Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Relationship between workplace romance, job involvement, and work effort: moderating roles of gender and workplace romance types

  • Published:
Current Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study advances research on workplace romance, employees’ work-related attitudes, and discretionary work behaviors by drawing on a positive psychology theory to theorize interrelations between workplace romance, job involvement, and employees’ work effort and provide empirical evidence of these interrelations. Data were collected in two waves (three months apart) from 365 supervisor-employee dyads in 64 firms from different Chinese manufacturing sectors. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM), bootstrapping, and multigroup techniques. The present study found that workplace romance was positively related to employees’ work effort. Moreover, employees’ job involvement fully mediates the positive relationship between workplace romance and employees’ work effort. Importantly, by using multigroup analysis, the current research found that workplace romance types – hierarchical/lateral and licit/illicit (extramarital) moderate the indirect relationship between workplace romance and employees’ work effort. This study offers important implications for managers and policymakers of business organizations in China and elsewhere.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson, C. J., & Fisher, C. (1991). Male–female relationships in the workplace: Perceived motivations in office romance. Sex Roles, 25, 163–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashforth, B. E., & Humphrey, R. H. (1995). Emotion in the workplace: A reappraisal. Human Relations, 48(2), 97–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balaban, R. (2019). Romance at work and the negative impact it has on the workplace enviornment. Journal of Public Administration, Finance and Law, 15, 127–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, T. E. (2005). Potential problems in the statistical control of variables in organizational research: A qualitative analysis with recommendations. Organizational Research Methods, 8(3), 274–289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belinda, C. (2017). Adult attachment and workplace romance motives : An examination of the association between romantic relationship dynamics and employee work outcomes (Thesis). Appalachian State University. Retrieved from https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/asu/f/Belinda,%20C_2017%20Thesis.pdf

  • Berdahl, J. L., & Aquino, K. (2009). Sexual behaviour at work: Fun or folly. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 94, 34–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berebitsky, J. (2012). Sex and the office: A history of gender, power and desire. Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biggs, D., Matthewman, L., & Fultz, C. (2012). Romantic relationships in organisational settings: Attitudes on workplace romance in the UK and USA. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 27(4), 271–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bilyk, D. (2021). The inevitability of workplace romance. Canadian Journal of Family and Youth/Le Journal Canadien de Famille et de la Jeunes, https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/using-survey-incentives-to-improve-response-rates/

  • Bliese, P. D. (2000). Within-group agreement, non-independence, and reliability: Implications for data aggregation and analysis. In K. J. Klein & S. W. J. Kozlowski (Eds.), Multilevel theory, research, and methods in organizations (pp. 349–381). Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourgeois, M. J., & Perkins, J. (2003). A test of evolutionary and socio-cultural explanations of reactions to sexual harassment. Sex Roles, 49, 343–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brislin, R. W. (1970). Back-translation for cross-cultural research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1, 185–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T. J., & Allgeier, E. R. (1996). The impact of participant characteristics, perceived motives, and job behaviours on co-workers' evaluations of workplace romances. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 26, 577–595.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavico, F. J., & Mujtaba, B. G. (2021). Workplace romance and sexual favoritism in the #MeToo workplace: legal and practical considerations for management. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, 40(6), 667–689. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-11-2020-0324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chan-Serafin, S., Teo, L., Minbashian, A., Cheng, D., & Wang, L. (2017). The perils of dating your boss: The role of hierarchical workplace romance and sex on evaluators’ career advancement decisions for lower status romance participants. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 34(3), 309–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chory, R. M., & Hoke, H. G. (2020). Coworkers' perceptions of, and communication with, workplace romance participants: Proposing and testing a model. International Journal of Business Communication, doi: 2329488420908321.

