Positive Social Interactions and the Human Body at Work: Linking Organizations and Physiology

• Published in: The Academy of Management review Vol. 33; no. 1; pp. 137 - 162
• Main Authors: Heaphy, Emily D., Dutton, Jane E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Briarcliff Manor Academy of Management 01-01-2008
• Subjects: Anatomy & physiology; Employee interaction; Hormones; Human physiology; Human resources; Immune system; Management research; Management science; Organization theory; Organizational behavior; Organizational identity; Organizational research; Physical health; Physiology; Professional relationships; Psychological stress; Quality of education; Social interaction; Student interaction; Studies; Work place
• ISSN: 0363-7425; 1930-3807
• DOI: 10.5465/amr.2008.27749365

Human physiological systems are highly responsive to positive social interactions, but the organizational importance of this finding largely has been unexplored. After reviewing extant research, we illustrate how consideration of the physiology of positive social interactions at work opens new research questions about how positive social interactions affect human capacity and how organizational contexts affect employee health and physiological resourcefulness. We also address the practical implications of integrating physiological data into organizational research. Our paper invites a fuller consideration of how employees' bodies are affected by everyday work interactions and, in so doing, encourages a stronger tie between human physiology and organizational research.