ABSTRACT
Multiplex relationships—multifaceted bundles of interactions, emotions, roles, affiliations, and exchanges—are prevalent in organizational life. Relationships between coworkers, supervisors, and clients broaden over time to include multiple bases for interaction, such as friendship, competition, sponsorship, and advice. While there is no debate about the ubiquity or importance of multiplex relationships at work, scholars currently lack an organizing scheme to guide future research and standardize the conceptualization and measurement of multiplexity. In this chapter, we reorient multiplex relationships around their valence, specifically, positive, negative, or ambivalent. This allows us to achieve three goals: (1) disentangle “thicker ties” from “stronger, positive ties,” (2) isolate the valence of the relational elements from their positive or negative consequences, and (3) point a spotlight on ambivalent multiplex relationships, in which positive and negative elements coexist. Taken together, we aim to define the boundaries of multiplexity, broaden and clarify the scope of potential relationships scholars can explore, and set the stage for understanding and theorizing about the nature and functioning of multidimensional relationships.
