Rethinking Love at the Office: Antecedents and Consequences of Coworker Evaluations of Workplace Romances

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21572
• Author: Douglas M. Quist,G. Stoney Alder
• Date: 01 May 2014
• Published date: 01 May 2014

Correspondence to: G. Stoney Alder, Department of Management, University of Nevada, Las Vegas,

4505 Maryland Parkway, Box 456009, Las Vegas, NV 89154-6009, Phone: 702.895.2052, Fax: 702.895.4370,

E-mail: alders@unlv.nevada.edu.

Human Resource Management, May–June 2014, Vol. 53, No. 3. Pp. 329–351

© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).

DOI:10.1002/hrm.21572

RETHINKING LOVE AT THE

OFFICE: ANTECEDENTS

AND CONSEQUENCES

OF COWORKER EVALUATIONS

OF WORKPLACE ROMANCES

G. STONEY ALDER AND DOUGLAS M. QUIST

Researchers have pointed out a wide variety of organizational effects attribut-

able to workplace romances, concluding that the impact of such romances on

the workgroup can range from positive to negative. To date, however, little

research has attempted to pinpoint the elements leading to this divergence.

We suggest that coworker evaluation of a romance or anticipatory injustice

may play a key role in infl uencing the positive or negative impact of the rela-

tionship on the workgroup at large. Our model proposes that three separate

mechanisms (procedural fairness, intragroup cognitive dissonance, and nor-

mative adjustment), each corresponding to a different domain of evaluation,

may mediate the apparent relationship between coworker evaluation of a

romance and various aspects of group performance. © 2014 Wiley Periodi-

cals, Inc.

Keywords: emotion in the workplace, groups, justice, organizational iden-

tity, perception

Introduction

As the United States entered the

World Wars, millions of the coun-

try’s finest men left their jobs to

fight overseas. Out of necessity,

women filled many of the posi-

tions left open in the workforce. So began the

earnest gender diversification of the American

job market, a paradigm shift that would for-

ever transform the texture of workgroup

interaction (Gordy, Hogan, & Pritchard,

2004). With this change emerged an issue

still of contention for both managers and

workers: the regulation of workplace

romance.

Popular wisdom holds that workplace

romances act as distractions which “detract

from time spent in the office performing

work-related duties” (Liberman & Okimoto,

2008, p. 2791). Indeed, several early studies

indicated that workplace romance may lead to

330 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, MAY–JUNE 2014

Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm

As workplace

romances are

sometimes

perceived negatively

by others in the

workgroup, those

involved in them

may tend to adjust

their performance in

a positive direction

to compensate and

create a favorable

impression.

lower participant performance and increased

deviant behavior (Anderson & Hunsaker,

1985, cited in Pierce, Byrne, & Aguinis, 1996;

Quinn, 1977). Most of this research, how-

ever, depended on third-party observation

and biased sampling methods, a limitation

pointed out by the researchers themselves.

In fact, more recent research indicates

that workplace romances may positively

affect individual performance. This is often

explained in terms of impression manage-

ment theory (Snyder, 1974), which holds that

people are driven to attempt to control the

impressions others form of them. As work-

place romances are sometimes

perceived negatively by others in

the workgroup, those involved in

them may tend to adjust their per-

formance in a positive direction

to compensate and create a favor-

able impression. Several studies

provide empirical support for this

theory. Dillard (1987) finds that

performance of both male and

female participants is substan-

tially more likely to improve than

to decline after the commence-

ment of a relationship. Pierce

(1998) finds that those participat-

ing in a workplace romance self-

report superior job performance

when compared to individuals

not involved in such romances.

Furthermore, there appears to be

a correlation between participa-

tion in workplace romance and

higher levels of job involvement

(Dillard, 1987) and between gen-

eral loving feelings for a romantic

partner (at work or elsewhere) and self-rated

job performance, intrinsic work motivation,

job involvement, and job satisfaction (Pierce,

1998). While these results must be viewed

as possibilities in light of contradictory ear-

lier research, in balance the effect of work-

place romance on individual performance

of the participants may be considered tenta-

tively (see Pierce & Aguinis, 2009, for further

review).

In spite of this, popular managerial wis-

dom admonishes strongly against these

relationships. A 2002 survey by the Society

for Human Resource Management revealed

that “81% of HR professionals and 76% of

executives see office romances as ‘danger-

ous’” (Franklin, 2002, p. 1). The impact of the

romance on uninvolved coworkers is one rea-

son for this disdain. Brown and Allgeier (1995)

found that 40 percent of managers held unfa-

vorable views of workplace romances. The

strongest predictor of this disapproval was

the fear that such relationships may nega-

tively affect uninvolved coworkers. Shapiro

and Kirkman (2001) suggest that uninvolved

employees may expect injustice even if they

aren’t necessarily experiencing it.

Researchers have long noted inconsisten-

cies in the effects of workplace romance on

the larger workgroup. For purposes of this

research, workgroup is defined as the unin-

volved team, department, and/or coworkers

exposed to the workplace romance. Some

researchers point out a prevalence of nega-

tive effects, including hostility, lowered out-

put, and distorted communications (Collins,

1983; Mainiero, 1986; Quinn, 1977). Powell

and Foley (1998) note that negative effects on

coworkers may include decreased individual

productivity, work motivation, job involve-

ment, and group morale.

Conversely, Quinn (1977) also discusses

instances in which the organizational effects

of a romance were positive. Dillard (1987)

similarly notes, based on his survey data, that

“organizational dysfunction is not a neces-

sary consequence of romantic relationships

between employees” (p. 190). Powell and

Foley (1998) suggest that the reported orga-

nizational results range from substantially

negative to substantially positive (see Pierce

et al., 1996, for further review).

Given these mixed reports, it is surpris-

ing how little research has examined the

effects of different varieties of office romance

on the workgroup. Indeed, it seems likely

that a number of factors may determine the

extent to which a workplace romance exerts

negative or positive influences on workgroup

functioning. We argue that one such factor is

coworker evaluation of the romance.

We first broadly argue that positive or

negative evaluation of a romance may yield