Relational Balance in the Workplace: Exploring the Moderating Role of Organizational Commitment

This paper uses a diverse organizational sample to test portions of Heider’s (1946, 1958) balance framework. First, a review of balance theory is provided, and then theoretical relationships between relational balance and organizational outcomes (i.e., job satisfaction, unproductivity, and depressive symptoms) are explicated. Following this, the role of organizational commitment is also considered as a moderator of the aforementioned associations. In the main, the results of this investigation indicate that balance has a substantial, positive effect on job satisfaction. The results also indicate that balance combines non-additively with organizational commitment to impact results, such that the negative effects of balance on unproductivity and depressive symptoms are stronger when members are committed to their jobs. These findings point to the importance of considering the impact of relational patterns within organizations, as opposed to considering the impact of any one relationship in particular.