Abstract
PurposeThis study aims to examine the links between office types (cellular, shared-room, small and medium-sized open-plan) and employees' subjective well-being regarding cognitive and affective evaluations and the role perceived noise levels at work has on the aforementioned associations.Design/methodology/approachA survey with measures of office types, perceived noise levels at work and the investigated facets of subjective well-being (cognitive vs affective) was distributed to employees working as real estate agents in Sweden. In total, 271 useable surveys were returned and were analyzed using analyses of variance (ANOVAs) and a regression-based model mirroring a test of moderated mediation.FindingsA significant difference was found between office types on the well-being dimension related to cognitive, but not affective, evaluations. Employees working in cellular and shared-room offices reported significantly higher ratings on this dimension than employees working in open-plan offices, and employees in medium-sized open-plan offices reported significantly lower cognitive evaluation scores than employees working in all other office types. This pattern of results was mediated by perceived noise levels at work, with employees in open-plan (vs cellular and shared-room) offices reporting less satisfactory noise perceptions and, in turn, lower well-being scores, especially regarding the cognitive (vs affective) dimension.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to compare the relative impact of office types on both cognitive and affective well-being dimensions while simultaneously testing and providing empirical support for the presumed process explaining the link between such aspects.
Highlights
The office environment influences people both individually and at the group level, with potential impact on organizational well-being, productivity and work success, as well as workplace conflicts, sickness absence and jobsatisfaction (Bernstein and Turban, 2018; Bodin Danielsson et al, 2015; Goldman, 1994; Pejtersen et al, 2011; Otterbring et al, 2018a)
Participants who reported that they shared an office with 3–9 colleagues were operationalized as belonging to small open offices, while all the remaining participants who indicated that they worked in an office with 10–20 colleagues were treated as working in medium-sized open offices
The present study aimed to investigate the links between office types and employees’ subjective well-being regarding cognitive and affective evaluations and the role noise levels at work have on the aforementioned associations
Summary
The office environment influences people both individually and at the group level, with potential impact on organizational well-being, productivity and work success, as well as workplace conflicts, sickness absence and job (dis-)satisfaction (Bernstein and Turban, 2018; Bodin Danielsson et al, 2015; Goldman, 1994; Pejtersen et al, 2011; Otterbring et al, 2018a). Research indicates that the choice of office type, defined by its setup of architectural. © Tobias Otterbring, Christina Bodin Danielsson and J€org Pareigis. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
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