Workplace Loneliness: A Comprehensive Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

COVID-19 contributed to greater transparency regarding a stigmatized yet increasingly important topic for managers and organizations: workplace loneliness. However, the academic literature on the topic of workplace loneliness is quite nascent and lacks an established nomological network to guide research. The present manuscript reports the results from an initial meta-analytic review of the factors associated with workplace loneliness among employed individuals. This research provides the first quantitative review of these effects based on empirical research from a variety of disciplines, including management, psychology, education, and public health. The results of these meta-analyses reveal nontrivial positive relationships between workplace loneliness and negative work-related experiences and attitudes, including burnout, job stress, and turnover intentions. Similarly, workplace loneliness is significantly negatively associated with positive work-related experiences and attitudes, including engagement, organizational commitment, performance, and creativity. Notably, workplace loneliness is not significantly associated with age, gender, or level of education. These meta-analytic results have implications for current theoretical models of workplace loneliness, as well as important practical implications for the development of organizational policies and procedures that effectively address and reduce workplace loneliness.