Leveraging theories from the friendship, contact, and collective action literatures we examine the effects of a unique learning function of cross-race friendships-discrimination awareness-on workplace allyship. Using field and experimental designs, we found that this function of cross-race friendships creates a sense of moral outrage that motivates Whites to engage in and support allyship at work. This function predicted allyship behaviors and was resilient to ally risk, which reflects organizational sanctions for voicing concerns about racism. Robustness tests showed that other forms of interracial contact (positive/negative contact; residential, family, and work group diversity) had little effect on allyship and the effects of this friendship function held when we controlled for them. This function also contributed explanatory power beyond individual differences in race-related ideologies and personality traits, such as social dominance orientation and beliefs in the malleability of prejudice. The relationship lens offered here brings new theoretical traction to the field of allyship and illustrates the potential of cross-race friendships as sources of learning and agents for organizational change.

Past research has found that callings have a significant impact on important individual and organizational outcomes, but research on the precursors of callings is limited. In the current study, we contribute to callings research by examining two potentially important calling antecedents for university students: mentoring relationships and insight experiences. Building on extant literature, we also explored how students’ perceptions of callings may relate to school- and career-related outcomes. Using a sample of 536 undergraduate students from one private and two public U.S. universities, we found that high-quality mentoring relationships and insight experiences were positively related to students’ perceptions of callings. We also found support for a relationship between students’ perceptions of callings and their school engagement and absenteeism, along with their career outcome expectations. We discuss the implications of these findings for research and practice.

Diversity education occurs in universities and workplaces, but research has progressed in disciplinary silos. Consequently, the field of diversity training has failed to utilize theoretical and practical advances from related fields. Our research addresses these limitations. Integrating educational and social psychology theories, we develop a relational model of training that offers perspective taking as an outcome of diversity training and cross-race friendships as a relational experience that spills over to the training environment. Our first 2 studies, conducted in organizational and academic settings, confirmed the model. Pre- and postcourse assessments revealed that while participants became more aware of the value of perspective taking and their need to improve this skill, only those with close cross-race friends improved their reported perspective taking abilities. Other forms of interracial contact and racial attitudes had no effect. Supporting theoretical predictions, belief in a just world mediated this friendship effect. Given the influence of cross-race friendships, we conclude with a third study that, using an experimental design, examined the effectiveness and underlying processes of a technique that increased participants' willingness to engage in cross-race friendships and other prosocial diversity and ally behaviors at work (e.g., diversity voice). Our findings illustrate the power of relationships and offer new theoretical directions and practical applications for diversity training and education. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

In this study, we integrate two careers-related literatures-callings research and mentoring research-by examining how mentoring relationships might help close the gap between people's perception of a calling and actually living out their calling. Drawing on work as calling theory (WCT; Duffy, Dik, Douglass, England, & Velez, 2018) as a framework, our results first revealed that, consistent with previous research, perceiving a calling is an important antecedent to living a calling. However, in our sample of 129 U.S. teachers, results further showed that the relationship between perceiving a calling and living a calling is stronger for those with a mentor in their profession. We additionally extend WCT by examining both positive and potentially negative outcomes associated with living a calling, focusing on stress-related outcomes. Our findings revealed that, in addition to reporting higher levels of job satisfaction and work engagement, those who were living their calling experienced lower rates of stress-related absenteeism and reported fewer somatic complaints than those who did not believe they were living their calling. In sum, this study is unique in its integration of two focal careers-related literatures, and it provides practical implications for professionals, counselors, educators, and organizations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Organizational scholars concur that supportive work relationships can attach employees to their workplace and improve the quality of organizational life, but they lack insights into how or why this occurs. Moreover, models of social support focus on what relationships provide without considering the fit between what people need and receive from their work relationships. Addressing these limitations, we developed and tested a theoreticalmodel of relational attachment at work using a complementary fit perspective. After validating measures, we tested, extended, and replicated our model in three field studies. Results revealed that employees became more attached to their organization and experienced more beneficial outcomes when they had stronger psychological attachment to others at work. This relational attachment was not driven by general social support, but, rather, by "relational needs fit," which reflects employees' experience of having their needs met by their work relationships. However, receiving more personal support than what was wanted or needed intruded into employees' privacy boundaries and created a "too close for comfort" reaction whereby they pulled back from their work relationships. This "too much of a good thing" finding indicates that, while positive relationships at work are effective, social support should be tailored to individuals' needs.

