Blended relationships: Friends as work associates

Abstract

Researchers of personal relationships for the most part have ignored the social contexts in which the relationship parties are embedded. This study examines blended friendships, i.e., close friends who are embedded in the same work environment, from a relational dialectics perspective. A survey comprised of open‐ended and closed‐ended items was completed by 162 adults who had a close friend as a work associate. Five dialectical tensions were identified: autonomy‐connection, equality‐inequality, impartiality‐favoritism, judgment‐acceptance, and openness‐closedness. The overall amount of reported dual‐role tension was positively associated with organizational formalization and negatively related to relationship closeness. Blended friends were more likely to manage dual‐role tension through Role Integration under conditions of decreasing tension and increasing workgroup cohesion. Status‐unequal friends were more likely than status‐equal friends to manage their dual‐role tension through Selection.

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