Workplace Features and the Cognitive Activation of Social Ties

Abstract

Social network research has investigated how people mobilise their social ties at work to achieve desired outcomes, devoting less attention to how people cognitively activate, or “call to mind”, their social ties in the first place. To begin to address this gap, in this paper we explore some factors influencing the extent to which people cognitively activate four different types of workplace social ties (daily communication ties; weekly communication ties; trust ties; friendship ties). In particular, we explore the role of physical features of the workplace in shaping the cognitive activation of these four types of social ties. We draw on detailed data on the spatial features of workspaces, face-to-face interactions, and the cognitive activation of social ties among 91 individuals in a business incubator. We find that, net of actual interactions, spatial factors such as individuals’ propinquity, occupancy of open vs. private offices, and location near shared physical resources (e.g., printers, meeting roo...