French presents research on work spouses

Dr. Shaunda French, an assistant professor in the social and communication arts department at Chadron State College, shared her research findings regarding work spouse relationships as part of the Graves Lecture Series Tuesday, Oct. 27.

French, who recently received her Ph.D. in communication studies from the University of Southern Mississippi, presented her doctoral dissertation, “My Confidant, My Coworker: The Interpersonal Relationship of Work Spouses,” to an audience of more than 40 students, community members and French's colleagues.

The presentation focused on French’s research into how work spouses, defined by psychiatrist Jacqueline Olds as “a person at work with whom you have a special relationship in which you share confidences, loyalties, experiences and a degree of honesty and openness,” can positively or negatively influence other relationships, including those at work and home.

For her study, French interviewed 24 females and six males, who worked in various occupations from Nebraska to Louisiana, about his or her work spouse relationship, as well as the positive and negative attributes that accompany their bonds. More than half of the 30 participants were interviewed with their work spouse and a majority of the relationships were of the opposite sex. French said same sex work spouses also participated.

The participants, who were selected from a pre-qualifying survey French developed with her doctoral dissertation chair, felt their relationships were all unique and predominantly positive in nature. The majority of participants described their workplace connection as his or her work spouse, and believed it was a unique, intimate relationship.

Because of the close relationship that was allowed to foster in the workplace, many participants spent time outside of work with their work spouses. They also appreciated the fact their spouses made work more enjoyable and were able to share secrets and humor. However, negative attributes also existed and conflicts or difficulties at work could strain the relationships, French said.

“In a lot of intimate relationships, with the good comes the bad. So, not surprisingly, there are positive characteristics and dimensions to having a work spouse and there are also negatives,” French said. “But some of these people were very close. One woman even described to me that her children and her work spouse’s children call each other aunt and uncle.”

French said she wanted to study work spouses because she hadn’t seen much scholarly work done on the subject.

“I wanted to research work spouses because I think a lot of people don’t believe in the concept of work spouses and I do,” she said. “A work spouse is different than having a good friend and I think that has shown up in the research. Although, I also believe, more qualitative and quantitative research needs to be performed.”

French closed her presentation by sharing her definition of a work spouse.

“A coworker someone is invested in, both inside and outside of the work place, as a valued, long-term, intimate partner. Not just a close coworker, a work spouse is a genuine companion with whom one seeks to spend quality time, including outside of the work environment,” she said. “Moreover, work spouse relationships are intimate relationships consisting of high levels of emotional attachment, trust, and respect. Lastly, these unique relationships are often built upon similarities found between the two people; including comparable humor, interests, activities and viewpoints.”

Peggy Hinman will wrap up the Graves Lecture Series Tuesday, Nov. 10, with her presentation “Life: It Depends on How You Look at It.”