Rafael Wittek

An extension of uncertainty management theory to the self : The relationship between justice, social comparison orientation, and antisocial work behaviors

A multisource field study of 103 employees and their supervisors tested an extension of uncertainty management theory (E. A. Lind & K. Van den Bos, 2002; K. Van den Bos & E. A. Lind, 2002). According to this theory, persons high in social comparison orientation (F. X. Gibbons & B. P. Buunk, 1999) experience chronic uncertainty about the self. It was hypothesized that this should strengthen the effects of interactional and procedural justice perceptions on antisocial work behaviors. As predicted, the negative relationship between employee perceptions of interactional justice and supervisory ratings of antisocial work behaviors was stronger for people who are high as compared with low in social comparison orientation. Results provide evidence for an extension of uncertainty management theory to the self-domain.

Where do intra-organizational advice relations come from? The role of informal status and social capital in social exchange

Abstract Social status and social capital frameworks are used to derive competing hypotheses about the emergence and structure of advice relations in organizations. Although both approaches build on a social exchange framework, they differ in their behavioral micro-foundations. From a status perspective, advice giving is a means to generate prestige, whereas asking advice decreases ones relative standing. At a structural level these motivations are expected to result in an overrepresentation of non-reciprocal dyads and non-cyclical triadic structures in the advice network, as well as in active advice seekers being unlikely to be approached for advice, especially by active advice givers. From a social capital perspective, advice seeking creates obligations for the advice seeker. At the structural level, this results in an overrepresentation of reciprocal dyads and cyclical triads, and active advice seekers to be unpopular as targets of advice seeking, especially for active advice givers. Analyses of four waves of a longitudinal sociometric study of 57 employees of a Dutch Housing Corporation provide partial support for both approaches. In line with the social capital perspective, we find reciprocal advice relations to be overrepresented at the dyad level. Results at the triad level support the social status arguments, according to which high status individuals will avoid asking advice from low status individuals. The implications for macro-structural properties of intra-organizational advice network are discussed.

Gossip in Organizations

Three hypotheses about the effects of different informal social network structures on gossip behavior are developed and tested. Gossip is defined as a conversation about a third person who is not participating in the conversation. Having analyzed the costs and benefits of gossip, we prefer the coalition hypothesis.~It states that gossip will flourish in social networks that have a relatively large number of coalition triads, that is ego and alter having a good relationship amongst themselves and both having a bad relationship with tertius, the object of gossip. Two rivalling hypotheses are developed. The constraint hypothesis predicts that the inclination towards gossip is greater, the larger the number of structural holes in the personal network of the gossipmonger.~The closure hypothesis predicts that more gossip will be found in networks with a large number of closed triads, that is where both gossipmonger and listener have a good relationship with the absent third person. The hypotheses are tested using a newly developed instrument to measure gossip behavior and network data from six work organizations and six school classes. The data support the coalition hypothesis and do not support the two rivalling hypotheses.

The Evolution of Intra-Organizational Trust Networks The Case of a German Paper Factory: An Empirical Test of Six Trust Mechanisms

Based on the distinction between expressive and instrumental motives, six theoretical mechanisms for the formation of trust relationships are elaborated and empirically tested. When expressive motives drive tie formation, individuals primarily attach emotional value to social relationships. Three mechanisms have been tested: the homophily, the balancing, and the gossiping effect. When instrumental, control-related, motives drive tie formation, actors strategically establish relationships because of their potential use for the realization of material benefits or the avoidance of material losses. Again, three mechanisms have been tested: the signalling, the sharing group and the structural hole effect. Longitudinal data come from a sociometric panel study of 17 members of the management team of a German paper factory. Actor-oriented statistical modelling shows that all effects significantly affect trust formation separately. In a simultaneous test incorporating all six mechanisms, the pattern of structural holes turns out to be the major predictor of network evolution. The implications of structural hole theory for modelling the evolution of intra-organizational networks are discussed. keywords: balance, control, gossip, homophily, relational signalling, sharing groups, structural holes

The co-evolution of gossip and friendship in workplace social networks

This study investigates the co-evolution of friendship and gossip in organizations. Two contradicting perspectives are tested. The social capital perspective predicts that friendship causes gossip between employees, defined as informal evaluative talking about absent colleagues. The evolutionary perspective reverses this causality claiming that gossiping facilitates friendship. The data comprises of three observations of a complete organizational network, allowing longitudinal social network analyses. Gossip and friendship are modeled as both explanatory and outcome networks with RSiena. Results support the evolutionary perspective in that gossip between two individuals increases the likelihood of their future friendship formation. However, individuals with disproportionately high gossip activity have fewer friends in the network, suggesting that the use of gossiping to attract friends has a limit

Subjective socioeconomic status and health in cross-national comparison

Research has established a robust association between subjective socioeconomic status (SES) and health outcomes, which holds over and above the associations between objective markers of SES and health. Furthermore, comparative research on health inequalities has shown considerable variation in the relationship between different objective markers of SES and health across countries. Drawing on data from 29 countries, we present the first cross-national study on the subjective SES-health relationship. For two health outcomes, namely self-rated health (SRH) and psychological wellbeing, we are able to confirm that subjective SES is related to health in all countries under study, even when income, education, and occupational prestige are accounted for. Furthermore, we document considerable variation in the strength of the subjective SES-health association across countries. This variation however is largely independent of country differences in income inequality and country affluence. The health benefits of a high subjective SES appear to be slightly larger in more affluent countries, but only for SRH, not for psychological wellbeing.

