Antecedents and consequences of relational ambivalence : a longitudinal and daily diary study investigation
Year: 2012
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Employee-manager relationships have received significant attention in the literature in \nattempting to understand the development and consequences of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ \nrelationships. Whilst much is known about these relationships independently, relatively \nlittle is known about those relationships that are both ‘good’ and ‘bad’. This thesis uses \n‘relational ambivalence’ to describe such relationships and addresses a fundamental \nquestion in employee-manager research; can employees simultaneously like and dislike \ntheir managers? Two separate research methodologies address this question. The first \nstudy, employing a longitudinal survey over a six-month period, explored how \nhistorical, individual and social-cognitive perspectives contributed to employee \nrelationship valuations (positive, negative, and ambivalent). This study also tested the \nimpact that each relationship valuation had on interpersonal and organisational \noutcomes. The second study employed a daily diary method to explore how employee \nrelationship valuations impacted responses to manager-induced psychological contract \nviolations over a two-week period. \nFindings indicated that relational ambivalence is a distinct relationship valuation both in \nterms of its antecedents and consequences. The first study revealed that relational \nambivalence had a curvilinear relationship with both leader-member exchange and \nrelational schema similarity. Additionally, preoccupied attachment was positively \nrelated to relational ambivalence, whilst oneness perceptions were negatively related to \nrelational ambivalence. The study examined two outcome categories: interpersonal and \norganisational. The interpersonal outcomes revealed a negative relationship with affectbased and cognition-based trust, as well as relational identification; whilst the \norganisational outcomes revealed that relational ambivalence was the strongest \nrelationship valuation linked to turnover intent. Relational ambivalence was negatively \nrelated to OCBs directed toward the organisation, and job control negatively moderated \nOCBs directed toward the manager. Finally, study two revealed that relational \nambivalence changes in intensity over time and leads to increased OCBs, decreased \nforgiveness, and increased intrusive thoughts after a manager-induced psychological \ncontract violation. Employees offering positive valuations lowered their OCBs, \nincreased forgiveness, and did not experience intrusive thoughts; whilst those offering \nnegative valuations only lowered their OCBs. Contributions and implications of this \nthesis are discussed.
Author: Kyle E. Ingram
Language: English
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1487891080