WHISPERS IN THE WORKPLACE: HOW ORGANIZATIONAL GOSSIP AFFECTS THE OPPORTUNITY AND PREVALENCE OF WORKPLACE FRIENDSHIPS?

Yıl 2024, , 39 - 57, 27.06.2024

Ozan Büyükyılmaz , İskender Koyuncu

https://doi.org/10.54452/jrb.1275666

Öz

This research focuses on the negative effects of gossip within the scope of social exchange theory. The aim of the study is to determine how job-related and non-job-related gossip behaviors of administrative staff at universities affect the opportunity and prevalence of workplace friendship. To achieve this goal, a study was conducted using data obtained from 300 administrative staff working at Karabuk University through a questionnaire. Hypotheses in line with the study’s purpose were tested using path analysis within the scope of structural equation modeling. The study found that both job-related and non-job-related gossip behaviors have a negative effect on workplace friendship. However, while job-related gossip behavior has a strong effect on the opportunity for friendship, non-job-related gossip has a stronger effect on the prevalence of friendship.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Organizational Gossip, Workplace Friendship, Friendship Opportunity, Friendship Prevalence

Destekleyen Kurum

none

Proje Numarası

none

Teşekkür

none

İŞYERİNDEKİ FISILTILAR: ÖRGÜTSEL DEDİKODU İŞYERİNDE ARKADAŞLIK KURMA FIRSATINI VE YAYGINLIĞINI NASIL ETKİLER?

Öz

Bu araştırma, sosyal mübadele teorisi kapsamında dedikodunun olumsuz etkilerine odaklanmaktadır. Araştırmanın amacı, üniversitelerde idari personel olarak görev yapan çalışanların işle ilgili ve iş dışı dedikodu davranışlarının arkadaşlık kurma fırsatını ve arkadaşlık geliştirme derecesini ne şekilde etkilediğini belirleyebilmektir. Bu amaç doğrultusunda, Karabük Üniversitesi’nde görev yapmakta olan 300 idari personelden anket yoluyla elde edilen verilerle bir araştırma gerçekleştirilmiştir. Çalışmanın amacına uygun olarak oluşturulan hipotezler, yapısal eşitlik modellemesi kapsamında yol analizi yardımı ile test edilmiştir. Çalışmanın sonucunda hem işle ilgili hem de iş dışı dedikodu davranışlarının işyeri arkadaşlığı üzerinde olumsuz etkiye neden olduğu belirlenmiştir. Bununla birlikte işle ilgili dedikodu davranışının arkadaşlık kurma fırsatı üzerinde güçlü bir etkisi varken, iş dışı dedikodunun ise arkadaşlık geliştirme derecesi üzerinde etkisi daha güçlüdür.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Örgütsel Dedikodu, İşyeri Arkadaşlığı, Arkadaşlık Kurma Fırsatı, Arkadaşlık Derecesi