Personal networks and mortality risk in older adults: A twenty-year longitudinal study

Background Research on aging has consistently demonstrated an increased chance of survival for older adults who are integrated into rich networks of social relationships. Theoretical explanations state that personal networks offer indirect psychosocial and direct physiological pathways. We investigate whether effects on and pathways to mortality risk differ between functional and structural characteristics of the personal network. The objective is to inquire which personal network characteristics are the best predictors of mortality risk after adjustment for mental, cognitive and physical health. Methods and Findings Empirical tests were carried out by combining official register information on mortality with data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA). The sample included 2,911 Dutch respondents aged 54 to 85 at baseline in 1992 and six follow-ups covering a time span of twenty years. Four functional characteristics (emotional and social loneliness, emotional and instrumental support) and four structural characteristics (living arrangement, contact frequency, number of contacts, number of social roles) of the personal network as well as mental, cognitive and physical health were assessed at all LASA follow-ups. Statistical analyses comprised of Cox proportional hazard regression models. Findings suggest differential effects of personal network characteristics on survival, with only small gender differences. Mortality risk was initially reduced by functional characteristics, but disappeared after full adjustment for the various health variables. Mortality risk was lowest for older adults embedded in large (HR = 0.986, 95% CI 0.979—0.994) and diverse networks (HR = 0.948, 95% CI 0.917—0.981), and this effect continued to show in the fully adjusted models. Conclusions Functional characteristics (i.e. emotional and social loneliness) are indirectly associated with a reduction in mortality risk, while structural characteristics (i.e. number of contacts and number of social roles) have direct protective effects. More research is needed to understand the causal mechanisms underlying these relations.

Talking About the Boss: Effects of Generalized and Interpersonal Trust on Workplace Gossip

This study developed and tested a relational theory of positive and negative gossip about managers. It is argued that spreading information about managers depends on trust in organizations, more specifically the employees’ generalized and interpersonal trust in managers and colleagues. Hypotheses were tested by conducting two studies in a medium-sized Dutch child care organization, namely, an employee survey (N = 132) and a network study at two sites (N = 58). Multiple regressions and cross-sectional social network analysis (exponential random graph modeling [ERGM]) revealed that negative gossip about managers increases when employees have low trust, nonfriendly relationships, and infrequent contact with the managers. This effect is further enhanced when contacts between employees are trusting and frequent. Implications for theories about management and organizations are discussed.

Receiving Instrumental Support in Late Parent–Child Relationships and Parental Depression

OBJECTIVES This study investigates the role of gender, functional limitations, and social interaction in the association between instrumental support from adult children and parental depression. We apply self-determination theory to hypothesize about the role of physical needs and social resources on parental depression in a European context. METHOD A sample of 6,268 parents older than 65 who have nonresident children from the first wave of Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (2004) is analyzed. We estimate logistic regression models to test for the association between instrumental support and depression. Physical needs, gender, and social interaction are used as moderators. RESULTS Net of core factors that contribute to depression, including previous history of depression, there is a U-shaped pattern between receiving instrumental support and depression that persists across country regimes. For respondents with medium physical limitations, too little or too frequent support from children is associated with higher depression. For respondents with severe limitations, receiving at least some support is better than receiving none at all. The receipt of too frequent support from children increases the level of depression more for women than men. All interaction effects are comparable across country regimes. DISCUSSION Heterogeneity in physical needs and resources of older individuals must be taken into account when assessing the effects of instrumental support on mental health.

FRAME DECAY, INFORMAL POWER, AND THE ESCALATION OF SOCIAL CONTROL IN A MANAGEMENT TEAM: A RELATIONAL SIGNALING PERSPECTIVE

In a study of conflict in organizations, Lindenberg’s relational signaling theory is used to develop hypotheses on the impact of relationship strength, network embeddedness, and organizational change on social escalation. Social escalation is defined as the involvement of one or more third parties in a conflict. An empirical test is conducted with data on 67 conflicts involving 22 managers, gathered during three years of ethnographic fieldwork and a longitudinal network study in a management team of a German paper factory. Multilevel analysis indicates that strong ties between conflicting parties decrease the level of social escalation, whereas informal power advantage of one party increases the chances for social escalation. Both effects disappear over time. It is argued that the dissolving impact of relationships and networks is due to the disappearance of so-called solidarity frame-stabilizing activities in the firm. The results highlight the context-dependence of network effects and escalation processes.