Relationship closeness predicts embarrassment

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kendell Thornton
Author(s):  
Ellen Berscheid ◽  
Mark Snyder ◽  
Allen M. Omoto

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 971-982 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yonggui Wang ◽  
Daniel Peter Hampson ◽  
Myat Su Han

Purpose This study aims to examine the positive and negative consequences of relationship closeness between salespersons and their business customers in a B2B sales context: sales performance and salesperson passive opportunism. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the social exchange theory, the authors develop a conceptual model of positive and negative consequences of relationship closeness. The authors empirically test the model using matched survey data from 269 salesperson-sales supervisor dyads and individual sales performance ratings from one of the largest distribution and market expansion companies in Myanmar. Findings Results provide evidence of positive (i.e. sales performance) and negative (i.e. salesperson passive opportunism) consequences of salesperson’s perceived relationship closeness. These relationships are, however, contingent on organization-level and employee-level factors. High extent of supervision enhances the effects of salesperson’s perceived relationship closeness on sales performance but attenuates its influence on salesperson passive opportunism. The effect of salesperson’s perceived relationship closeness on salesperson’s passive opportunism is stronger for salespersons with a promotion (vs prevention) focus. Research limitations/implications The results offer guidelines to firms seeking to optimize the efficacy of close relationships between their salespersons and customers. For example, higher levels of supervision could increase the likelihood of positive outcomes of relationship closeness while minimizing its negative consequences. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to demonstrate not only the benefits of relationship closeness between salespersons and customers but also its dark side: the relationship closeness paradox.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Theeranuch Pusaksrikit ◽  
Sydney Chinchanachokchai

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of cultural differences and the types of relationship closeness involved in recipients’ emotional and behavioral reactions after receiving disliked gifts. Design/methodology/approach Collecting data from Thailand and the USA, two experiments were conducted in a 2 (self-construal: independent/interdependent) × 2 (relationship closeness: close/distant) between-subjects design. Study 1 explores the recipients’ feelings and reactions upon receipt of a disliked gift. Study 2 explores the disposition process for a disliked gift. Findings The results show that a recipient’s emotions, reaction and disposition process can be affected by cultural differences and relationship closeness: specifically that close and distant relationships moderate the relationship between self-construal and gift-receiving attitudes and behaviors. Research limitations/implications Future research can investigate representative groups from other countries to broaden the generalizability of the findings. Practical implications This understanding can guide gift-givers when selecting gifts for close or distant recipients across cultures. Additionally, it can help retailers develop and introduce new marketing strategies by applying self-construal as a marketing segmentation tool for gift purchase and disposition. Originality/value This research is among the first studies to offer insights into how individuals in different cultures manage disliked gifts they receive from people in either close or distant relationships.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (8-9) ◽  
pp. 2551-2577
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Ledbetter ◽  
Kristen Carr ◽  
Gentry Lynn

Using a sample of 312 people in a romantic relationship with a partner who has a spinal cord injury (SCI), this study examined the separate and combined effects of caregiving tasks, resilience, and received support on the participant’s level of psychosocial distress. We also tested whether such distress might mediate the effect of the predictors on romantic relationship closeness. Results supported the beneficial effects of both resilience and receiving high-quality support, although the timing of the injury moderated these effects. Injuries sustained after relationship initiation particularly threaten well-being and closeness and, along with the burden of caregiving tasks, alter the extent to which received support and resilience are associated with health and relationship benefits. These results suggest that support providers should be sensitive to the context of the SCI and, for scholars, indicate the importance of further theorizing context in the theory of resilience and relational load.


