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Gender similarity, coworker support, and job attitudes: An occupation’s creative requirement can make a difference

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2018

Gamze Koseoglu Open the ORCID record for Gamze Koseoglu [Opens in a new window] ,
Terry C Blum  and
Christina E Shalley
Gamze Koseoglu*
Affiliation:
Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of Melbourne, MelbourneVIC, Australia
Terry C Blum
Affiliation:
Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
Christina E Shalley
Affiliation:
Sharon M. and Matthew R. Price Chair, Professor of Organizational Behavior, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: gamze.koseoglu@unimelb.edu.au
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Abstract

By introducing gender similarity as a contextual antecedent of coworker support, we examined the mediating role of coworker support for the relationship between workgroup gender similarity and job attitudes. In addition, we explored how a creative requirement, which is an occupational characteristic, can influence the relationship between coworker support and job attitudes above and beyond the role of supervisor support and organizational support. Results based on 975 full-time employees across a wide variety of occupations and industries indicated that as expected coworker support can serve as an underlying mechanism in the relationship between the relational demography of a workplace and employees’ job satisfaction and intention to quit. Furthermore, coworker support was significantly related to job satisfaction only for those occupations that required high levels of creativity. Finally, the creative requirement of an occupation moderated the indirect effect of gender similarity on job satisfaction through coworker support.

Keywords

coworker supportcreative requirementgender similarityjob attitudes
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 26 , Issue 5 , September 2020 , pp. 880 - 898
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2018

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