Wang Shuai, Liu Yuxin, Lou Zhuang, Chen Yun
School of Business Administration, Shandong Women's University.
Business School, University of International Business and Economics.
J Gen Psychol. 2025 Jan-Mar;152(1):1-35. doi: 10.1080/00221309.2024.2334723. Epub 2024 May 9.
Extant research has demonstrated the positive roles of workplace friendships and has recently found the negative effect or the double-edged effect on employees and organizations. Unfortunately, little is known about the boundary condition of the double-edged effects of workplace friendships and the elaborated understanding of the mechanism of positive and negative effects of workplace friendship simultaneously. Our purpose is to reveal that workplace friendship is a mixed blessing by investigating when and how workplace friendships are likely to promote versus inhibit voice behavior. We propose that the double-edged effect of workplace friendship hinges on the competitive climate. Specifically, when the competitive climate is low, workplace friendship is positively related to employees' psychological safety, promoting voice behavior. In contrast, workplace friendship is positively related to employees' face concern, inhibiting voice behavior when the competitive climate is high. Our hypotheses were supported across the three waves of surveys and experimental studies. Taken together, our findings reveal the perils and benefits of workplace friendship and the importance of boundary conditions resulting in employees' differential psychological processes in friendship interaction.
现有研究已经证明了职场友谊的积极作用，并且最近发现了其对员工和组织的负面影响或双刃剑效应。遗憾的是，对于职场友谊双刃剑效应的边界条件以及同时对职场友谊正负效应机制的详尽理解却知之甚少。我们的目的是通过调查职场友谊在何时以及如何可能促进或抑制建言行为，来揭示职场友谊是一把双刃剑。我们提出，职场友谊的双刃剑效应取决于竞争氛围。具体而言，当竞争氛围较低时，职场友谊与员工的心理安全感呈正相关，从而促进建言行为。相反，职场友谊与员工的面子关注呈正相关，当竞争氛围较高时会抑制建言行为。我们的假设在三轮调查和实验研究中均得到了支持。综上所述，我们的研究结果揭示了职场友谊的风险与益处，以及边界条件对于员工在友谊互动中产生不同心理过程的重要性。
