Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to adapt the job demands–resources perspective to extend social
network literature by examining the effectiveness of psychological (work engagement and emotional
exhaustion) and instrumental (access to benefits) mechanisms as mediators of the relationship between
employees’ centrality in positive and negative ties networks and job performance.
Design/methodology/approach – The survey data were collected from 103 employees working at a public
bank in three stages.
Findings – The study results supported the hypotheses that an individual’s centrality in a negative network
increases his/her experience of emotional exhaustion, while individual centrality in a positive network
increases his/her work engagement. In addition, the findings showed that centrality in positive networks will
be more predictive of work engagement when negative ties centrality increases, and the relationship between
centrality in the negative network and emotional exhaustion is weaker when centrality in the positive
network is higher.
Originality/value – The study extends out to the social ledger model (Labianca and Brass, 2006) by
examining the dual pathways of effects of positive and negative ties in predicting employee outcomes.
In addition, the authors’ model enriches the understanding of the nature of social network ties more broadly
by suggesting that its effects in the workplace can extend beyond psychological effects to include
instrumental impact.
Publication Date
9/1/2019
Publisher
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management
عامر علي العطوي | Amer Ali Al-Atwi | 11084