Positive and Negative Workplace Relationships, Social Satisfaction, and Organizational Attachment

Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 98, No. 6, 1028-1039, 2013, DOI: 10.1037/a0034090

13 Pages Posted: 5 Mar 2015

See all articles by Vijaya Venkataramani

Vijaya Venkataramani

University of Maryland

Giuseppe (Joe) Labianca

University of Kentucky - Gatton College of Business and Economics

Travis Grosser

University of Connecticut School of Business

Date Written: 2013

Abstract

We examine how employees’ centrality in the networks of positively valenced ties (e.g., friendship, advice) and negatively valenced ties (e.g., avoidance) at work interact to affect these employees’ organizational attachment. Using 2 different samples (154 employees in a division of a food and animal science organization and 144 employees in a product development firm), we found that employees’ centrality in positive and negative tie networks at work were related to their organizational attachment indirectly via their impact on employees’ satisfaction with their workplace relationships. Further, interaction results in both studies suggest that the effect of employees’ centrality in positive tie networks on their satisfaction with workplace social relationships was stronger when employees had more negative relationships but was irrelevant when employees had fewer negative ties. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Keywords: negative relationships, network centrality, work attitudes, organizational attachment

Suggested Citation

Venkataramani, Vijaya and Labianca, Giuseppe (Joe) and Grosser, Travis, Positive and Negative Workplace Relationships, Social Satisfaction, and Organizational Attachment (2013). Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 98, No. 6, 1028-1039, 2013, DOI: 10.1037/a0034090, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2573450

Vijaya Venkataramani

University of Maryland ( email )

College Park
College Park, MD 20742
United States

Giuseppe (Joe) Labianca

University of Kentucky - Gatton College of Business and Economics ( email )

550 South Limestone
Lexington, KY 40506
United States

Travis Grosser (Contact Author)

University of Connecticut School of Business ( email )

Management Dept.
Unit 1041
Storrs, CT 06269-2041
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.business.uconn.edu/profiles/travis-grosser/

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