| An investigation of the role played by interpersonal interactions in acquiring information required for organizational socialization was conducted by focussing on the correlations between the frequency of specific interactions with four types of coworkers (mentors, peers, senior colleagues, department chairs) and knowledge in six content domains identified as dimensions of organizational socialization by Chao et al. (1994) (politics, organizational goals and values, people, performance proficiency, organizational environment, history). One hundred and one university faculty members (39 males, 62 females) in tenure-track positions participated in the study. Results indicate that three of the six dimensions of socialization (organizational goals and values, people, organizational environment) are significantly related to interactions with coworkers. The relationship between interactions with specific coworkers differed depending on the respondent's sex, involvement in a mentoring relationship and length of tenure. Findings suggest that coworker interactions play a role in organizational socialization which changes over time. |