Proje Numarası

none

Kaynakça

• Arabaci, I. B., Sunkur, M., & Simsek, F. Z. (2012). Teachers’ views regarding gossip and rumour mechanism: A qualitative study. Educational Administration Theory and Practice, 2(2), 171-190.
• Ayaz, E. (2021). A study on the effect of organizational gossip on work stress. Erciyes University Journal of Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences(60), 259-279. doi:10.18070/erciyesiibd.927564
• Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need o belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497-529. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497
• Berman, E. M., West, J. P., & Richter, M. N. (2002). Workplace relations: Friendship patterns and consequences (According to Managers). Public Administration Review, 62(2), 217-230. doi:10.1111/0033-3352.00172
• Bicer, C., & Buyukyilmaz, O. (2017). The effects of workplace friendship on job involvement. The Online Journal of Science and Technology, 7(4), 214-220.
• Bicer, C., & Buyukyilmaz, O. (2019). The effect of perceptions of organizational politics on workplace friendship: A study on healthcare employees. International Journal of Management Economics and Business, 15(2), 515-531. doi:10.17130/ijmeb.201.925.2108
• Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange and Power in Social Life. New Brunswick, USA: Transaction Publishers.
• Buyukyilmaz, O., & Bicer, C. (2018). The mediating role of job involvement in the effect of workplace friendship on intention to leave. Social Sciences, 13(2), 28-41.
• Byrne, B. M. (2016). Structural Equation Modeling with Amos: Basic Concepts, Applications, and Programming (3. ed.). New York: Routledge.
• Caglar, C., Ugurlu, C. T., & Gunes, H. (2013). Teachers’ views concerning the function of gossips in primary Schools. Electronic Journal of Social Sciences, 12(45), 1-16.
• Cicek, B., & Soylemez, M. (2020). The relationship between gossip, competition and ethical climate from the Perspective of social comparison. International Journal of Management Economics and Business, 16(3), 639-656. doi:10.17130/ijmeb.798529
• DiFonzo, N., & Bordia, P. (2000). How top PR professionals handle hearsay: Corporate rumors, their effects, and strategies to manage them. Public Relations Review, 26(2), 173-190. doi:10.1016/S0363-8111(00)00039-4
• DiFonzo, N., & Bordia, P. (2007). Rumor, gossip and urban Legends. Diogenes, 54(1), 19-35. doi:10.1177/039.219.2107073433
• Dunbar, R. I. M. (2004). Gossip in evolutionary perspective. Review of General Psychology, 8(2), 100-110. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.8.2.100
• Ellwardt, L., Labianca, G., & Wittek, R. (2012). Who are the objects of positive and negative gossip at work?: A social network perspective on workplace gossip. Social Networks, 34(2), 193-205. doi:10.1016/j. socnet.2011.11.003
• Ellwardt, L., Steglich, C., & Wittek, R. (2012). The Co-Evolution of gossip and friendship in workplace social networks. Social Networks, 34(4), 623-633. doi:10.1016/j.socnet.2012.07.002
• Ellwardt, L., Wittek, R., & Wielers, R. (2012). Talking about the boss: Effects of generalized and interpersonal trust on workplace gossip. Group & Organization Management, 37(4), 521-549. doi:10.1177/105.960.1112450607
• Emerson, R. M. (1976). Social exchange theory. Annual Review of Sociology, 2, 335-362. doi:10.1146/annurev. so.02.080.176.002003
• Erdogan, B., & Liden, R. C. (2002). Social Exchange in the Workplace: A Review of Recent Developments and Future Research Directions in Leader-Member Exchange Theory. In L. L. Neider & C. A. Schriesheim (Eds.), Leadership (pp. 65-114). Greenwich: Information Age Publishing Inc.
• Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39-50. doi:10.2307/3151312
• Foster, E. K. (2004). Research on gossip: Taxonomy, methods, and future Directions. Review of General Psychology, 8(2), 78-99. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.8.2.78
• Grosser, T., Kidwell, V., & Labianca, G. J. (2012). Hearing it through the grapevine: positive and negative workplace gossip. Organizational Dynamics, 41, 52-61. doi:10.1016/j.orgdyn.2011.12.007
• Grosser, T., Lopez-Kidwell, V., & Labianca, G. (2010). A social network analysis of positive and negative gossip in organizational life. Group & Organization Management, 35(2), 177-212. doi:10.1177/105.960.1109360391
• Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2019). Multivariate Data Analysis (8. ed.). Andover, Hampshire, UK: Cengage Learning.
• Homans, G. C. (1958). Social behavior as exchange. American Journal of Sociology, 63(6), 597-606. doi:10.1086/222355
• Huang, S.-P. (2016). A study on the effects of emotional intelligence and workplace friendship on job satisfaction and performance of employees in micro-enterprises. Journal of Interdisciplinary Mathematics, 19(3), 567-583. doi:10.1080/09720.502.2016.1196050
• Kline, R. B. (2016). Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling (4. ed.). New York: The Guilford Press.
