Coworker Passion and Its Divergent Effects on Employee Work and Interpersonal Behaviors

Abstract

Adopting transactional theory of stress (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) , this research examines the differential effects of two types of work passion (harmonious vs. obsessive passion) shown by coworkers on the focal employee’s work and interpersonal behaviors. We examined our research model by surveying 318 full-time employees in Mainland China at two time points. Our results reveal that perceived coworker harmonious passion increased the focal employees’ challenge appraisal, which in turn increased their OCB towards coworkers and proactive behavior but decreased their CWB towards coworkers and psychological withdrawal behavior. By contrast, perceived coworker obsessive passion elicited the focal employees’ hindrance appraisal, which in turn decreased their OCB towards coworkers and proactive behavior while increased their CWB towards coworkers and psychological withdrawal behavior. We further discussed the implications for theory and practices.