Interpersonal Communication- A Mindful Approach to Relationships, 2020a

Propinquity
Interpersonal
Attraction
Romantic
Attraction
Desire for Workplace
Relationship
Engagement in
Workplace Relationship
Outcomes of
Workplace Romance
Figure 13.6 Romantic Workplace
basic model is pretty easy to follow. First, it starts with
the issue of propinquity, or the physical closeness of
two people in a given space. One of the main reasons
romantic relationships develop in the workplace is
because we are around people in our offices every
day. It’s this physical proximity that ultimately leads
people to develop interpersonal attractions for some
people. However, just because we find someone
interpersonally attractive doesn’t mean we’re going to
jump into a romantic relationship with them. We will
never develop romantic attractions for most (if not
all) people that we find interpersonally attractive at
work. However, romantic attraction does happen. At
the same time, if you don’t desire a workplace relationship,
then even a romantic attraction won’t lead
you to start engaging in a workplace relationship. If,
however, you decide or desire to workplace relationship,
then you are likely to start participating in that
romantic workplace relationship.
Once you start engaging in a romantic workplace
relationship, there will be consequences of that
relationship. Now, some of these consequences
are positive, and others could be negative. For our
purposes, we broadly put these consequences into
three different categories: personal, professional, and
organizational.
Personal Outcomes
The first type of outcomes someone may face are personal outcomes or outcomes that affect an individual
and not their romantic partner. Ultimately, romantic relationships can have a combination of both
positive and negative outcomes for the individuals involved. For our purposes here, we will assume that
both romantic partners are single and not in any other kind of romantic relationship. As long as that
romantic relationship is functioning positively, individuals will be happy, which can positively impact their
job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and employee motivation. Employees engaged in romantic
workplace relationships will even work longer hours so they can be with their romantic partners.
On the flip side, romantic relationships always have their ups and downs. If a relationship is not going
well, the individuals in those romantic workplace relationships may experience adverse outcomes. In this
case, we might see a decrease in job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and employee motivation.
We might also see romantic partners trying to put more distance between themselves and their romantic
partner at work. In these cases, people might avoid being placed on the same project or working longer
hours to avoid spending extra time with their romantic partner.
Overall, it’s important to remember that romantic workplace relationships can lead to personal
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Interpersonal Communication