Problematic Relationships in the Workplace

Contents: Steve Duck/Megan K. Foley/D. Charles Kirkpatrick: Uncovering the Complex Roles Behind the «Difficult» Co-worker - Janie M. Harden Fritz: Typology of Troublesome Others at Work: A Follow-up Investigation - Meina Liu/Patrice M. Buzzanell: When Workplace Pregnancy Highlights Difference: Openings for Deterimental Gender and Supervisory Relations - Patricia M. Sias: Workplace Friendship Deterioration - Jon Hess/Becky L. Omdahl/Janie M. Harden Fritz: Turning Points in Relationships with Disliked Co-workers - Becky L. Omdahl/Janie M. Harden Fritz: Stress, Burnout, and Impaired Mental Health: Consequences of Problematic Work Relationships - Janie M. Harden Fritz/Becky L. Omdahl: Reduced Job Satisfaction, Diminished Commitment, and Workplace Cynicism as Outcomes of Negative Work Relationships - Michael W. Kramer/Claire L. Tan: Emotion Management in Dealing with Difficult People - Terry A. Kinney: Should I Stay or Should I Go Now? The Role of Negative Communication and Relational Maintenance in Distress and Well-Being - Jon A. Hess: Distancing from Problematic Coworkers - Ronald C. Arnett: Professional Civility: Reclaiming Organizational Limits - Sandra Metts/William R. Cupach/Lance Lippert: Forgiveness in the Workplace - Becky L. Omdahl: Towards Effective Work Relationships.

The Editors: Janie M. Harden Fritz is Associate Professor of Communication & Rhetorical Studies at Duquesne University. Dr. Harden Fritz conducts research on communication processes that connect, sever, and restore the ties that bind individuals to the institutions of which they are a part. Her work has been published in Management Communication Quarterly, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Public Management and Social Policy, and elsewhere. Becky L. Omdahl is Professor in the Department of Communication, Writing, and the Arts at Metropolitan State University. Her research interests include the reception, management, and communication of emotion in interpersonal and organizational contexts, empathy, stress, and burnout. Her articles appear in such journals as Communication Monographs and Journal of Advanced Nursing, and she authored Cognitive Appraisal, Emotion, and Empathy (1995).

«This is an important book that goes beyond formulaic treatments and simplistic answers. It focuses instead on the processes that underlie problematic work relationships and on interaction strategies for responding to difficult others and for building healthy relationships. In so doing it offers authentic hope for a civil workplace. This volume will help us understand and hopefully remedy the quiet desperation so many workers experience on a day-to-day basis.» (From the Preface by Marshall Scott Poole, Professor, Communication Department, Texas A&M)