Commentary: Who Are Your Friends? The Influence of Identification and Family In-Group and Out-Group Friendships on Nonfamily Employee OCB and Deviance

Abstract

We refine the findings of Vardaman, Allen, and Rogers that indicate the structural position of nonfamily employees in friendship networks can enhance organizational identification and reduce turnover in family firms. We extend their work by offering a more nuanced perspective that not all friendships are created equal. We propose that a family friend’s membership in the family in-group or out-group influences nonfamily employees’ organizational identification, and in turn, their behavior (i.e., organizational citizenship behavior and deviance). Our theorizing expands the nascent literature on nonfamily employees, offering a theoretical rationale for their complex and often poorly understood behavior.