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Lean on me: A daily-diary study of the effects of receiving help in coworking spaces

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Abstract

Although receiving help is largely viewed as a positive gesture, we argue that some people may interpret being helped differently depending on their self-views. We focus on help received while working in the novel context of coworking spaces. Coworking space members differ from traditional coworkers in that they are not structurally linked to each other and may even work in a different industry, thus eliminating the competitive and political trappings of normal workplace help exchanges. Employing a daily-diary methodology and applying affective events theory (AET), we confirm that being helped via the provision of feedback, problem solving, emotional support, and network connections results in both daily- and person-levels of vigor. Person-level vigor, in turn, impacts the creativity and coworking space departure intentions of the worker one month later. We further predict and find, consistent with self-verification theory, that participants with higher self-esteem experience more vigor resulting from receiving help from others as compared to those experiencing lower self-esteem. Collectively, these findings suggest that some people may benefit from working in these new work contexts more than others.

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... As a result of receiving help, recipients have been shown to experience bolstered skill development, enhanced creativity, and improved job performance (Lennard & Van Dyne, 2018;Mueller & Kamdar, 2011). Received help has also been shown to increase vigor and subsequent creative performance (David et al., 2023) and, in the form of social support, has been shown to promote employee resilience -especially under conditions of high performance pressure (Cooke et al., 2019). Drawing from JD-R and COR, we suggest that receiving help when under conditions of performance pressure should reduce employee exhaustion, thereby preserving limited cognitive and emotional resources that are required for acts of interpersonal organizational citizenship behavior. ...
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This paper develops an understanding of coworking spaces as organizational phenomena. Based on an ethnography of betahaus in Berlin, we demonstrate how coworking spaces not only provide a sense of community but also pattern the work activities of their members. We theorize this finding by drawing on the emergent literature on organizationality. Our contribution is twofold. First, we challenge current understandings of coworking spaces as neutral containers for independent work. Instead, we show how coworking incorporates the disposition of becoming organizational. That is, coworking spaces can frame and organize work and may even provide a basis for collective action. Second, we add to research on organizing outside traditional organizations by drawing attention to the complex and shifting interplay of formal and informal relationships in such settings. In so doing, we inform current debates about new forms of organization and organizing. 3
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In the organizational sciences, scholars are increasingly using experience sampling methods (ESM) to answer questions tied to intra-individual, dynamic phenomenon. However, employing this method to answer organizational research questions comes with a number of complex—and often difficult—decisions surrounding: (1) how the implementation of ESM can advance or elucidate prior between-person theorizing at the within-person level of analysis; (2) how scholars should effectively and efficiently assess within-person constructs; and (3) analytic concerns regarding the proper modeling of interdependent assessments and trends, while controlling for potentially confounding factors. The current paper addresses these challenges via a panel of seven researchers who are familiar with not only implementing this methodology, but also familiar with related theoretical and analytic challenges in this domain. The current paper provides timely, actionable insights aimed towards addressing several complex issues that scholars often face when implementing ESM in their research.
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Affective responses constitute the mechanism by which abusive supervision received is associated with subordinates’ turnover intentions. Using affective events theory (AET) as a theoretical framework, we suggest that abusive supervision is a contextual event that is associated with subordinates’ affective reactions and corresponding evaluative judgment of their workplace, which ultimately leads to increased turnover intentions, a prominent withdrawal outcome. We examine two affective responses as mediators, hope (a goal-related affective state based on the expectation of positive outcomes) and affective commitment (affect-based evaluation of the organization). Two samples from a field study (n = 209) and an experiment (n = 427) were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results supported our proposed chain of relationships, suggesting that subordinates are likely to experience decreased hope and affective commitment after having experienced abuse from a supervisor, which subsequently impact their withdrawal intention to leave the organization.
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Building on an inductive, qualitative study of independent workers—people not affiliated with an organization or established profession—this paper develops a theory about the management of precarious and personalized work identities. We find that in the absence of organizational or professional membership, workers experience stark emotional tensions encompassing both the anxiety and fulfillment of working in precarious and personal conditions. Lacking the holding environment provided by an organization, the workers we studied endeavored to create one for themselves through cultivating connections to routines, places, people, and a broader purpose. These personal holding environments helped them manage the broad range of emotions stirred up by their precarious working lives and focus on producing work that let them define, express, and develop their selves. Thus holding environments transformed workers’ precariousness into a tolerable and even generative predicament. By clarifying the process through which people manage emotions associated with precarious and personalized work identities, and thereby render their work identities viable and their selves vital, this paper advances theorizing on the emotional underpinnings of identity work and the systems psychodynamics of independent work.
