EROS at Work: Intimacy, Romance, and the Organizational Self

Abstract

This study explores the emotional life that quietly unfolds within professional institutions. Workplaces are often regarded as spaces of discipline, schedule, and rational conduct. Yet behind formal titles and structured roles stand human beings who carry warmth, emotions, longing, memories, and a persistent need for connection. Through sociological reflection, psychological theory, and autobiographical narration, emotional attachment in organizational life is examined as a gradual human phenomenon that appears through gestures, symbols, and acts of giving, while its asymmetry and eventual withdrawal leave deep and lasting imprints on the inner world of individuals. Drawing upon the works of Erving Goffman, Anthony Giddens, John Bowlby, Robert Sternberg, Arlie Hochschild, Marcel Mauss, and others, the study argues that intimacy in workplaces is not an unusual interruption of professional life but a natural outcome of human proximity, shared purpose, and emotional familiarity. The study reflects on cultural values, religious ethics, moral conflict, and the pain of emotional withdrawal. It further suggests that workplace romance should be understood not merely as a scandal or distraction but as a dimension of the broader human search for warmth, recognition, meaning, and emotional connection.