance metrics, clarifying competition structures, and considering team-based and individual comparisons to mitigate unintended negative consequences, particularly envy, of gamified work environments.
Ward van Zoonen (Sat,) studied this question.