The long walk together: The role of institutionalized socialization in shaping newcomers' future expectations about their networks

• Published in: Journal of vocational behavior Vol. 137; p. 103757
• Main Authors: Jiang, Jane Yan, Ashforth, Blake E., Li, Jia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.09.2022
• Subjects: Altruistic helping; Extra-role behaviors; In-role performance; Organizational socialization; Social networks; Taking charge; Social networks; Taking charge; Extra-role behaviors; In-role performance; Organizational socialization; Altruistic helping
• ISSN: 0001-8791; 1095-9084
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jvb.2022.103757

Although a future orientation plays an important role in Van Maanen and Schein's (1979) classic conceptualization of organizational socialization tactics, human resource management practices and scholarly research tend to focus on individuals' adjustment to the present. We address this significant gap by investigating how institutionalized socialization facilitates newcomer outcomes via its impact on newcomers' expected long-term friendship and cooperation networks. Based on construal level theory, we argue that expectations about one's long-term networks reflect perceptions of the stable nature of one's current networks. A 4-wave study with two samples of newcomers in diverse Chinese organizations found that institutionalized socialization predicted positive development in the size of newcomers' current and expected networks, which in turn predicted managers' ratings of newcomers' in-role performance and extra-role behaviors in the form of altruistic helping and taking charge. The study thus documents a relatively unknown benefit of socialization on newcomers' future expectations about their social relationships and the impact on newcomers' behaviors. •Newcomers’ behaviors are affected by the expected development of their current network.•Organizational socialization practice can change newcomers’ expectations about the future.•Newcomers’ current cooperation networks can enhance in-role performance.•Current cooperation networks and positive expectations about friendship networks' development lead to helping behaviors.•Newcomers’ positive expectations about their cooperation networks development lead to taking-charge behaviors.