Becoming Peripheral: An Emotional Process Model of how Friendship Deterioration Influences Work Engagement

Abstract

The contemporary workplace is characterized by transience: Organizational members frequently turn over and careers span multiple organizations. Consequently, workplace friendships that were once close become less close and intimate, that is they become peripheral and can deteriorate. While research has examined the benefits for employees who move on to new opportunities, less clear is how stayers, or employees who remain behind in the work setting, are affected. To understand stayers’ experiences and how they manage, we draw on theories of belongingess and to offer a three-part episodic process model, which explains how stayers’ engagement in the task and social domains are influenced. In doing so, we (1) present a dynamic view of the deterioration of dyadic relationships, highlighting how workplace relationships can change over time; (2) discuss both the depth and breadth of emotions involved for stayers; and (3) integrate a positive organizational scholarship perspective by considering both strength of friendships with other present coworkers and coping approaches of stayers as important boundary conditions, which can facilitate their recovery process. We draw attention to the broader implications of our theorizing for research on relationships and emotions, and practical implications for management.

Citation

Melwani, S. and Nangia Sharma, P. (2018), "Becoming Peripheral: An Emotional Process Model of how Friendship Deterioration Influences Work Engagement", Individual, Relational, and Contextual Dynamics of Emotions (Research on Emotion in Organizations, Vol. 14), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 217-242. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1746-979120180000014018