Diversity education occurs in universities and workplaces, but research has progressed in disciplinary silos. Consequently, the field of diversity training fails to utilize theoretical and practical advances from related fields. Our research addresses these limitations. Integrating educational and social psychology theories, we developed a theoretical model that offers perspective taking as an outcome of diversity training and cross-race friendships as a relational experience that spills over to the training environment. Our first two studies, conducted in organizational and academic settings, confirmed the model. Pre and post-course assessments revealed that although participants became more aware of the value of perspective taking and their need to improve this skill, only those with close cross-race friends improved their reported perspective-taking abilities. Supporting theoretical predictions, belief in a just world mediated this effect for friendship. Other forms of interracial contact had no effect. Given the influence of cross-race friendships, we conclude with a third study that, using an experimental design, examined the effectiveness and underlying process of a technique that increased participants’ willingness to engage in cross-race friendships and other prosocial diversity outcomes at work. Our findings illustrate the power of cross-race friendships and offer new theoretical directions and practical applications for diversity education.

Purpose - Researchers recognize that interpersonal relationships contribute to the career development of professional employees. The purpose of this paper is to extend this research to individuals working at a formative point in their careers. Guided by Social Cognitive Career Theory, a model is developed that tests whether the quality of individuals' work relationships at an early career stage has implications for their development of career cognitions and career exploration behaviors. Design/methodology/approach - Structural equation modeling is used to test the model in two samples of employed students (n = 372 and n = 166). Findings - Coworker relationship quality had a direct influence on career self-efficacy, which led to increased career outcome expectations, goals and exploration behaviors. The influence of supervisor relationship quality was mixed across studies. Research limitations/implications - Findings suggest that the quality of individuals' relational experiences at work, even at an early career stage, has implications that extend beyond the workplace to affect their careers more generally. Practical implications - Results speak to the dangers associated with a poor interpersonal climate for employees at an early career stage, and suggest that managers invest in opportunities that allow these employees to build stronger bonds with coworkers. The results also suggest that career counselors and internship coordinators be sensitive to the interpersonal climate of organizations with whom they contract. Originality/value - This study offers insight into the connection between early employment experiences and individuals' career cognitions and career exploration behaviors.

Recently, diversity, human resources, and international management scholars have devoted increased attention to the study of how migrants, and especially skilled migrants, are reshaping the makeup of organizations. The expanding scope of this research has brought on new and exciting research questions concerning how this influx of global talent may best be utilized and managed. At the same time, researchers are also becoming more aware of the barriers that international and ethnic minority workers face in new labor markets and organizations. With these trends as a backdrop, this symposium brings together five papers that seek to address various issues related to the integration of skilled migrants. In doing so, our goal is to offer deeper insight into the processes by which skilled international migrants may integrate (or not) into new workplaces and contexts, as well as the individual, organizational, and societal factors that may facilitate or hinder this process. This symposium will also feature an interactive component led by two discussants whose work spans the international management, global talent management, diversity, and critical management arenas. The Danish talent paradox Presenter: Dana B. Minbaeva; Copenhagen Business School Presenter: Torben Andersen; Aarhus School of Business and Social Sciences An integrative review of research on different types of global workers Presenter: Aida Hajro; WU Vienna U. of Economics and Business Presenter: Callen Clegg; WU Vienna U. of Economics and Business Presenter: Milda Zilinskaite; WU Vienna U. of Economics and Business Assessing the other: A study on recruiting practices of high-skilled ethnic minorities Presenter: Lotte Holck; Copenhagen Business School Presenter: Laurence Romani; Stockholm School of Economics Presenter: Charlotte Holgersson; KTH Royal Institute of Technology The career transition experience of skilled migrants in Canada Presenter: Roya Rashidi; York U., Toronto The comprehensive global acculturation model and research on highly skilled international migrants Presenter: Yih-teen Lee; IESE Business School