  • Cimbalo, R. S., & Novell, D. O. (1993). Sex differences in romantic love attitudes among college students. Psychological Reports, 73(1), 15–18.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coffey, B. S., Anderson, S. E., Zhao, S., Liu, Y., & Zhang, J. (2009). Perspectives on work–family issues in China: The voices of young urban professionals. Community, Work & Family, 12(2), 197–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cole, N. (2009). Workplace romance: A justice analysis. Journal of Business and Psychology, 24(4), 363–372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, E. G. (1983). Managers and lovers. Harvard Business Review, 61, 142–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comrey, A. L., & Lee, H. B. (1992). A first course in factor analysis. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, F. L., & Xiao, Y. C. (2014). Gender roles and organizational HR practices: The case of women's careers in accountancy and consultancy firms in China. Human Resource Management, 53(1), 23–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cowan, R. L., & Horan, S. M. (2014). Love at the office? Understanding workplace romance disclosures and reactions from the co-worker perspective. Western Journal of Communication, 78(2), 238–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Debrot, A., Schoebi, D., Perrez, M., & Horn, A. B. (2013). Touch as an interpersonal emotion regulation process in couples' daily lives: The mediating role of psychological intimacy. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(10), 1373–1385.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Diefendorff, J. M., Brown, D. J., Kamin, A. M., & Lord, R. G. (2002). Examining the roles of job involvement and work centrality in predicting organizational citizenship behaviors and job performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23(1), 93–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., & Lucas, R. E. (2000). Explaining differences in societal levels of happiness: Relative standards, need fulfillment, culture, and evaluation theory. Journal of Happiness Studies, 1(1), 41–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dillard, J. P., & Broetzmann, S. M. (1989). Romantic relationships at work: Perceived changes in job-related behaviors as a function of Participant's motive, Partner's motive, and gender. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 19(2), 93–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dillard, J. P., Hale, J. L., & Segrin, C. (1994). Close relationships in task environments: Perceptions of relational types, illicitness, and power. Management Communication Quarterly, 7(3), 227–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferres, N., Connell, J., & Travaglione, A. (2004). Co-worker trust as a social catalyst for constructive employee attitudes. Journal of Managerial Psychology.

  • Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. L. (2003). The value of positive emotions: The emerging science of positive psychology is coming to understand why it's good to feel good. American Scientist, 91(4), 330–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goudreau, J. (2012). Sex at the office: Why so little has changed in 150 years. Forbes.com, 24 June 2020. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2012/05/22/sex-and-the-office-why-little-has-changed-in-150-years/.

  • Gould-Williams, J. (2004). The effects of 'high commitment' HRM practices on employee attitude: The views of public sector workers. Public Administration, 82(1), 63–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guillemin, F., Bombardier, C., & Beaton, D. (1993). Cross-cultural adaptation of health-related quality of life measures: Literature review and proposed guidelines. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 46, 1417–1432.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hackman, J. R., & Lawler, E. E. (1971). Employee reactions to job characteristics. Journal of Applied Psychology, 55(3), 259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hasche, N., Höglund, L., & Mårtensson, M. (2020). Intra-organizational trust in public organizations–the study of interpersonal trust in both vertical and horizontal relationships from a bidirectional perspective. Public Management Review, 1–21.

  • Holland, K. J., & Cortina, L. M. (2013). When sexism and feminism collide: The sexual harassment of feminist working women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 37(2), 192–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horan, S. M., & Chory, R. M. (2011). Understanding work/life blending: Credibility implications for those who date at work. Communication Studies, 62(5), 563–580.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, H. S., & Yoon, H. H. (2020). How does workplace romance influence employee performance in the hospitality industry? Sustainability, 12(13), 5478.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jyoti, J., Sharma, P., Kour, S., & Kour, H. (2020). The role of job involvement and career commitment between person–job fit and organizational commitment: a study of higher education sector. International Journal of Educational Management, 35(1), 109–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kacmar, K. M., Zivnuska, S., & White, C. D. (2007). Control and exchange: The impact of work environment on the work effort of low relationship quality employees. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(1), 69–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahn, W. A. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal, 33(4), 692–724.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kanungo, R. N. (1982). Measurement of job and work involvement. Journal of Applied Psychology, 67(3), 341–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katrinli, A., Atabay, G., Gunay, G., & Guneri, B. (2008). Leader-member exchange, organizational identification and the mediating role of job involvement for nurses. Journal of advanced nursing, 64(4), 354–362.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, M. A. S., Du, J., Anwar, F., Khan, H. S. U. D., Shahzad, F., & Qalati, S. A. (2021). Corporate social responsibility and the reciprocity between employee perception, perceived external prestige, and employees’ emotional labor. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 14, 61–75. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S277850

