Workplace Loneliness Research Articles

Workplace loneliness mediates the relationship between perceived organizational support and job performance: Differing by extraversion.

This study investigated the mediating role of workplace loneliness relating perceived organizational support to job performance, as well as the moderating role of extraversion in such relationship. 332 full-time Chinese employees from various enterprises voluntarily participated in the two-wave surveys via either paper-and-pencil or online survey conducted at Credamo and Tencent Questionnaire website. Hierarchical regression and bootstrapping analyses were employed to examine the hypotheses. Results indicated that workplace loneliness partially mediates the linkage between perceived organizational support and job performance; extraversion serves as a moderator in the relationship between workplace loneliness and job performance, as well as the mediating role of workplace loneliness linking perceived organizational support to job performance, such that the relationship is stronger when extraversion is high. Supplementary analyses revealed that social companionship, but not emotional deprivation, serves as a mediator in the relationship between perceived organizational support and job performance; extraversion enhanced the direct influence of social companionship on job performance, as well as the indirect influence of perceived organizational support on job performance via social companionship. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Study of Influential Mechanism of Workplace Loneliness and Knowledge Hiding

In the digital era, enterprises need a series of innovative practices to stand out in the fierce market competition. The role of unique intellectual resources is particularly important in maintaining competitive advantages compared to other replicable production resources. Knowledge is an intangible asset that requires a people carrier in order to be used and circulated in organizations, innovation is often born in this process. Managers have invested a lot of resources to facilitate knowledge sharing, but to protect their personal interests, employees may implement knowledge hiding to maintain their own assets and unique status, so that making knowledge management practices have little effect in organizations. Knowledge hiding behavior has gradually become a topic of academic concern in the field of knowledge management. In this era, the epidemic has further driven changes in employees' work environment and methods, reducing human contact and giving rise to workplace loneliness. In recent years, domestic scholars have also begun to pay attention to this negative emotional experience in the workplace and have conducted studies on negative work behaviors triggered by workplace loneliness. In this study, we focus on the mechanism of workplace loneliness on knowledge hiding behavior and construct a research model based on the resource conservation theory and the job demands - resources model. Specifically, workplace loneliness is used as the independent variable to influence knowledge hiding through the mediating effect of emotional exhaustion, and high involvement work system is introduced as the boundary condition to verify its moderating effect on the first and second stages of the model.

Workplace loneliness and job performance: moderating role of person-environment fit

PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to study the effect of workplace loneliness on job performance. This paper also examined the mediating role of employee well-being and psychological safety and the moderating role of person–environment fit (PE fit).Design/methodology/approachA multi-rated research design was used to collect data. Data were collected from 382 employees and their 97 supervisors of various Indian organizations. The data of job performance was collected from the supervisor of every team. The questionnaire for data collection was distributed at two different time intervals to reduce common method bias.FindingsThe findings of this paper supported the role of PE fit in minimizing the negative effect of workplace loneliness–well-being relationship and workplace loneliness and psychological safety relationship. The model also tested the association between workplace loneliness and job performance when the relationship is moderated by PE fit and mediated by well-being and psychological safety.Originality/valueThis paper examines the workplace loneliness from the lens of PE fit theory.

Flexible Work Arrangements and Employees' Knowledge Sharing in Post-Pandemic Era: The Roles of Workplace Loneliness and Task Interdependence.

Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) have become prevalent working norms in the post-pandemic era, but are they beneficial to employees' work? From the theoretical perspective of social exchange, previous studies have viewed FWAs as supportive practices that facilitate employees' functional intrapersonal outcomes. However, little is known about the interpersonal effects of FWAs. Based on the affective events theory, this study aims to elucidate why and when FWAs are associated with employees' knowledge sharing. A web-based survey of 314 respondents (Study 1) and a three-wave field research study of 343 employees (Study 2) provided valid questionnaires to examine the hypothesized theoretical relationships. Our findings reveal that employees who frequently adopt FWAs would produce a persistently negative affective experience-workplace loneliness-further discouraging their intentions to share knowledge with coworkers. The specific work-characteristic conditions in this relationship-task interdependence would mitigate the dysfunctional effect of FWAs on employees' knowledge sharing via workplace loneliness. Our study advances the understanding of FWAs' dysfunctional impacts on employees' knowledge sharing from the theoretical perspective of affective reactions. Our findings remind managers to avoid the interpersonal pitfalls of FWAs by increasing task interdependence among employees.

Relative Importance of Incivility and Loneliness in Occupational Health Outcomes.

Researchers have studied loneliness as a modern health epidemic which is associated with myriad negative health effects, yet the literature lacks evidence of loneliness' correlates, including incivility, in the workplace. This paper not only replicates previous work on incivility, a pervasive interpersonal workplace stressor, it also contributes novel findings on the relative importance of loneliness in explaining variance in occupational health outcomes. We tested hypotheses using two cross-sectional datasets containing data from the general working population (Sample 1) and state corrections supervisors (Sample 2). Through relative importance analyses, including relative weights analysis, we found that both general and workplace loneliness explain substantial variance in several outcomes (e.g., emotional exhaustion, depression symptoms, and turnover intentions) relative to the variance explained by workplace incivility. When controlling for perceived work stress, general loneliness appears to be more important than incivility in explaining variance in emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, and depression symptoms.

How workplace loneliness harms employee well-being: A moderated mediational model.

