Romantic Relationships at Work: Perceived Changes in Job-Related Behaviors as a Function of Participant's Motive, Partner's Motive, and Gender

It is frequently assumed that intimate relationships between members of the same organization inevitably prove harmful to organizational functioning. This paper challenges that assumption by examining the association between three motives for entering a relationship (love, ego, job) and four job-related behaviors. The data suggest that (a) although positive and negative changes in job-related behaviors do occur, they are generally small, and (b) they can be predicted, in part, by the motives for entering the relationship and, in part, by the gender of the relational participant.