• Kuo, C.-C., Chang, K., Quinton, S., Lu, C.-Y., & Lee, I. (2015). Gossip in the workplace and the implications for HR management: A study of gossip and its relationship to employee cynicism. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(18), 2288-2307. doi:10.1080/09585.192.2014.985329
• Kurland, N. B., & Pelled, L. H. (2000). Passing the word: Toward a model of gossip and power in the workplace. The Academy of Management Review, 25(2), 428-438. doi:10.2307/259023
• Littlejohn, S. W., & Foss, K. A. (2017). Theories of Human Communication (11. ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press Inc. Martinescu, E., Jansen, W., & Beersma, B. (2021). Negative gossip decreases targets’ organizational citizenship behavior by decreasing social inclusion. A multi-method approach. Group & Organization Management, 46(3), 463-497. doi:10.1177/105.960.1120986876
• Martinescu, E., Janssen, O., & Nijstad, B. A. (2019). Gossip as a resource: How and why power relationships shape gossip behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes(153), 89-102. doi:10.1016/j. obhdp.2019.05.006
• Michelson, G., & Mouly, S. (2000). Rumour and gossip in organisations: A conceptual study. Management Decision, 38(5), 339-346. doi:10.1108/002.517.40010340508
• Michelson, G., van Iterson, A., & Waddington, K. (2010). Gossip in organizations: Contexts, consequences, and controversies. Group & Organization Management, 35(4), 371-390. doi:10.1177/105.960.1109360389
• Miller, K. (2015). Organizational Communication: Approaches and Processes (7. ed.). Stamford, CT: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
• Morrison, R. L., & Cooper-Thomas, H. D. (2017). Friendship among Coworkers. In M. Hojjat & A. Moyer (Eds.), The Psychology of Friendship (pp. 123-139). New York: Oxford University Press.
• Nielsen, I. K., Jex, S. M., & Adams, G. A. (2000). Development and Validation of Scores on a Two- Dimensional Workplace Friendship Scale. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 60(4), 628-643. doi:10.1177/001.316.40021970655
• Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric Theory (3. ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Inc.
• Pillemer, J., & Rothbard, N. P. (2018). Friends without Benefits: Understanding the Dark Sides of Workplace Friendship. The Academy of Management Review, 43(4), 635-660. doi:10.5465/amr.2016.0309 Princehouse, L. J. (2017). Compositional Gossip Systems. (Doctor of Philosophy), Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University, New York.
• Robbins, S. P., Coulter, M., & Decenzo, D. A. (2020). Fundamentals of Management (11. ed.). Harlow, Essex, UK: Pearson Education Limited.
• Rosenbaum, J. B., & Subrin, M. (1963). The psychology of gossip. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 11(4), 817-831. doi:10.1177/000.306.516301100407
• Rosnow, R. L. (2001). Rumor and Gossip in Interpersonal Interaction and Beyond: A Social Exchange Perspective. In R. M. Kowalski (Ed.), Behaving Badly: Aversive Behaviors in Interpersonal Relationships. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
• Santas, G., Akbolat, M., & Saglam, H. (2019). The effect of organizational forgiveness and organizational gossip on intention of revenge among health employees. Pamukkale University Journal of Social Sciences Institute, 36, 131-148. doi:10.30794/pausbed.527068
• Shockley-Zalabak, P. S. (2014). Fundamentals of Organizational Communication (8. ed.). Harlow, Essex, UK: Pearson Education Limited.
• Sias, P. M., & Cahill, D. J. (1998). From coworkers to friends: The development of peer friendships in the workplace. Western Journal of Communication, 62(3), 273-299. doi:10.1080/105.703.19809374611
• Sias, P. M., Gallagher, E. B., Kopaneva, I., & Pedersen, H. (2011). Maintaining workplace friendships: perceived politeness and predictors of maintenance tactic choice. Communication Research, 39(2), 239-268. doi:10.1177/009.365.0210396869
• Sias, P. M., Heath, R. G., Perry, T., Silva, D., & Fix, B. (2004). Narratives of workplace friendship deterioration. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 21(3), 321-340. doi:10.1177/026.540.7504042835
• Ucok, D. I. (2019). A theoretical study about the effects of employees’ status anxiety and cooperative goal structures on workplace envy. International Journal of Management and Administration, 3(5), 1-12. doi:10.29064/ijma.484933
• Whittaker, T. A., & Schumacker, R. E. (2022). A Beginner’s Guide to Structural Equation Modeling (5. ed.). New York: Routledge.
• Wu, X., Kwan, H. K., Wu, L.-Z., & Ma, J. (2018). The effect of workplace negative gossip on employee proactive behavior in china: The moderating role of traditionality. Journal of Business Ethics, 148(4), 801-815. doi:10.1007/s10551.015.3006-5
• Zarankin, T. G., & Kunkel, D. (2019). Colleagues and friends: A theoretical framework of workplace friendship. Journal of Organizational Psychology, 19(5), 156-170. doi:10.5465/AMBPP.2019.10100abstract