Detrimental Workmate Love Relationship

1. I would never get romantically involved with someone from work
Introduction
Workplace romantic relationship refers to the mutual love attachment/consensus that is
committed in intimate affairs like dating, kissing, sexual intercourse, hugging and fondle
touching. The workplace romantic relationship is hierarchical (between a worker and
supervisor/manager), lateral (between subordinate staffs), heterosexual (opposite genders) and
homosexual (same gender). There is growing data and concern regarding workplace romantic
relationship and its outcomes. The implication of these research is that a romantic relationship
can either be pivotal, constructive or destructive as far as the employee job performance, job
satisfaction, and organizational commitment are concerned (Mainiero, 1993).
2. I agree never to get romantically involved with someone from work
Psychologically, it is normal that the more time people of different genders stay together,
the higher the chances of developing affectionate feelings. In a workplace, the condition is not
exceptional. Many workmates fall in love with their fellow workmates. The affection results
from the physical attraction of beauty and handsomeness or the character and personality
combination. However, the romantic relationship in a workplace is disregarded and not
recommended. It is against the business ethics to engage in a love relationship in a workplace
because in most cases it causes jeopardy to the company. Having a romantic love relationship
with a coworker is an impending danger to the work performance, individual and professional
development (Wilson, 2015).
3. American Society Attitude on Workplace Romantic Relationship

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As indicated by Hernandez (2016), in American society, socialization is allowed and vital
in daily interactions. Between 1950s and 1980s, there was an intense gender and racial
revolutions in the United States. During this era, women had no rights to work or participate in
public affairs. Therefore, romantic relationship at workplace was minimal. However, as the years
advanced to the current equal rights American society, love relationships emerged at workplaces.
Hernandez (2016) suggests that in America, romantic affection with a workmate induces a fair
level of stigma. The research conducted by Shuck, Owen, Manthos, Quirk & Rhoades (2016)
shows that romantic workplace relationships amount to about 76% of the work-related stigma in
an office setting. According to Shuck, Owen, Manthos, Quirk & Rhoades (2016), it is
outstanding that it is against the rule to date a workmate. The reasons for this warning include the
risk to lose a job, the experience of uncomfortable feeling at work and creation of workplace
private dramas that might hurt the professional reputation of the victims. In case a work is in a
love relationship with a coworker is dangerous. For instance, when the relationship fails to work
smoothly, it will influence tarnishing effects such as causing an emotional toll. This is against the
workplace ethics and professional code of conducts.
4. Physical/biological Reasons for Agreement
Manager-staff romantic relationship is aligned with the unfair treatment of others while
favoring the partner. In a workplace, dating a boss/manager is hazardous. Having a romantic
relationship with a boss is a red flag for the company's human resource. The relationship attracts
V.I.P treatment to the partner and trashy treatment for other workers. As a result, the worker's
professional reputation is at risk since having a romantic relationship with a boss has a legal
implication. Essentially, manager-worker/staff relationship causes unequal treatment such as
differing paychecks and workplace etiquette (Shuck, Owen, Manthos, Quirk & Rhoades, 2016).

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Workplace romantic relationship leads to PDA behavior at the office. Such a relationship
is a vulnerable factor to bad morals in a workplace. The victims end up being attracted to shoddy
and uncouth behaviors like hand-holding and sexual intercourse in public (Doll & Rosopa,
2015). The displays of affection in public are strictly condemned in the workplace. No one who
is interested in watching footsie under the conference room table during a crucial meeting. The
personal life and professional brand should be differentiated. The behavior violates the
organizational culture and ethics. Despite the fact that everybody in the workplace is aware of
our romantic relationship, make it private, don't go flaunting anyhow. Such flaunting behaviors
might result in the uncomfortable attitude among the workmates. Ultimately, the results of
having a manager-staff romantic relationship hurt the company's performance and productivity
(Wilson, 2015).
Pierce, Aguinis & Adams (2000) says that the romantic relationship in a workplace is a
risk factor to harassment possibilities. For instance, when one of the workers is making intimate
sexual relationship advances to another work and the moves backfire, the unwilling worker
reports the case to the human resource as unwanted love advances. This will encourage much
embarrassment and self-esteem that might hurt the person's abilities. As a result, harassment will
negatively impact the professional career. Basically, the harassment might cause job termination
or lose a job due to poor performance and job stigmatization (Shuck, Owen, Manthos, Quirk &
Rhoades, 2016).
5. Social Reasons for Agreement
The research conducted by Doll & Rosopa (2015) demonstrates that approximately 60
percent of the people dated in workplaces experiences the pressure of acting professionally. On
the other hand, 51% of the people surveyed depicted that they were more worried about gossips

