Although individuals with a greater number of multiplex workplace friendships receive a broad range of resources, they become stretched as they expend their own resources in attempts to maintain and restore balance with those to whom they feel obligated,” Methot and colleagues explain.
In a second study, teams of employees working at different retail stores and restaurants completed surveys that were then mailed back to the researchers.
Each of the 182 participants was given a complete list of names for everyone who worked at their store. Using a 5-point scale, they rated each individual based on how frequently they provided help at work and whether they’re considered a friend. The researchers only counted a response as a friendship if both individuals rated each other as a friend.
Individuals with more friends at work received, on average, higher performance evaluations from their supervisors.
The researchers noted that there was a significant positive relationship between emotional support and social network size. Essentially, people with more friends also had more emotional and professional resources to draw on for success at work.
However, the second study also helped confirm that friendships at work also come at a cost: Popular employees with lots of friends also experienced higher levels of emotional obligation and exhaustion. Although workplace friendships foster job performance, these benefits may be somewhat muted by the personal resources they deplete.
“Collectively, our results illustrate that having a large number of multiplex friendships at work is a mixed blessing,” Methot and colleagues conclude in Personnel Psychology.
While too many friendship obligations can potentially carry a cost, the researchers suggest that organizations stand to benefit overall by investing more resources in helping employees build mutually supportive friendships in the office.