Role negotiation is important for newcomers and veterans to communicate mutual expectations and facilitating effective adjustment. However, the risks and challenges involved make it less likely for newcomers to adopt, and its antecedents have been underexplored. Drawing on Socialization Resources Theory, we focus on the resources required for successful negotiation, proposing that specific multiplex relations, rather than single-function ones, promote job-change negotiations and better adjustment. We also identify organizational identification as a key personal resource that moderates this relationship. Specifically, we distinguish early social relations in newcomers’ personal networks based on the strength (strong and weak) of the two major functions (instrumental and expressive), arguing that only multiplex relations strong in both instrumental and expressive functions (i.e., close friends) provide the necessary informational and social resources to encourage proactive negotiations. Data from a four-wave field sample study (N = 186) supports our hypotheses, showing that newcomers with a higher proportion of close friends are more likely to engage in negotiations and achieve better adjustment. In particular, for newcomers with low organizational identification, this relationship is further strengthened. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.
