Spillover Effects: Communication Involved with Dissolved Workplace Romances

Abstract

This study adds to the understanding of relationships and communication in organizations by studying how and why workplace romances fail – a unique situation given that former romantic partners likely still work together. Using interview data, findings revealed why workplace romances failed (distance, incompatibility, loss of interest, and/or partner mistake), how romantic partners used communication to terminate their relationship (direct versus indirect communication), and how former workplace romance participants communicated at work following their breakup (e.g., distancing/leaving organization, awkward/tense interactions, and/or antagonistic environment). Results are discussed with respect to Work-Life Border Theory (Clark, 2000), fatal attraction (Felmlee, 1998), as well as implications for individuals and organizations.

Keywords:

• Breaking-Up
• Relational (De)Escalation
• Termination
• Work-Life Border Theory
• Workplace Relationships

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Though we interviewed 23 (18 women) participants from a variety of organizations, we specifically focused on this sample’s discussion of relational termination—resulting in 16 usable/relevant interviews. Portions of data obtained from this sample have been reported in a study specifically focused on ICT in WR initiation, maintenance, and dissolution (Cowan & Horan, 2017). Though 16 interviews were used, 18 total WRs were discussed. Specifically, we used 15 insider perspectives from individuals discussing their own failed WRs and 3 outsider perspectives of individuals discussing observed WR termination. No noticeable differences were observed between insider and outsider perspectives (see Duck & VanderVoort, 2002), likely explained by a) our limited number of outsider perspectives and/or b) the fact that all participants had been insiders by their participation in a WR.