RELATIONAL ATTACHMENT AT WORK: A COMPLEMENTARY FIT PERSPECTIVE ON THE ROLE OF RELATIONSHIPS IN ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ehrhardt, Kyle; Ragins, Belle Rose
• 署名单位: University of Colorado System; University of Colorado Denver; University of Wisconsin System; University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
• 刊物名称: ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0001-4273
• DOI: 10.5465/amj.2016.0245
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 248-282
• 关键词: PERSON-ENVIRONMENT FIT; social support; PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY; INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS; POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS; INSTRUMENTAL SUPPORT; VOLUNTARY TURNOVER; NEGATIVE REACTIONS; EMOTIONAL SUPPORT; MEMBER EXCHANGE

摘要

Organizational scholars concur that supportive work relationships can attach employees to their workplace and improve the quality of organizational life, but they lack insights into how or why this occurs. Moreover, models of social support focus on what relationships provide without considering the fit between what people need and receive from their work relationships. Addressing these limitations, we developed and tested a theoreticalmodel of relational attachment at work using a complementary fit perspective. After validating measures, we tested, extended, and replicated our model in three field studies. Results revealed that employees became more attached to their organization and experienced more beneficial outcomes when they had stronger psychological attachment to others at work. This relational attachment was not driven by general social support, but, rather, by relational needs fit, which reflects employees' experience of having their needs met by their work relationships. However, receiving more personal support than what was wanted or needed intruded into employees' privacy boundaries and created a too close for comfort reaction whereby they pulled back from their work relationships. This too much of a good thing finding indicates that, while positive relationships at work are effective, social support should be tailored to individuals' needs.