Better if they know nothing: The social consequences of transparency

The aim of the thesis is to find out what are the consequences of pay transparency outside the organization, in the social environment, in the Czech Republic, where the post-communist syndrome is strongly operating. At the same time, the thesis examines what factors influence the given consequences. The challenge in this area is that the topic has not been addressed in the existing literature, so exploratory qualitative research is used for the findings. The data was collected through in-depth interviews with 15 respondents who experienced a situation where there was a change in behaviour towards them from people in the community as a result of income transparency, as well as 5 respondents providing triangulation and 3 experts who helped to resolve the situation. The results reveal that the consequences of transparency include: gossip, speculation, throwing away success, physical damage to property, rejection of a person to the point of social exclusion, using a person for personal gain or in a positive sense to support the person. These consequences are mostly influenced by the following factors: perception of money due to the post-communist syndrome, attitude towards money, income level of reactors, degree of strength of relationships, non-verbal aspect, avoidance of the truth, personal undervaluation, show-off. The thesis discusses the research procedure conducted, its interpretation and recommends steps for further investigation.