IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ororsc/v24y2013i5p1377-1401.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Getting Closer at the Company Party: Integration Experiences, Racial Dissimilarity, and Workplace Relationships

Author

Listed:
  • Tracy L. Dumas

    (Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210)

  • Katherine W. Phillips

    (Columbia Business School, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027)

  • Nancy P. Rothbard

    (Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104)

Abstract

Using survey data from two distinct samples, we found that reported integration behaviors (e.g., attending company parties, discussing nonwork matters with colleagues) were associated with closer relationships among coworkers but that this effect was qualified by an interaction effect. Racial dissimilarity moderated the relationship between integration and closeness such that integration was positively associated with relationship closeness for those who were demographically similar to their coworkers, but not for those who were demographically dissimilar from their coworkers. Additionally, this moderation effect was mediated by the extent to which respondents experienced comfort and enjoyment when integrating. These findings highlight the importance of creating the right kind of interactions for building closer relationships between employees, particularly relationships that span racial boundaries.

Suggested Citation

  • Tracy L. Dumas & Katherine W. Phillips & Nancy P. Rothbard, 2013. "Getting Closer at the Company Party: Integration Experiences, Racial Dissimilarity, and Workplace Relationships," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(5), pages 1377-1401, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:24:y:2013:i:5:p:1377-1401
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.1120.0808
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1120.0808
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/orsc.1120.0808?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Evans, Martin G., 1985. "A Monte Carlo study of the effects of correlated method variance in moderated multiple regression analysis," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 305-323, December.
    2. Ray Reagans, 2011. "Close Encounters: Analyzing How Social Similarity and Propinquity Contribute to Strong Network Connections," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(4), pages 835-849, August.
    3. Nancy P. Rothbard & Katherine W. Phillips & Tracy L. Dumas, 2005. "Managing Multiple Roles: Work-Family Policies and Individuals’ Desires for Segmentation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(3), pages 243-258, June.
    4. Graham Brown & Sandra L. Robinson, 2011. "Reactions to Territorial Infringement," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 210-224, February.
    5. Randy Hodson, 2004. "Work Life and Social Fulfillment: Does Social Affiliation at Work Reflect a Carrot or a Stick?," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 85(2), pages 221-239, June.
    6. Kelly A. Mollica & Barbara Gray & Linda K. Treviño, 2003. "Racial Homophily and Its Persistence in Newcomers' Social Networks," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(2), pages 123-136, April.
    7. Gruenfeld, Deborah H & Mannix, Elizabeth A. & Williams, Katherine Y. & Neale, Margaret A., 1996. "Group Composition and Decision Making: How Member Familiarity and Information Distribution Affect Process and Performance," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 1-15, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. repec:bof:bofrdp:urn:nbn:fi:bof-201508181353 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Gibson, Kerry Roberts & Harari, Dana & Marr, Jennifer Carson, 2018. "When sharing hurts: How and why self-disclosing weakness undermines the task-oriented relationships of higher status disclosers," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 25-43.
    3. Wang, Cynthia S. & Smith, Alexis N. & Scott, Edward E. & Edwards, Bryan D. & Smart, Seth E., 2024. "Reducing turnover intentions of Black employees in the accounting profession: The roles of racial centrality, racial identity affirmation and supervisor closeness," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    4. Bedelev, Bogdan, 2023. "The more, the better? Diversification Trends in Executive and Supervisory Boards in Germany and their Potential Effects," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 8(3), pages 569-590.
    5. Jinia Mukerjee & Roy Thurik & Olivier Torrès & Annelot Wismans, 2024. "Measuring organizational play in small businesses," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 74(4), pages 2443-2476, December.