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, M. A. S., Jianguo, D., Hameed, A. A., Mushtaq, T. U. L., & Usman, M. (2018). Affective commitment foci as parallel mediators of the relationship between workplace romance and employee job performance: A cross-cultural comparison of the People's Republic of China and Pakistan. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 2018(11), 267–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, M., Jianguo, D., Mann, A., Saleem, S., Boamah, K. B., Javed, U., & Usman, M. (2019). Rejuvenating the concept of work alienation through job demands-resources model and examining its relationship with emotional exhaustion and explorative and exploitative learning. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 12, 931–941.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, M. A. S., Jianguo, D., Usman, M., & Ahmad, M. I. (2017). Moderated mediation model of interrelations between workplace romance, wellbeing, and employee performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 2158.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lawler, E. E., & Hall, D. T. (1970). Relationship of job characteristics to job involvement, satisfaction, and intrinsic motivation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 54(4), 305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemieux, R., & Hale, J. L. (1999). Intimacy, passion, and commitment in young romantic relationships: Successfully measuring the triangular theory of love. Psychological Reports, 85(2), 497–503.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mainiero, L. A. (1986). Coping with powerlessness: The relationship of gender and job dependency to empowerment-strategy usage. Administrative Science Quarterly, 31(4), 633–653.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mainiero, L. (2020). Workplace romance versus sexual harassment: A call to action regarding sexual hubris and sexploitation in the# MeToo era. Gender in Management: An International Journal.

  • Mainiero, L. A. (1993). Dangerous liaisons? A review of current issues concerning male and female romantic relationships in the workplace. In E. A. Fagenson (Ed.), Women in management: Trends, issues, and challenges in managerial diversity (pp. 162–185). Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mainiero, L. A., & Jones, K. J. (2013). Sexual harassment versus workplace romance: Social media spillover and textual harassment in the workplace. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 27(3), 187–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malachowski, C. C., Chory, R. M., & Claus, C. J. (2012). Mixing pleasure with work: Employee perceptions of and responses to workplace romance. Western Journal of Communication, 76(4), 358–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathieu, J. E., & Farr, J. L. (1991). Further evidence for the discriminant validity of measures of organizational commitment, job involvement, and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76(1), 127–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mishra, S. (2021). Effect of work from home on workplace romance: a socio-economic perspective. KIIT Journal of Management.

  • Ouweneel, E., Le Blanc, P. M., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2011). Flourishing students: A longitudinal study on positive emotions, personal resources, and study engagement. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 6(2), 142–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paullay, I. M., Alliger, G. M., & Stone-Romero, E. F. (1994). Construct validation of two instruments designed to measure job involvement and work centrality. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79(2), 224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peñalver, J., Salanova, M., Martínez, I. M., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2017). Happy-productive groups: How positive affect links to performance through social resources. The Journal of Positive Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2017.1402076

  • Pierce, C. A., & Aguinis, H. (2003). Romantic relationships in organizations: A test of a model of formation and impact factors. Management Research: Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management, 1(2), 161–169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pierce, C. A., Byrne, D., & Aguinis, H. (1996). Attraction in organizations: A model of workplace romance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 17(1), 5–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff, N. P., Whiting, S. W., Podsakoff, P. M., & Blume, B. D. (2009). Individual-and organizational-level consequences of organizational citizenship behaviors: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(1), 122.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Powell, G. N., & Foley, S. (1998). Something to talk about: Romantic relationships M organizational settings. Journal of Management, 24(3), 421–448.

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell, G. N. (2000). Workplace romance in the public sector: sex differences in reactions to the Clinton–Lewinsky affair. Psychological Reports, 87, 1043–1049.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Quinn, R. E. (1977). Coping with cupid: The formation, impact, and management of romantic relationships in organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 22(1), 30–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riach, K., & Wilson, F. (2007). Don't screw the crew: Exploring the rules of engagement in organizational romance. British Journal of Management, 18(1), 79–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roscoe J. T. (1975). Fundamental research statistics for the behavioral sciences [by] John T.Roscoe.

