Workplace Romances between Senior- Level Executives and Lower-Level Employees: An Issue of Work Disruption and Gender
通过实验研究同事对高管与下属办公室恋情的反应，发现性别刻板印象和工作干扰视角影响同事对关系的评价及行动意愿。
This study examined co-workers’ reactions to a hierarchical workplace romance between an older, married senior-level executive and a younger, single lower-level employee. Part-time MBA students, nearly all of whom were employed full time, responded to a randomly assigned vignette in which they were asked to assume the role of co-worker of the two romantic partners. The effect of the workplace romance on participants’ productivity and the gender of the two participants were manipulated in vignettes, resulting in a 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design. Consistent with gender stereotypes about hierarchical workplace romances, respondents were more likely to attribute a job motive to a female lower-level employee than to a male lower-level employee. In turn, consistent with a work-disruption perspective, respondents regarded the relationship as representing a more serious problem for the organization when they believed that the lower-level participant was motivated by job concerns. Further, when respondents believed that the relationship represented a more serious problem for the organization, they preferred that management direct stronger action against both participants and would take stronger action themselves. However, male respondents would take stronger action in the role of co-worker than female respondents. These results suggest that hierarchical workplace romances represent an issue of both work disruption and gender.