Responses to unpleasant work relationships

Abstract

The likelihood of use in Rusbult's (e.g., Rusbult & Zembrodt, 1983) typology of exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect responses to romantic relationships was assessed for its general applicability to unpleasant work relationships. Correlational analysis revealed that one's own orientation to an unpleasant work relationship and the perception of the other person's orientation to the problematic relationship were associated with the voice response. Loyalty was associated with one's own orientation to the problematic relationship, as was the neglect response. Status relative to the unpleasant person was found to shape one's responses to the relationship as well. Some correlations varied by gender.