    6. Vanessa Conzon & Ruthanne Huising, 2024. "Devoted but Disconnected : Managing Role Conflict Through Interactional Control," Post-Print hal-04553331, HAL.
    7. Zhou, Yifan & Kara, Alper & Molyneux, Philip, 2019. "Chair-CEO generation gap and bank risk-taking," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 352-372.
    8. Manthos D. Delis & Chrysovalantis Gaganis & Iftekhar Hasan & Fotios Pasiouras, 2017. "The Effect of Board Directors from Countries with Different Genetic Diversity Levels on Corporate Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(1), pages 231-249, January.
    9. Beine, Michel & Peracchi, Silvia & Zanaj, Skerdilajda, 2023. "Ancestral diversity and performance: Evidence from football data," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 193-214.
    10. Cameron, Lindsey D. & Chan, Curtis K. & Anteby, Michel, 2022. "Heroes from above but not (always) from within? Gig workers’ reactions to the sudden public moralization of their work," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    11. repec:zbw:bofrdp:urn:nbn:fi:bof-201508181353 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Seele, Hagen & Eberl, Peter, 2020. "Newcomers’ reactions to unfulfilled leadership expectations: An attribution theory approach," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 763-776.
    13. Sejin Um & Anne Kou & Carolyn E. Waldrep & Kathleen Gerson, 2024. "Contrasting Conceptions of Work–Family Balance and the Implications for Satisfaction with Balance during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-21, April.
    14. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2015_014 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Ming-Hong Tsai & Corinne Bendersky, 2016. "The Pursuit of Information Sharing: Expressing Task Conflicts as Debates vs. Disagreements Increases Perceived Receptivity to Dissenting Opinions in Groups," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(1), pages 141-156, February.
    16. Andrew M. Carton & Basima A. Tewfik, 2016. "Perspective—A New Look at Conflict Management in Work Groups," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(5), pages 1125-1141, October.
    17. Bhattacharyya, Barnini & Erskine, Samantha E. & McCluney, Courtney, 2024. "Not all allies are created equal: An intersectional examination of relational allyship for women of color at work," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    18. J. Adam Cobb & JR Keller & Samir Nurmohamed, 2022. "How Do I Compare? The Effect of Work-Unit Demographics on Reactions to Pay Inequality," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(3), pages 665-692, May.
    19. Giurge, Laura M. & Bohns, Vanessa K., 2021. "You don’t need to answer right away! Receivers overestimate how quickly senders expect responses to non-urgent work emails," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 114-128.
    20. Steffanie L. Wilk & Erin E. Makarius, 2015. "Choosing the Company You Keep: Racial Relational Demography Outside and Inside of Work," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(5), pages 1316-1331, October.
    21. Schulze, Arndt & Dada, Olufunmilola (Lola), 2025. "The effect of corporate venturing on knowledge acquisition and performance in small and medium-sized firms in Germany," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    22. Delis, Manthos & Gaganis, Chrysovalantis & Hasan, Iftekhar & Pasiouras, Fotios, 2015. "The Effect of Board Directors from Countries with Different Genetic Diversity Levels on Corporate Performance," MPRA Paper 64905, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    23. Grey, Colette & Flynn, Antoinette & Adu, Douglas A., 2024. "An examination of how executive remuneration and firm performance are influenced by Chair-CEO diversity attributes," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    24. Laura Little & Amanda Hinojosa & John Lynch, 2017. "Make Them Feel: How the Disclosure of Pregnancy to a Supervisor Leads to Changes in Perceived Supervisor Support," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(4), pages 618-635, August.
    25. Pai, Jieun & DeVoe, Sanford E. & Pfeffer, Jeffrey, 2020. "How income and the economic evaluation of time affect who we socialize with outside of work," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 158-175.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mary M. Maloney & Priti Pradhan Shah & Mary Zellmer-Bruhn & Stephen L. Jones, 2019. "The Lasting Benefits of Teams: Tie Vitality After Teams Disband," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(2), pages 260-279, March.
