Relational Communication Messages and Employee Outcomes in Supervisor/Employee Relationships

Abstract

Supervisors’ relational communication messages were used to predict specific employee outcomes. In the study, 307 participants working in various industries completed measures of relational communication about their direct supervisor along with measures of their job satisfaction, motivation, and organizational commitment. As predicted, intimacy, composure, and equality messages were positively related to job satisfaction, motivation, and organizational commitment. Dominance and formality messages were negatively related to job satisfaction, motivation, and organizational commitment. Regression analyses determined that affection/involvement, similarity/depth, and composure were the strongest predictors of employee outcomes.

Keywords:

• Employee Outcomes
• Relational Messages
• Supervisor Communication

Notes

¹. The instructional manipulation check (IMC) for the study came from the Qualtrics library and is available from the first author upon request.

². Notes on the CFAs and specific modification steps for the relational messages subscales are available from the second author upon request.