Friends and Family: The Role of Relationships in Community and Workplace Attachment

Abstract

Integrating the systemic model of community attachment with job embeddedness theory, we examine the role of community relationships in community and organizational attachment. We offer the construct of community relational embeddedness, defined as the degree to which non-work relationships bind people to their communities. We examine this construct using family and friendship bonds, which respectively involve the quantity, quality and affective value of relationships with family and friends in the community. Using a national sample of 1,894 professionals, we found that respondents’ bonds with family and friends predicted their community fit and sacrifice, which in turn predicted their intentions to leave their communities and ultimately their workplaces. Interesting group differences emerged across gender and for people with partners, for people in dual-career relationships, and for single mothers. These findings highlight the importance of relationships with family and friends in community life and their spillover to the workplace.