2000 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 464-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett Laursen ◽  
Peter Noack ◽  
David Wilder ◽  
Vickie Williams

Adolescents in Germany and the United States completed questionnaires describing reciprocity, authority, and closeness in relationships with mothers, fathers, and friends. Reciprocity was linked to authority within and across friendships and parent-child relationships; reciprocity and authority were linked to closeness within and across parent-child relationships, but neither within friendships nor across friendships and parent-child relationships. Median splits divided adolescents into high and low closeness groups for each relationship to determine differences in reciprocity and authority. Patterns of reciprocity varied as a function of relationship closeness and nationality, as well as by age and gender. Patterns of authority differed by nationality only.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-243
Author(s):  
Hang Zhu ◽  
Pengxiang Zhang ◽  
Xiaoyan Han ◽  
Ting Huang

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to unveil how family involvement in management teams of private Chinese companies affects professional managers’ psychological ownership and sense of “us”, in the hopes of understanding why their devotion cannot coexist with the higher level of commitment of family managers. Design/methodology/approach This paper includes two main studies. The first uses regression to analyze survey data provided by 165 professional managers working in Chinese private companies. The second is a scenario experiment in which 106 MBA candidates participate. Findings The study finds that there is a negative relationship between family management involvement and professional managers’ perceived relationship closeness to owners and psychological ownership of firms. It also finds that relationship closeness fully mediates the negative influence of family management involvement on managers’ psychological ownership. Originality/value This paper contributes to both the theoretical literature and management practice. From a theoretical perspective, it connects studies in indigenous sociological psychology with new literature on psychological ownership. The paper finds that personal relationships nurture the shared psychological ownership of managers by generating a sense of “us”, providing a new theoretical explanation for its formation process. Furthermore, this study offers an explanation for the negative signal effect of family involvement in management. From a practical perspective, this study finds that family involvement in management acts as a critical boundary condition for using personal relationships to stimulate professional managers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S305-S305
Author(s):  
Jenessa C Steele ◽  
Amanda Chappell ◽  
Rachel Scott

Abstract Emotional responses to disrespect tend to be negative (Hawkins, 2015). Little is known about how responses to disrespect vary across age groups and relationship closeness. It is unknown whether older adults have more emotional protection against disrespectful experiences, or are more deeply affected due to relationship closeness. Overall, we might expect that older adults react less negatively to disrespect compared to young adults, as they are more-skilled emotion regulators (Carstensen, 1991; English & Carstensen, 2014). We aimed to explore if, and under which circumstances, older adults are more or less sensitive to disrespect compared to younger adults. Three hundred participants responded to six scenarios illustrating ignored disrespect. Participants were randomly assigned to close or distant relationship disrespect scenarios. Relationship closeness was first determined by requesting participants identify a person in each layer of Kahn and Antonucci’s (1980) Social Convoy Model. Identified names were then automatically inserted into the six scenarios. Emotional responses and sensitivity to each scenario were recorded. Participants in the close condition reported more sensitivity to disrespect and negative emotions than participants in the distant condition. Females reported more sensitivity to disrespect and negative emotions than males. We did not find overwhelming support for age differences in responses to disrespect. A single scenario indicated younger participants more sensitive to disrespect than older participants. Findings suggest it is more hurtful to be disrespected by someone close to you and females may be more sensitive to disrespect than males. More research investigating the role of age in disrespect is needed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 4048-4056 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicki S. Helgeson ◽  
Meredith Van Vleet

We adapted the widely used measure of relationship closeness, the Inclusion of Other in Self Scale (IOS), to assess communal coping (IOS-CC). Communal coping is a construct that reflects a shared appraisal of a stressor (“our problem” instead of “my problem”) and collaborative action to manage the stressor. We administered the IOS and the IOS-CC to a racially and economically diverse sample of persons with type 2 diabetes and their partners ( n = 207 couples) and examined how a subset ( n = 85 couples) interpreted the IOS-CC as well as the IOS. The IOS-CC was largely interpreted as intended. The IOS reflected interpersonal connection, as expected, but also a number of other relationship constructs. The IOS-CC and IOS were positively related, but empirically distinguished by stronger connections of the IOS-CC to communal coping and stronger connections of the IOS to relationship quality. Future researchers should consider using the IOS-CC to measure communal coping when a simple, visual, and less time-intensive measure is needed and consider the different ways the IOS is conceptualized by diverse populations.


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