Work spouse

A work spouse is a co-worker (usually of the opposite sex)
with whom one shares a special relationship, having bonds similar to those of a marriage

Marriage

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged by a variety of ways, depending on the culture or demographic...

; such as, special confidences, loyalties, shared jokes and experiences, and an unusual degree of honesty or openness. The work spouse is a potentially key relationship when one's actual spouse or boy/girlfriend is not able to understand the nuances of the workplace.

A work spouse is a co-worker (usually of the opposite sex)
with whom one shares a special relationship, having bonds similar to those of a marriage

Marriage

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged by a variety of ways, depending on the culture or demographic...

; such as, special confidences, loyalties, shared jokes and experiences, and an unusual degree of honesty or openness. The work spouse is a potentially key relationship when one's actual spouse or boy/girlfriend is not able to understand the nuances of the workplace. As people work more and more and spend less and less time at home, these hybrid relationships have begun to spawn more and more. While it is not unusual for the relationship to contain elements of flirtation, this relationship can be threatened rather than enhanced if it becomes sexual.

Social documentation

In one 2006 survey, 32 percent of workers said they had an "office husband" or "office wife."

A CNN Money article characterizes the relationship as having the "immediate intimacy [of marriage] without the sex or commitment and cites a report suggesting that such relationships "may not only make you happier with your job but may even improve your chances for promotions and raises."

One source characterizes the relationships as "platonic, very close, opposite-sex couplings, with no romantic strings attached." The phrase is, however, sometimes used for same-sex relationships.

Historical uses

The phrase "office wife" was common during the 1930s, popularized by Faith Baldwin

Faith Baldwin

Faith Baldwin was a very successful U.S. author of romance and fiction, publishing some 100 novels , often concentrating on women juggling career and family...

's 1930 novel The Office Wife and its 1930 movie adaptation

The Office Wife

The Office Wife is an American Pre-Code romantic drama film directed by Lloyd Bacon, released by Warner Bros., and based on the novel of the same name by Faith Baldwin. It was the talkie debut for Joan Blondell who would become one of the major Warner Bros...

. But the concept, if not the exact phrase, is much older: a 1933 New York Times article says:

It is curious that the phrase "office wife" originated with Gladstone. He used to say that a Minister and his secretary should understand each other as perfectly as a husband and wife, which principle he reduced to a system.

"Office wife" carried the connotation of subordinance or subservience. As feminism began to take hold in the 1980s, it became common to hear that "Many secretaries resent the 'office wife' syndrome," referring to being asked to do such things paying personal bills for a boss, picking up everything from dry cleaning, or dusting the office. "I'm getting paid as a secretary," said one secretary. "I'm not a personal servant."

Modern usage

According to Timothy Noah, writing in Slate, "The terms 'work wife,' 'work husband,' and 'work marriage' entered the national lexicon in 1987, when the writer David Owen wrote a groundbreaking Atlantic essay describing a particular Platonic intimacy that frequently arises between male and female employees working in close proximity."

An executive coach and workplace adviser noted that as of 2005, "The workplace spouse is a relatively new concept... Many people don't know what to make of it yet. It is only within the last 25 years that men and women have become peers in the workplace... This new camaraderie, coupled with long hours spent at work, has caused a fundamental shift in the way people conduct business and interact with one another."

Sociological and psychological implications

With so many of the quality hours of a day spent at work, having someone there who has an intuitive understanding of the pressures, personalities, interactions, and underlying narratives of the workplace society can add safety and comfort to what can otherwise be an alienating environment.

The work spouse relationship appears to be fostered by the propinquity

Propinquity

In social psychology, propinquity is one of the main factors leading to interpersonal attraction. It refers to the physical or psychological proximity between people. Two people living on the same floor of a building, for example, have a higher propinquity than those living on different floors...

 effect and contain thoughts and feelings associated with the term limerance.

This new social relationship is unique to the social milieu of the late 20th and early 21st century; and as a result the sociological and psychological implications this new social relationship poses to Western Society's traditional notions of love, marriage and friendship have not yet been fully explored.