The Push-and-Pull of Frenemies: When and Why Ambivalent Relationships Lead to Helping and Harming

We integrated theories of social exchange and emotional ambivalence to explain how ambivalent relationships influence interpersonally directed helping and harming behaviors. Using multiple methodologies, including a study of student teams, an experiment, and a quasifield study of retail employees, we compared ambivalent relationships with positive and negative relationships. Our three studies provide convergent evidence that ambivalent relationships with coworkers are positively related to both helping and harming behaviors. These dueling effects were mediated by the experience of ambivalent emotions. We also demonstrate that ambivalent emotions, and their downstream behavioral effects were amplified when individuals in ambivalent relationships had strong affiliative interpersonal goals. Overall, our findings have implications for theory on the relational antecedents of helping and harming, social exchange theory, and the effects of ambivalence in organizations.