The need to belong: Relational coping strategies in the face of coworker envy

Abstract

We develop a theoretical framework delineating employees' relational coping strategies in the face of co-worker envy. Drawing upon belongingness theory, we explicate why and how the perception of being envied prompts employees to engage in social reconnection behaviors inside and outside of their work teams. We propose that in-group versus out-group targeted relational coping strategies are linked to different foci of proactivity. In particular, prosocial helping in the face of co-worker envy increases team-oriented proactivity, whereas network extension leads to career-oriented proactivity. We further posit that social integration in the team moderates envied employees’ relational coping strategies and subsequent proactivity. We test these hypotheses in a multi-source survey among teams in various industries and firm sizes and find support for the mediating mechanism. Furthermore, the results of a multilevel analysis suggest that high social integration in the team strengthens the indirect effect of being envied on team-oriented proactivity via prosocial helping behaviors.