    2. Cheryl R. Mitteness & Rich DeJordy & Manju K. Ahuja & Richard Sudek, 2016. "Extending the Role of Similarity Attraction in Friendship and Advice Networks in Angel Groups," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(3), pages 627-655, May.
    3. Arjun Bhardwaj & Sushanta Kumar Mishra & Israr Qureshi & Kunal Kamal Kumar & Alison M. Konrad & Marc‐David L. Seidel & Babita Bhatt, 2021. "Bridging Caste Divides: Middle‐Status Ambivalence, Elite Closure, and Lower‐Status Social Withdrawal," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(8), pages 2111-2136, December.
    4. Gokhan Ertug & Martin Gargiulo & Charles Galunic & Tengjian Zou, 2018. "Homophily and Individual Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(5), pages 912-930, October.
    5. Katerina Bezrukova & Karen A. Jehn & Elaine L. Zanutto & Sherry M. B. Thatcher, 2009. "Do Workgroup Faultlines Help or Hurt? A Moderated Model of Faultlines, Team Identification, and Group Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 35-50, February.
    6. Bhardwaj, Arjun & Mishra, Sushanta Kumar & Qureshi, Israr & Kumar, Kunal Kamal & Konrad, Alison M. & Seidel, Marc‐David L. & Bhatt, Babita, 2021. "Bridging Caste Divides: Middle‐Status Ambivalence, Elite Closure, and Lower‐Status Social Withdrawal," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 58(8), pages 2111-2136.
    7. Anthony Edo & Nicolas Jacquemet & Constantine Yannelis, 2019. "Language skills and homophilous hiring discrimination: Evidence from gender and racially differentiated applications," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 349-376, March.
    8. Majid Ahmadi & Nathan Durst & Jeff Lachman & John A. List & Mason List & Noah List & Atom T. Vayalinkal, 2022. "Nothing Propinks Like Propinquity: Using Machine Learning to Estimate the Effects of Spatial Proximity in the Major League Baseball Draft," NBER Working Papers 30786, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Mamoon, Dawood, 2017. "Building Peace through Education: Case of India and Pakistan Conflict," MPRA Paper 82749, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Stea, Diego & Foss, Nicolai J. & Christensen, Peter Holdt, 2015. "Physical separation in the workplace: Separation cues, separation awareness, and employee motivation," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 462-471.
    11. de Oliveira Maciel, Cristiano & Netto, Raul Zanon Rocha, 2020. "Architectural agency in intra-organizational networks," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 489-497.
    12. Panagopoulos, Nikolaos G. & Avlonitis, George J., 2010. "Performance implications of sales strategy: The moderating effects of leadership and environment," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 46-57.
    13. Marco Tortoriello & Ray Reagans & Bill McEvily, 2012. "Bridging the Knowledge Gap: The Influence of Strong Ties, Network Cohesion, and Network Range on the Transfer of Knowledge Between Organizational Units," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(4), pages 1024-1039, August.
    14. Raymond Loi & Hang-Yue Ngo, 2010. "Mobility norms, risk aversion, and career satisfaction of Chinese employees," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 237-255, June.
    15. Sander Hoogendoorn & Simon C. Parker & Mirjam van Praag, 2017. "Smart or Diverse Start-up Teams? Evidence from a Field Experiment," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(6), pages 1010-1028, December.
    16. O'Connor, Kathleen M., 1997. "Groups and Solos in Context: The Effects of Accountability on Team Negotiation," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 72(3), pages 384-407, December.
    17. Homburg, Christian & Klarmann, Martin & Schmitt, Jens, 2010. "Brand awareness in business markets: When is it related to firm performance?," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 201-212.
    18. Kyle Lewis, 2004. "Knowledge and Performance in Knowledge-Worker Teams: A Longitudinal Study of Transactive Memory Systems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(11), pages 1519-1533, November.
    19. Yoo, Chul Woo & Goo, Jahyun & Huang, C. Derrick & Nam, Kichan & Woo, Mina, 2017. "Improving travel decision support satisfaction with smart tourism technologies: A framework of tourist elaboration likelihood and self-efficacy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 330-341.
    20. Robert S. Huckman & Bradley R. Staats, 2011. "Fluid Tasks and Fluid Teams: The Impact of Diversity in Experience and Team Familiarity on Team Performance," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 13(3), pages 310-328, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:24:y:2013:i:5:p:1377-1401. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.