I have an idea of how to refine your research regarding work
friendships and job satisfaction. An article found there to be a
significant relationship between the amount of time spent outside of
work with work friends and life satisfaction (Endrejat, 2018). I would
propose we expand the research of your first mentioned article to
include measuring the relationship between work friendship significance
and life satisfaction. We could perform a descriptive study to
address the question, how does work friendship significance influence
life satisfaction? The variables of interest would include life
satisfaction, work friendship significance, and job satisfaction and we
would control for age and gender. A 3 question Likert scale could
be used to assess each variable given the options agree, disagree,
or neutral. Operational definitions for variables include life satisfaction
as indicating I am satisfied with my life, significant work friendships
as indicating my work friendships extend beyond work hours, and
job satisfaction is indicating I am gainfully employed. We could
measure the strength of the variables using descriptive statistical
analysis to show correlational strength.
I’m getting back to you regarding your research findings on the
relationship between friendships and job satisfaction. b I can see
from the empirical articles you cited that supervisor integrity is
positively associated with job productivity and that friendships enhance
the social aspects of a workplace. b I’d like to work together with
you to further study the impact that friendships have on job
satisfaction. b As the Bible says, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man
sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17 ESV (English Standard Version
Bible, 2001).
I propose that we create a study that evaluates the positive
impacts of friendships on job satisfaction. b I found an additional
source that concluded that some of the positive effects are: feelings
of trust, opportunities for open communication, and mutual interests
in gathering outside of the workplace (Potgieter, Coetzee, & Ferreira,
2018). b For our study I believe we should survey both men and
women who self-identify as having friendships at their workplace. b
We could further manipulate the variables by only using participants
who spend time with these people out of work too. b This would
solidify their friendship rather than just looking at people who get
along at the workplace. b Our independent variables would be 20
men and 20 women who have developed friendships at their
workplace. b Our independent variable would be the perceived positive
impact on their job satisfaction. b We would interview all of the
participants and ask both open-ended and close-ended questions to
gather our data. Both the articles have been reviewed in an
elaborative manner. From the articles that you have cited, I can
see that there exists a relationship between friendship in the
workplace and job productivity. I would like to work along with you
in order to extend the studies and analyze the impact of workplace
friendships on the outcomes of individuals. The study will aim at
extending the reviewed articles. The proposed study will be
experimental in nature as we will be carrying out surveys in order
to discover the real impact.
The independent variable of interest in the study would be the
prevalence of friendships in the workplace. It would be measured
with the use of 5 points Linkert scale. Our dependent variables
would be the performance of individuals, feeling of engagement, and
dedication. All these variables can be measured with the use of
the self-appraisal approach. The proposed study will extend the
results of both the studies that have been reviewed. We will
interview the participants in order to collect data for analysis.I found
additional resources that shed light on the effects of friendship on
individual performance, job satisfaction, as well as engagement in the
workplace. The study was conducted by taking employees from both
private and public sectors and providing them with valid
questionnaires through their email (Balaban & Özsoy, 2016). In the
study, it was found out that workplace friendship had a significant
impact on dedication, absorptions, vigour, as well as job satisfaction
of the individuals. However, no significant impact was found on the
performance and work engagement of the individuals. This is an
interesting topic as relationships and friendships at work can have
an impact on job satisfaction. I have information from an article
that relates to the study you mention. In the article he authors
focus was on the friendship of men and women in the workplace.
The purpose was to determine whether the friendship was related to
gender, salary, or job satisfaction (Markiewicz et al., 2000). The
research looked at whether there was a difference between the
friendship of men and women in the workplace. Personal
relationships between men and women were also a factor.The study
takes a qualitative approach to the friendship, salary, and job
satisfaction as it relates to men and women in the workplace.
Based on the study friendship of women at work is more dominant
than that of male colleagues. However, men are more likely to
have more interactions with their female colleagues both at work
and outside of work. Variables used in this study include
organizational position level, status tenure, age, educational background,
and job characteristics (Markiewicz et al., 2000). There were 25
individuals interviewed in which the grounded theory analysis was
used.Questionnaires were used to determine the depth of men and
women friendship at work. Questionnaires were used to determine
men and women friendship at work as well as job satisfaction and
salary. Descriptive statistics using multivariate, univariate analysis,
regression analysis, MANOVA, and Pearson correlations were also
conducted in the research. According to the scales used for this
research it showed psychometric properties and used test/retest
reliability and a coherent factor structure.The participants in the study
were voluntary and informed that their responses would be
confidential, and each participant received a copy of the results by
mail. The sample size included 89 females and 86 males from
different occupations within the workplace.This is a great research
topic for us to further address. I look forward to speaking with
you to continue our research on men and women in the workplace.
Reference
Markiewicz, D., Devine, I., & Kausilas, D. (2000). Friendships of
women and men at work: Job b b satisfaction and resource
implications. Journal of Managerial Psychology. 15(2).
Balaban, Ö., & Özsoy, E. (2016). Effects of workplace friendship on
individual outcomes. Bartın Üniversitesi İktisadi İdari Bilimler Fakültesi
Dergisi, 7(13), 326-338.
