Personal Relationships: The Effect on Employee Attitudes, Behavior and Well-Being

This book uses research and theory on the need to belong as a foundation to explore how five different types of relationships influence employee attitudes, behaviors, and well-being. They include relationships with supervisors, coworkers, team members, customers, and individuals in one\u27s nonwork life. The first chapter provides an overview of different ways to view relationships, defining elements of relationships, and ways to think about relationship stages. The second chapter introduces the reader to emerging multidisciplinary theoretical perspectives that hold promise for enhancing our understanding of how relationships influence employee attitudes, behaviors, and well-being. This is followed by three chapters devoted to each type of relationship. One chapter discusses the positive aspects of a particular type of relationship and the companion chapter focuses on the negative aspects of this type of relationship. The third chapter provides a reflection and integration of the material covered in the two preceding chapters. After the chapters focusing on specific types of relationships come two chapters that discuss methodological issues germane to the study of relationships. The final chapter identifies areas of convergence and divergence across the different types of relationships that comprise this volume, identifies key unanswered questions, and proposes an agenda for future research. This book is written for a scientist-practitioner audience and targeted to both researchers and human resource management professionals. The contributors highlight both theoretical and practical implications in their respective chapters, with a common emphasis on how to create and sustain an organizational climate that values positive relationships and deters negative interpersonal experiences. Due to the breadth of topics covered in this edited volume, the book is also appropriate for advanced specialty undergraduate or graduate courses on industrial and organizational (I/O) psychology, human resource management, and organizational behavior