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Intimate Work

A Typology of the Social Support That Workers Provide to Their Network Members

Indiana University–South Bend, GMcGuire{at}iusb.edu

Although the job and career functions of workers' networks have been well documented, there is little understanding of the social support that workers provide to their network members. This article addresses this gap by developing a typology of social support that workers provide to their network members. Drawing on interview data from 40 employees, the author identifies six types of social support that vary in terms of their intimacy, emotional energy expended, nonemotional resources required, frequency of expression, and function. The author concludes by discussing the implications of this typology for our understanding of workplace intimacy and the benefits of informal networks in work organizations.

Key Words: social networks • social support

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