  • Rotenberry, P. F., & Moberg, P. J. (2007). Assessing the impact of job involvement on performance. Management Research News, 30(3), 203–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saudi, J. (2017). Anaesth., 11(Suppl 1), S80–S89. https://doi.org/10.4103/sja.SJA_203_17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, M. E., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5–14.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sidhu, A., Bhalla, P., & Nazneen, A. (2020). Impact of workplace romance on organizational settings and policies: review research. Prabandhan: Indian Journal Of Management, 13(5–7), 44–57. https://doi.org/10.17010/pijom/2020/v13i5-7/153081.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon, R. W., & Barrett, A. E. (2010). Nonmarital romantic relationships and mental health in early adulthood: Does the association differ for women and men? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 51(2), 168–182.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Souitaris, V., & Maestro, B. M. M. (2010). Polychronicity in top management teams: The impact on strategic decision processes and performance of technology ventures. Strategic Management Journal, 31, 652–678. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stecklov, G., Weinreb, A., & Carletto, C. (2018). Can incentives improve survey data quality in developing countries?: Results from a field experiment in India. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society A, 181, 1033–1056.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Staw, B. M., & Barsade, S. G. (1993). Affect and managerial performance: A test of the sadder-but-wiser vs. happier-and-smarter hypotheses. Administrative Science Quarterly, 38(2), 304–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tiwari, V., & Singh, S. (2014). Moderation effect of job involvement on the relationship between organizational commitment and job satisfaction. SAGE Open, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244014533554

  • Tsang, S., Royse, C. F., Terkawi, A. S. (2017) Guidelines for developing, translating, and validating a questionnaire in perioperative and pain medicine.

  • Willness, C. R., Steel, P., & Lee, K. (2007). A meta-analysis of the antecedents and consequences of workplace sexual harassment. Personnel Psychology, 60(1), 127–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, F. (2015). Romantic relationships at work: Why love can hurt. International Journal of Management Reviews, 17(1), 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodhouse, S. S., Dykas, M. J., & Cassidy, J. (2012). Loneliness and peer relations in adolescence. Social Development, 21(2), 273–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, T. A., Cropanzano, R., & Bonett, D. G. (2007). The moderating role of employee positive wellbeing on the relation between job satisfaction and job performance. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12(2), 93–104.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, T. A., & Staw, B. M. (1999). Affect and favorable work outcomes: Two longitudinal tests of the happy-productive worker thesis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20(1), 1–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Availability of Data and Material

data will be available on request to the corresponding author.

Code Availability

N/A

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China

    Muhammad Aamir Shafique Khan, Jianguo Du, Sikandar Ali Qalati & Shuja Iqbal

  2. Lahore Business School, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan

    Muhammad Aamir Shafique Khan, Farooq Anwar & Muhammad Waqas

Authors
  1. Muhammad Aamir Shafique Khan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jianguo Du
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Farooq Anwar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sikandar Ali Qalati
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Muhammad Waqas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Shuja Iqbal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Muhammad Aamir Shafique Khan: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Data curation, Writing- Original draft preparation. Visualization, Investigation. Writing- Reviewing and Editing.

Jianguo Du: Conceptualization, Software, Data curation, Writing- Original draft preparation.

Farooq Anwar: Methodology, Investigation. Writing- Reviewing and Editing.

Sikandar Ali Qalati: Methodology, Investigation. Writing- Reviewing and Editing.

Muhammad Waqas: Conceptualization, Writing- Original draft preparation.

Shuja Iqbal: Software, Data curation, Reviewing and Editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Muhammad Aamir Shafique Khan.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of Interest/Competing Interests

there are no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethics Approval

This study was carried out in accordance with the recommendations of the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct by the American Psychological Association’s (APA). All participants gave written informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The protocol was approved by the employee’s council of the participating organizations as well as the ethics committee of Jiangsu University.

Consent to Participate

All participants gave written informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Consent for Publication

N/A

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Khan, M.A.S., Du, J., Anwar, F. et al. Relationship between workplace romance, job involvement, and work effort: moderating roles of gender and workplace romance types. Curr Psychol 42, 12359–12373 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02665-9

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02665-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation