Courtship Among The Cubicles: Proceed With Caution

DAVID PITT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Out of sight, out of mind. So seems to be the approach that many corporations take when it comes to workplace romances.

Still, while the spotlight put on David Letterman's dalliances with staffers may have been surprising because of who was involved, research shows most of us are no strangers to office relationships. They're a frequent occurence that's often tolerated even though they can make us uncomfortable.

Recent surveys show that as many as four in 10 workers have been involved in a romance at work and a large majority of workers say they have observed an office fling at some point.

It seems that most of us don't mind people hooking up at work, but there are a few exceptions.

"If it's a peer relationship and it's perceived to arise from love, people are generally OK with it," says Amy Nicole Salvaggio, a psychology professor at the University of New Haven. "With a boss and a subordinate or if one is married, it gets a very negative reaction."