사회적 관계와 협조적 행동 : 집단 및 조직 수준의 관계특성을 통한 다층적 분석 = A Multi-level Analysis of Social Relationships and Cooperative Behavior

국문 초록 (Abstract)

협조적 행동(cooperative behavior)은 집단과 조직의 성과를 결정하는 핵심적인 요인이다. 지금까지 조직연구에서 협조적 행동의 선행요인으로 개인특성, 직무태도, 인상관리와 같은 개인 수준의 요인들이 연구되어 왔다. 그러나 조직 내 사회적 관계가 개인의 협조적 행동에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구는 매우 부족한 실정이다.
조직에서 개인의 행동은 자신이 소속된 집단 혹은 조직 전체 수준에서의 교환관계로 이해될 수 있다. 따라서 협조적 행동의 원인을 사회적 관계에서 찾을 경우, 개인이 속한 집단과 조직 전체의 사회적 관계를 다층적(multi-level)으로 고려하고 접근해야 한다.
본 연구는 교환이론(exchange theory)과 사회적 네트웍 이론(social network theory)을 기반으로 개인의 협조적 행동을 예측하는 집단 및 조직 수준의 네트웍 변수들의 차별적인 효과를 살펴보았다. 이를 위해 국내 11개 기업에 종사하는 284명의 구성원들로부터 얻은 자료를 바탕으로 조직 내 다층적 관계가 개인들의 협조적 행동에 미치는 영향을 분석하였다.
분석결과, 개인이 속한 집단 내에서 맺고 있는 사회적 관계가 그 개인이 조직 전체에서 맺고 있는 사회적 관계보다 개인의 협조적 행동을 더 잘 예측할 수 있음을 확인하였다. 구체적으로 집단 내 친교 네트웍에서 개인의 내향 중심성(indegree centrality)과 관계의 중첩성(multiplexity)이 높을수록 개인의 협조적 행동은 증가하였으나, 조직 전체의 친교 네트웍에서는 동일한 네트웍 특성이 협조적 행동에 영향을 주지 못하는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 연구결과에 근거하여 다층적 교환모형에 기반 한 협조적 행동 연구가 가지는 이론적 및 실무적인 시사점을 제시하였다.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Cooperative behaviors have been studied as one of the major topics in economics, sociology, and social psychology. Organizational researchers have also recognized that cooperative behaviors are crucial to the success of organizations. In spite of the lack of consensus on a definition of cooperation, cooperative behaviors in organizations can be broadly defined as organizational members’ willingness to help or work with others, even when it is neither formally demanded nor rewarded.
Despite the increasing interests in cooperative behaviors in organizational research, most previous works have focused on individual attributes such as personalities, work attitudes, and impression management motives as the antecedents of cooperative behaviors. However, an individual’s behaviors are seldom driven exclusively by his or her individual characteristics(e.g.,personal disposition or attitudes). Individual actors in organizations are embedded in social relationships with others, and individual behaviors including cooperative behaviors are also influenced by others in organizations.
Recently, several studies have suggested the importance of contextual factors, especially social network characteristics for explaining individual cooperative behaviors. However, few studies have examined the effects of different levels of social relationships on cooperative behaviors in organizations. Interpersonal relationships with other people at different levels of organizations(e.g., group- and organization-level) can have different impacts on members’ cooperative behaviors. In this study, we explored two research questions about the relationships between individual actors’ social relationships and their cooperative behaviors at different levels in organizations : (1) How an individual’s network characteristics will influence that person’s interpersonal cooperative behaviors?; (2) How an individual’s network characteristics at different levels in organizations will have different effects on that person’s interpersonal cooperative behaviors?
Many studies on cooperative behaviors have drawn on social exchange theory as the basis for predicting cooperative behaviors. In organizational life, people are embedded in multiple relationships not only in groups to which they belong but also in overall organization. Those individuals develop exchange relationships with their group members and other coworkers outside their immediate groups. Thus, we expect that members’ cooperative behaviors will be affected by their network characteristics derived from their different social relationships at different levels in organizations.
In this study, we focus on an individual’s network centrality and multiplexity as the relational antecedents of that person’s cooperative behaviors. Individuals occupying central positions in the networks tend to be more prestigious and powerful, and can easily access useful information and resources. It makes more central individuals potentially more available for help requests from other people. Moreover, previous studies have suggested that central individuals are more likely to perceive their roles more broadly (Brass, 1981) and are more sensitive to opportunities for interpersonal cooperative behaviors (Venkataramani & Dalal, 2007).
The extent of network embeddedness also provides a context for an individual’s cooperative behaviors. If some coworkers in organizations are also friends for social gatherings after work, they are involved in multiple domains together, and connected in both emotional and instrumental exchanges through multiplex ties. In multiplex relationships among individuals, one’s behavior in one context also affects that person’s behaviors in another context. As a result, multiplex relations tend to constrain the individual’s behaviors. Previous researches also maintain that embedded social structure encourages the emergence of norms and the establishment of trustworthiness (Granovetter,