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by the other workers. Additionally, a third of the workplace romantic relationship people felt
judged by their colleagues because of their relationship. Around one out of six workplace
partners made fun of while one out of ten got discrimination against workplace romantic
relationship. Considering this survey on the reality of romantic relationship in workplaces, the
relationship will typically ruin the individual performance and ultimately, the organization
performance.
It is dangerous to have a love relationship with a coworker. For instance, when one
worker gets involved in a romantic affair with another worker within the same department and
received a promotion. Then, you are in a romantic relationship with a subordinate staff. The
situation jeopardizes the chances of good performance (Doll & Rosopa, 2015). The relationship
opens up the susceptibility of work-based blackmail incidences. When the promoted worker
conducts work-based performance reviews, is likely to favor the “sweet love.” As a result, other
workers will get envious and jealous. Ultimately, the resulting effects include work-related
conflicts and fights. The culture of the company will be violated and the performance of the
organization put in shod. Therefore, it is against the rules of the company to have a romantic
relationship within the same department in a workplace.
Khan, Du Jianguo, Mushtaq & Usman (2018) suggests that a relationship in a workplace
is not a private affair, it as well impact on the behavior of other workers. Logically, the private
romantic involvement of two workers within the same workplace significantly affects the
coworkers directly. Consciously and subconsciously, the love connections impact the decisions
arrived at in the work-related programs. The romantic affair might color other workers' judgment
regarding the promotions, projects, responsibilities and team-building efforts. As a result, this
relationship will influence challenges and difficulties in the department. Also, depending on the

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victims' position in the company, the relationship might hurt the company's effective operation
and coordination.
6. Personal Reasons for the Agreement
In my own opinion, maintaining workplace romantic relationship cool is hectic and
regularly hurts partner's feelings. There is a frequent feeling of envy and jealousy resulting from
a suspicious attitude that another man or woman is tampering with your partner. Therefore, one
needs much energy and concentrated efforts to maintain the office love relationship. For
instance, when other workers discover the affair between two coworkers, they become the
subject matter of ridiculous and suspicion discussions. For example, "I can't believe she's going
out with him," and "Of course he got the raise, look who he's dating." Therefore, if one wants
other workers and the people outside focus on his/her professional competencies, thus he/she
should not give them any reason of fueling rumor mill. For instance, they should not get involved
in the workplace romantic relationship (Wilson, 2015).
7. Argument for Workplace Romantic Relationship
Despite the fact that numerous research has highlighted various disadvantages of having a
romantic relationship in workplaces, there are other research studies that advocate for such
relationships with claims that they improve job satisfaction and work performance. The literature
by Khan, Du Jianguo, Mushtaq & Usman (2018) suggests that workplace love relationship has
constructive impacts on the employees' job performance. The work-related romantic association
participant works tirelessly for improvement with the aim of impressing their lovers by
compensating their previous negative perceptions. As a result, the job performance of the
individual's increases. Additionally, such relationships influence happiness and joy among the
participants. Hypothetically, happy employees exhibit high job performance. Work romance

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enhances job satisfaction because the participants feel psychologically settled, thus more
innovative in ideas as well as experimentations that improve their satisfaction.
Conclusion
Conclusively, when the positivity and the negativity of work-related romantic
relationship are weighed, the negative side outweighs the positive side. In most cases, romantic
feelings outweigh the passion for the job. The participants of work-related love affair spend most
of their moments in love-related activities. This is a destructive effect of the relationship. Again,
unless if they are married couples, dating partners might experience disagreement at any time.
There is a high probability of love wrangles due to high competition for the same partner with
other workers. Therefore, the participants experience negative publicity, harassment, litigations,
depression and sexual exploitation (Pierce, Aguinis & Adams, 2000). These feelings are
detrimental to job performance at an individual level and overall performance of the company.
Therefore, it is against the business ethics to engage in a love relationship in a workplace
because in most cases it causes jeopardy to the company. Having a romantic love relationship
with a coworker is an impending danger to the work performance, individual and professional
development.

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References

Doll, J. L., & Rosopa, P. J. (2015). Workplace romances: Examining attitudes experience,
conscientiousness, and policies. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 30(4), 439-453.
Retrieved from https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/JMP-11-2012-0368
Khan, M. A. S., Du Jianguo, A. A. H., Mushtaq, T. U., & Usman, M. (2018). Affective
commitment foci as parallel mediators of the relationship between workplace romance
and employee job performance: a cross-cultural comparison of the People's Republic of
China and Pakistan. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 11, 267. Retrieved
from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6064156/
Mainiero, L. A. (1993). Dangerous liaisons? A review of current issues concerning male and
female romantic relationships in the workplace. Women in management: Trends, issues,
and challenges in managerial diversity, 162-185.
Pierce, C. A., Aguinis, H., & Adams, S. K. (2000). Effects of a dissolved workplace romance
and rater characteristics on responses to a sexual harassment accusation. Academy of
Management Journal, 43(5), 869-880. Retrieved from
https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/1556415
Shuck, B., Owen, J., Manthos, M., Quirk, K., & Rhoades, G. (2016). Co-workers with benefits:
the influence of commitment uncertainty and status on employee engagement in romantic
workplace relationships. Journal of Management Development, 35(3), 382-393.
Retrieved from https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/JMD-02-2015-0014
Wilson, F. (2015). Romantic relationships at work: why love can hurt. International Journal of
Management Reviews, 17(1), 1-19. Retrieved from
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ijmr.12034

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Hernandez, A. H. (2016). Mexican Americans in the workplace: Cultural identity, role salience,
and work-life balance. Alliant International University.