Relational Infrastructures and Gig Worker Well-Being: Social and Parasocial Interaction Rituals

In organizations, reliably patterned interactions and role-relationships offer emotional resources central to workers’ well-being. In the gig economy, however, workers lack a ready relational infrastructure. Through two studies, a longitudinal repeated measures study of independent scientists and an interview study of gig and organizational workers paired in a variety of occupations, we examine how work relationships shape workers’ well-being in the gig economy and develop theory about how gig workers build relational infrastructure. Analysis of the longitudinal data reveals how relational challenges affect gig workers’ well-being. Analysis of the rich interview data shows that while organizational workers can rely on stable relationships, gig workers intentionally craft interactions with a variety of relational partners, including imagined interactions, to support their well-being. Mobilizing theory of social interaction and rituals, we demonstrate how these interactions, which we characterize as reaching out or reaching in, create positive energy and emotions that form the building blocks of gig workers’ relational infrastructure, ultimately helping workers cope with relational challenges. We detail contributions to scholarship on work relationships and well-being, interaction rituals, and people’s experiences in the gig economy.