An Examination of Individually Performed and (Co)Managed Facework: Unique Communication within the Work-Spouse Relationship

Abstract

While more researchers have begun to study the work-spouse relationship and made claims that it is unique, scholars have yet to specifically examine how, if at all, communication in the workspouse relationship is different from that with other coworkers. Facework was used as a theoretical lens to analyze data from 41 indepth interviews with work spouses. Findings highlight how participants presented themselves in unique ways within the work-spouse relationship, how work spouses (co)managed positive and negative face needs within the relationship, and the distinctive communication that serves as the basis for these work-spouse relationships. Finally, this relational context provides evidence for the complexity of Facework Theory in close, ongoing relationships, particularly in the blurring of preventive and corrective facework.

Privacy Rule Decision Criteria: An Examination of Core and Catalyst Criteria that Shape Disclosures in the Work-Spouse Relationship

“…Future researchers could also examine the extent to which Communication Accommodation Theory (Shepard et al, 2001) might be able to explain the adjustments individuals make to their communication in order to accommodate individuals who they recognize as having different privacy preferences than their own. Finally, while there has been some research examining work spouses specifically (French, 2015; McBride & Bergen, 2015; McBride et al, 2020; Miller-Ott, 2019; Whitman & Mandeville, 2019), scholars should further tease out the ways that this work relationship is communicatively unique from other close work relationships and examine whether or not particular individuals gravitate to this sort of relationship more so than others.…”

“…Last, managers may benefit from a roadmap about managing private information in their own work-spouse relationships. Our findings suggest that, for work-spouse relationships that are specifically hierarchical in nature (whether hierarchical throughout the relationship or originally formed as a peer relationship), managers must carefully navigate work-related disclosures in ways that allow them to meet the emotional needs of their work-spouse relationship while also protecting private organizational information (see McBride et al, 2020, for a review of communicative facework strategies appropriate for this situation). We suggest that work spouses may want to explicitly discuss their privacy rule decision criteria with regard to workplace information so they can make disclosure decisions that simultaneously nurture their work-spouse relationship and protect their professionalism.…”

“…Such relationships have been studied in terms of the time spent with one another "outside of work, the importance of the relationship, comparisons of other intimate relationships, positives of work spouses, and negatives of work spouses" (French, 2015, p. 47). Among studies examining the specific communication among work spouses, McBride et al (2020) found that work spouses present themselves in unique ways within the work-spouse relationship compared to other workplace relationships through their (co) management of each other's positive and negative face needs. Yet, given the limited research on this relationship type, further exploration of the communication between work spouses is needed to understand why private information is shared and how, if at all, organizational structures influence or are influenced by work spouses' interpersonal communication.…”

Does social distancing make the heart grow fonder? The impact of work spouse interaction frequency on organizational outcomes

“…The findings suggest that work spouses, in addition to providing instrumental and emotional support by serving as a confidant or someone to vent to, also help to motivate and challenge one another, make work enjoyable or, in some cases, bearable, and fill a role that their real spouse/partner is not able to fill when it comes to understanding work-related issues (McBride and Bergen, 2015). More recent studies have found the work spouse relationship to be distinct from communication with other coworkers (McBride et al, 2020a). Not only do work spouses present themselves differently with their work spouses than they do with other coworkers, allowing their work spouses to see the more vulnerable side of them, but they will adjust their communication in ways that violate their core privacy rules due to the unique level of trust shared between work spouses (McBride et al, 2020b).…”

“…The findings suggest that work spouses, in addition to providing instrumental and emotional support by serving as a confidant or someone to vent to, also help to motivate and challenge one another, make work enjoyable or, in some cases, bearable, and fill a role that their real spouse/partner is not able to fill when it comes to understanding work-related issues (McBride and Bergen, 2015). More recent studies have found the work spouse relationship to be distinct from communication with other coworkers (McBride et al. , 2020a).…”