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Despite the simplicity of Diener's (1984) tripartite formulation of subjective well-being (SWB) – comprising life satisfaction (LS), positive affect (PA), and negative affect (NA) – ambiguity remains concerning its structure. Emerging research suggests a resolution based on a hierarchical conceptualization comprising a latent SWB factor with three indicators (PA, NA, LS). Extending previous research, we meta-analysed correlations among PA, NA, LS (k = 40 samples, N = 34,298). Meta-analytic correlations were moderate in magnitude and in the anticipated directions, and did not vary significantly as a function of sample characteristics. Further, PA, NA, and LS had substantial loadings on a latent SWB factor. Results thus provide strong support for the generalizability of the associations among PA, NA, and LS, as well as the robustness of a hierarchical structural conceptualization of SWB.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to extend the current knowledge on psychological contagion and crossover by investigating the crossover of task-specific engagement (a positive, fulfilling state of mind) among group members. The paper also examines whether this crossover process is reinforced by strong group cohesion or by higher a priori levels of task engagement of the most engaged group member. Design/methodology/approach The authors operationalized crossover as within-group convergence on individual engagement over time. The authors studied this process in 43 newly formed groups performing a dynamic, interactive building task under controlled laboratory conditions, allowing the authors to observe the crossover process from a “zero” point, before any mutual influences had occurred. Findings Group member engagement scores indeed converged over time, supporting the proposed crossover effect of engagement, especially when the most engaged group member was highly engaged at the beginning of the group task. Unexpectedly, the explanatory role of group cohesion was not convincingly supported; the crossover of engagement was no stronger in groups with high cohesion. Practical implications These findings show that task-specific engagement is indeed transferred among group members, particularly when the most engaged group member is highly engaged. Originality/value Previous studies on psychological contagion and crossover were mainly focused on dyadic relationships and specific emotions or impaired well-being. The findings add to this literature by addressing the crossover of engagement – a more complex, beneficial psychological state – among group members and provide new input for developing and sustaining engagement in and of groups.
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Coworking spaces have been established in great numbers around the globe over the past 10 years. Previous studies on coworking spaces argue that these spaces are designed to enable serendipitous encounters. Here we introduce the concept of an economy of encounters, arguing that both intended and unintended encounters have become a form of production in the knowledge-based new economy. This paper draws upon the critical analysis of three case studies of different coworking settings − two open coworking spaces and a corporate coworking office. Following Deleuze and Guattari, we see coworking spaces as affectual assemblages that create affects that push knowledge workers in flow and motion to enable the formation of new kinds of heterogeneous and constantly changing work communities, where serendipitous encounters become a force of production. We argue that this commodification of a social phenomenon, i.e. the intentional use of affectual assemblages of people, objects and ideas to create serendipitous opportunities, ignores the precariousness of contemporary work.
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As more individuals are working remotely, many feel increasingly isolated and socially adrift. To address this challenge, many independent workers are choosing to work in coworking spaces – shared spaces where individuals do their own work but in the presence of others with the express purpose of being part of a community. In this qualitative, single case study, we analyze how members of a coworking space work together to co-construct a sense of community through their day-to-day interactions in the space. We apply a relational constructionist lens to unpack the processes of ‘community work’ as an interactive, agentic process. We identify three types of collective actions, or interacts, that contribute to a sense of community: endorsing, encountering, and engaging. These interacts represent different forms of community work that members interactively accomplish to maintain a desired community experience. The rapidly growing coworking movement offers insights, as uncovered in this study, on how to integrate a sense of community into the world of work.
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Organizational researchers are increasingly interested in model ing the multilevel nature of organizational data. Although most organi zational researchers have chosen to investigate these models using traditional Ordinary Least Squares approaches, hierarchical linear models (i.e., random coefficient models) recently have been receiving increased attention. One of the key questions in using hierarchical linear models is how a researcher chooses to scale the Level-1 indepen dent variables (e.g., raw metric, grand mean centering, group mean centering), because it directly influences the interpretation of both the level-1 and level-2 parameters. Several scaling options are reviewed and discussed in light of four paradigms of multilevellcross-level research in organizational science: incremental (i.e., group variables add incremental prediction to individual level outcomes over and above individual level predictors), mediational (i.e., the influence of group level variables on individual outcomes are mediated by individual perceptions), moderational (i.e., the relationship between two individ ual level variables is moderated by a group level variable), and sepa rate (i.e., separate within group and between group models). The paper concludes with modeling recommendations for each of these paradigms and discusses the importance of matching the paradigm under which one is operating to the appropriate modeling strategy.
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This paper examines the role of status distance (i.e., the magnitude of status differences between coworkers) in understanding interpersonal helping in organizations. Results from an experiment and a field study show a curvilinear relationship between status distance and helping, with less help provided to those at relatively small and large status distances from oneself, and relatively more help offered to those at moderate status distances. While prior work on status differences has primarily considered status ordinally (i.e., rank ordering of individuals), or in terms of direction (i.e., whether someone is higher or lower status), the current work takes a more exacting look at status differences, providing insights into the relationship between status and helping that would have been overlooked if relying solely on the traditional ordinal approach to social hierarchy. These findings offer an empirical basis and theoretical motivation to consider status distance as a critical variable in future work examining the effects of status differences on interpersonal dynamics. Importantly, this work also offers a relevant and timely perspective for managers debating the costs and benefits of various hierarchical arrangements in organizations.
