Examining the role of friendship for employee well-being

Publication date: Available online 11 June 2019Source: Journal of Vocational BehaviorAuthor(s): Lydia Craig, Lauren KuykendallAbstractSustaining high-quality experiences across multiple life roles is essential for well-being. While this has long been acknowledged in the work-nonwork literature, research to date has focused primarily on experiences in work and family roles. Responding to calls to better understand how roles beyond work and family impact employee well-being, we seek to highlight the role of supportive friendships. Drawing on Social Support Resources Theory, we suggest that supportive friendships influence general well-being via self-esteem, a key personal resource. We argue that supportive friendships should enhance self-esteem and subsequently well-being because of the voluntary nature of friendship and the unique support that friends provide. In Study 1, we examine the extent to which supportive friendships contribute to employees' general well-being via self-esteem, controlling for the effects of supportive marital and family relationships, finding that supportive friendships have unique effects. In Study 2, building on these findings, we propose and test an expanded model in which we: (1) differentiate between support from work-based and nonwork friends, (2) examine organization-based self-esteem in addition to general self-esteem as mediating variables, and (3) consider the role of supportive friendships for both general and work-related well-being. We fin...

Source: Journal of Vocational Behavior - June 13, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research