Purpose Most work–life research focuses on the spillover of the nuclear family to the workplace, offering little insight into how other family relationships and friendships can spill over to affect employees’ organizational attachment. Past research has also overlooked the role of relationship quality and the mechanisms underlying these life-to-work spillover effects. Addressing these shortcomings, we integrate the systemic model of community attachment with job embeddedness theory to develop a model of community relational embeddedness and then use this model to examine how nonwork relationships connect people to their workplaces. Design/Methodology/Approach We used survey data from a national sample of 2025 accounting professionals and tested mediation hypotheses using structural equation modeling. Findings Employees’ relationships with friends and family predicted their attachment to their communities, which in turn predicted their workplace turnover intentions. Supporting our theoretical model, bonds with friends and family predicted moving intentions, and community fit and sacrifice mediated these effects. Community fit and sacrifice also predicted work turnover intentions indirectly through moving intentions. Tests also revealed that, surprisingly, friendships had a stronger impact on community attachment than family. Implications Employees are connected to their organizations through an array of close community relationships that extend beyond the nuclear family (i.e., spouse, children). Organizations can enhance employees’ workplace attachment by recognizing the role of friends and offering work–life programs that use a broad conceptualization of family (e.g., adult siblings, parents). Originality/Value Our study illustrates the importance of community relationships to workplace attachment, and the need to incorporate relational quality, nonnuclear family, and friendships in future research.

Summary The influence of attachment theory on organizational scholarship is growing, with more articles published on the subject in the past 5 years than the preceding 25 years combined. Prior research and reviews have primarily focused on attachment styles and their relationship with organizational outcomes. However, in the past 5 years, organizational scholars have begun exploring new directions in attachment research such as situational influences on attachment states, attachment as a moderating variable, and attachment as a dynamic process in various forms of work relationships. These advances offer new directions for organizational behavior research, notably through the lens of the attachment behavioral system—an innate psychological system that accounts for why and how people seek support from others. In this paper, we provide an overarching framework for understanding attachment dynamics in organizations and review key findings from attachment theory research on dyadic relationships, group dynamics, and the employee–organization relationship. We further discuss promising areas for future organizational research on attachment, as well as methodological developments in the priming of attachment states.

Career scholars have long recognized that work relationships are career resources that attach employees to their organizations, but lack insights as to why and how this occurs. To address these concerns, we developed and tested a theoretical model of relational attachment, a construct that reflects employees’ experiences of feeling connected or attached to others at work. Integrating Kahn’s model of meaningful connections with person-environment fit theory, we examined the antecedents and outcomes of relational attachment. After validating our measures, we conducted three field studies that tested, replicated and extended our integrated theoretical model of relational attachment. Supporting theoretical predictions and replicated across studies, employees reported more relational attachment when they experienced relational needs fit, which is the congruence between what they desire and obtain from their work relationships. Relational attachment in turn predicted stronger organizational commitment, decreased absenteeism, and lower turnover rates. Relational attachment also predicted workplace thriving and interpersonal citizenship behaviors, as well as meditated the relationship between relational needs fit and outcomes. Collectively, these findings support our theoretical model and illuminate the processes through which work relationships can attach people to the workplace. Implications for the study of relationships as career resources are discussed.

This study provides a comprehensive examination of how the work–school interface relates to work outcomes such as task performance and job satisfaction. Additionally, this study builds upon past research by examining a range of work- and school-related resources and demands that collectively influence the work–school interface.