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Few studies have examined immediate stress resistance during massive crisis. In this paper, 56 Israeli women whose loved ones were mobilized into the Israeli Defence Forces were evaluated as to their coping resources and psychological distress during the first week of the June 1982 Israel—Lebanon conflict. Coping traits (self-esteem and mastery) were negatively related to psychological distress (state anxiety and state depression). These internal coping traits were seen as immediately available to individuals, despite the suddenness of the event. Contrary to predictions, social support was related to greater psychological distress. The unexpected findings for social support are attributed to a “pressure-cooker” effect, whereby war rumors were spread rapidly and women with more intimate relationships were more exposed to the sorrows of others. Alternatively, social support may have been adversive to women with high self-esteem who chose to master life challenges independently. The importance of studying im...
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The nature of work has become increasingly flexible and autonomous, leading many workers to feel isolated and socially adrift as they are increasingly working virtually or remotely. To address this challenge, independent workers are beginning to work in coworking spaces – shared spaces where independent workers do their work alone but together with the express purpose of creating a feeling of community. In this study, we draw on ethnographic observation and interviews to analyze how members of one coworking space work together to co- construct a sense of community through their day-to-day practices in the space. We introduce a performativity lens to research on community in the workplace and develop a conceptualization of community as a co-constructed accomplishment through engagement in a set of community- oriented practices. We identify three pathways to creating a sense of community: espousing, learning, and enacting. Each pathway represents a different form of community work that members can choose to engage in to achieve a desired level of community. The rapidly growing coworking movement offers insights, as uncovered in this study, on how to integrate an authentic sense of community into the world of work.
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The authors propose that a reciprocal resource gain spiral forms between coworker-based perceived social support and trust, which leads to coworkers investing personal resources into each other across work days. The authors extend conservation of resources theory by differentiating between resource investment behaviors, the perceived availability of resources, and perceptions about investment instrumentality while also examining accumulation effects that have been previously untested in studies of gain spirals. The authors confirm their hypotheses with data collected over five working days from 177 pairs of coworkers (employee N = 354) working across a wide range of jobs and industries. The authors also offer practical implications of this spiral, limitations of this research, and future directions for research on conservation of resources theory, resource investment, and day-level studies of employee behaviors.
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In this article, we examine the history and development of job embeddedness, beginning with the story of the idea's conception, theoretical foundation, and original empirical structure as a major predictor of employee voluntary turnover. We then consider more recent expansions in the theoretical structure and empirical measurement of job embeddedness, exploring job embeddedness as a causal indicator model versus a reflective model. Next, we review some promising expansions of embeddedness to new domains (e.g., family embeddedness) as well as important contingency factors that enhance or diminish its impact. Finally, we describe how job embeddedness affects important organizational outcomes beyond turnover, including job performance, organizational citizenship behavior, innovation, and the development of social and human capital. Throughout the article, we provide our opinions on how the theory and research on embeddedness have progressed as well as ideas on how it can be improved.
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Researchers have argued that creativity is intrinsically motivated, and that rewarding creativity can stifle creativity. Using a sample of 310 employees reporting to 50 different supervisors, we instead show that rewarding creativity influences the relationship between creativity and performance by changing the nature of expressed creativity. We do this by examining novelty and usefulness as separate dimensions. High perceived reward enhances the relationship between novelty and performance while diminishing the relationship between usefulness and performance. The moderating effect of reward for creativity on the relationship between creativity and performance was not observed when we operationalized creativity as an integrated, uni-dimensional construct.
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In this study, we examine when creativity is positively or negatively related to firm performance. Building on the creation–implementation tension theorized in the literature and the attention capacity perspective, we argue that the relationship between creativity and firm performance is contingent on riskiness orientation, firm size, and realized absorptive capacity. Data were collected from 761 core knowledge employees, 148 CEOs, and 148 HR executives from 148 high‐technology firms. The results indicated that core knowledge employee creativity was negatively related to firm performance when riskiness orientation was high. The relationship was positive when realized absorptive capacity was high. Finally, the relationship was more positive in small firms than in large firms. We discuss the implications of our findings for creativity research and managerial practices.
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This paper shows that receiving help could be psychologically harmful for recipients, and passing on help to others after receiving help (“helping forward”) is a good strategy to improve and restore help recipients' self-competence. Participants (N = 87) received autonomy- or dependency-oriented help and anticipated helping forward or not. Compared to receiving autonomy-oriented help, receiving dependency-oriented help negatively affected participants' self-competence and their evaluation of the helper. Anticipation of future helping increased the liking for and evaluation of the helper. After paying help forward, participants felt more self-competent than before helping, and this effect was more pronounced among former recipients of dependency-oriented help. These results show that helping forward can negate the psychological threat associated with receiving help.