Your new experience awaits. Try the new design now and help us make it even better

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.

Sec. Organizational Psychology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1537617

Beyond Flirtation: Social Sexual Behavior and Employee Innovation -The Moderating Effects of Gender and Social Sexual Behavior Frequency

Provisionally accepted
  • Baird Liberal Arts College, Soongsil University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

This study investigates how supervisors' social sexual behavior (SSB) influences subordinates' psychological social resources and innovative behavior, with particular attention to the moderating roles of gender and SSB frequency. Analysis of survey data from 212 employees across South Korean private sector organizations revealed that favorable perceptions of supervisors' SSB positively affected subordinates' psychological social resources, which in turn enhanced innovative behavior. The relationship between SSB and psychological social resources was moderated by gender, with female employees experiencing stronger positive effects compared to their male counterparts. However, high frequency of SSB attenuated its positive impact on psychological social resources, suggesting an optimal threshold. These findings contribute to the emerging literature on workplace SSB by highlighting its potential role in fostering innovation through psychological resources, while emphasizing the importance of considering individual differences and contextual factors. The results provide practical implications for organizations seeking to cultivate an environment conducive to innovation while maintaining appropriate interpersonal boundaries.

Keywords: Social sexual behavior, psychological social resources, Innovative behavior, gender, social sexual behavior frequency, Moderating effect

Received: 12 Mar 2025; Accepted: 04 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Jang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Eunmi Jang, Baird Liberal Arts College, Soongsil University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.