Not at all, especially because the status signalling effects are very real. If I accept the fruit basket from a manager with a shit-eating grin and act like a c

Not at all, especially because the status signalling effects are very real. If I accept the fruit basket from a manager with a shit-eating grin and act like a cheerleader about it, it’s a big net loss for me. I’m agreeing to a status system that devalues my work ethic and rewards managers for cheap tricks instead of true skill building or cultivating motivation. It positions me like a child in need of a parent to give me a gold star for doing my basic responsibilities. This way of management to cultivate “downward looking perspectives” that intentionally belittle or undermine subordinates is a very real and pervasive thing. A large part of the sociology book Moral Mazes is dedicated to the taxonomy and descriptive analysis of exactly this kind of corporate behavior.