Romance in the workplace Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Romance in the workplace - Research Paper Example (Quinn, 1977) It is important to know that how these workplace romances affect an individual’s productivity and all the negative sides of this phenomenon and positive sides; if there are any. The substance of this prose focuses on this highly intriguing aspect of the society that is gaining so much popularity. The prose will further highlight the positive and negative consequences and how various authors and research analysts view the subject. There has been much debate on the subject and this prose will objectively discuss all facets of workplace romances and how it compromises professionalism in the workplace. II. Literature Review As mentioned earlier, there are a number of researchers who have done substantial amount of researches regarding romance in a professional environment. Robert E. Quinn was the pioneer in producing a prolific research and article that provides ample amount of information on the subject. The study was then followed by Lisa Mainiero, who further disc usses and updates the research conducted by Quinn in 1977 that paves way for an accurate comparative analysis to be drawn and clearly shows how the society has changed from what it was in the 70’s to what it has become now. According to Robert E. Quinn, about 60% of people had either known about a workplace romance or were in such a relationship themselves. A more recent research in to the matter by Lisa Mainiero puts the figure at 76% and this only shows how drastically the numbers have risen. As professional life becomes more and more challenging for an average individual, it often renders them incapable of maintaining a healthy social life. As a result, people usually turn to people in their workplace in search for romance and hence, there are a number of repercussions that an individual experiences. (Mainiero, 1989) Hence, the most commendable fact about the researches done by Mainiero and Quinn is that their hypotheses are backed up by statistical evidences, which not on ly gives qualitative but also quantitative insight in to the subject. Quinn has further stated that only 10% of the cases resulted in increased coordination amongst the employees and led to greater understanding. However, in most cases the romance usually creates more problems in the working environment than benefits. Though, there may be some statistical variation but Quinn’s work is the pioneer and forms the basis for further research. (Mainiero, 1989) III. Study of Human Effectiveness The study of human effectiveness has a strong association with how one function in his or her professional environment. Professional growth is highly important aspect that contributes to self-actualization as hypothesized by John Maslow and this ideology was further propagated by his hierarchy of needs. Therefore, office romances not only hinder one’s ability to view things objectively but also results in nepotism and widespread favoritism in the workplace. The findings of Quinn showed that only 10% of organizations showed increased coordination and understanding amongst employees, however, the remaining 90% of the organizations showed a highly negative impact of workplace romances on the entire fabric of the organization. (Montana & Charnov, 2004, p. 238; Quinn, 1977 cited in Mainiero, 1989) It is human nature when an individual becomes romantically involved with someone in his or her workplace, the individual is likely to become biased and often treat