This study investigated the effect of workplace loneliness on work-related subjective well-being by proposing work engagement as an explanatory mechanism in the workplace loneliness-job dissatisfaction relationship. Moreover, the study examines the need to belong as a coping mechanism in the relationship between workplace loneliness and work engagement. Specifically, the study posits that workplace loneliness reduces the positive and fulfilling state of work engagement that in turn increases job dissatisfaction and that this mediation depends on the employee's level of need to belong. Data were collected from employees (N = 274) working in diverse domestic and multinational organizations in Lahore, Pakistan. Results showed that workplace loneliness reduced the work engagement of lonely individuals that in turn increased their job dissatisfaction. However, the deleterious effect of workplace loneliness on work engagement was weaker for individuals having a higher need to belong. These findings have important implications for organizations wishing to mitigate the harmful effects of workplace loneliness on employees' subjective well-being.

Help! Lonely at work: Managerial interventions to combat employee loneliness

Loneliness is a rampant and modern epidemic that affects the majority of employed adults and shows no signs of subsiding. Loneliness not only contributes to numerous health problems—including anxiety, depression, heart failure, and suicide—but can also cause greater employee stress, cynicism, distrust, and decreased job performance, as well as higher turnover and absenteeism. Loneliness-prompted absenteeism singlehandedly costs employers billions of dollars a year in lost productivity. Consequently, understanding and managing workplace loneliness is of paramount importance for leaders. A review of the causes and outcomes associated with workplace loneliness is provided in this article, as well as three evidence-based interventions that can help reduce workplace loneliness: (1) fostering opportunities for relationship building, (2) increasing support around evolving work contexts, and (3) fortifying a people-focused organizational culture. By presenting research-based guidance, we help leaders combat on-the-job loneliness faced by employees, as well as managers; generate healthier work environments; and cultivate improved individual, team, and organizational performance.

Lonely at the top? Exploring the multi-level double-edged sword effect of leader workplace loneliness

Lonely at the top? Exploring the multi-level double-edged sword effect of leader workplace loneliness

THE EFFECT OF WORKPLACE OSTRACISM ON ORGANIZATIONAL SILENCE AND WORKPLACE LONELINESS A STUDY ON HEALTHCARE WORKERS

In the environment of changes in working life and competition, organizations employ their employees by interacting with different individuals. These employees contribute to their organizations by working with many colleagues and managers. This study aims to examine the mediating effect of workplace ostracism on workplace loneliness and organizational silence. Individuals working in health services in public institutions in the Marmara Region constitute the study group. The study data were collected using an online survey method. This study concluded that workplace ostracism has a positive effect on workplace loneliness. Workplace ostracism and workplace loneliness affect organizational silence positively. In addition, workplace loneliness has a mediating role in the effect of workplace ostracism on organizational silence.

Linking workplace loneliness to workplace territoriality: a self-protection perspective

PurposeDrawing upon the self-protection theory, the purpose of this study is to examine whether and how workplace loneliness leads to workplace territoriality.Design/methodology/approachThree-wave data from 243 employee–colleague dyads in China were collected to provide stronger empirical evidence supporting the hypotheses presented in this study. Path analysis and the bootstrapping method were used to test the predictions of this study.FindingsThe results of this study showed that employees’ workplace loneliness was positively related to their territorial behavior; employees' self-serving cognitions mediated the relationship between workplace loneliness and territorial behavior; and self-sacrificial leadership negatively moderated the relationship between workplace loneliness and self-serving cognitions and the indirect relationship between employee workplace loneliness and territorial behavior through self-serving cognitions.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that organizations should pay attention to employees’ self-serving cognitions and cultivate self-sacrificial leadership to manage the territorial behavior derived from workplace loneliness.Originality/valueThis study highlights the positive effects of workplace loneliness on self-serving cognitions and subsequent workplace territoriality and shows that self-sacrificial leadership plays a buffering role in this process.

Workplace loneliness, ego depletion and cyberloafing: can leader problem-focused interpersonal emotion management help?

PurposeThis study aims to explore whether and how workplace loneliness leads to cyberloafing and the role of leader problem-focused interpersonal emotion management in buffering this relationship.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on ego depletion theory, the authors propose that employees' workplace loneliness leads to cyberloafing via ego depletion, while leader interpersonal emotion management (i.e. leadership behavior targeted at managing employees' negative emotions) can help to alleviate the situation. To test this study’s predictions, the authors collected multisource data at three time points from a sample of 219 employee–colleague dyads.FindingsThe results show that workplace loneliness is positively related to cyberloafing and that ego depletion mediates this relationship. Leader problem-focused interpersonal emotion management weakens the relationship between workplace loneliness and ego depletion and the indirect relationship between workplace loneliness and cyberloafing via ego depletion such that the above relationships are weak (versus strong) when leader problem-focused interpersonal emotion management is high (versus low).Originality/valueThe study results suggest that workplace loneliness is an important hidden danger that leads to cyberloafing because lonely employees suffer more from ego depletion. Leaders' interpersonal emotion management strategy serves as a potential buffer for such a negative effect.

Workplace Loneliness: A Comprehensive Review and Meta-Analysis

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.

Linking Workplace Loneliness to Workplace Territoriality: A Self-protection Perspective

Based on the self-protection theory, this study hypothesizes that workplace loneliness induces employees' self-serving cognitions, which, in turn, leads to employees' territorial behavior. This indirect relationship may be mitigated by self-sacrificial leadership. The results of regression analyses based on a three-wave data from 243 leader-employee dyads showed that (1) employees' workplace loneliness was positively related to their territorial behavior; (2) employees' self-serving cognitions mediated the relationship between workplace loneliness and territorial behavior; and (3) self-sacrificial leadership negatively moderated the relationship between workplace loneliness and self-serving cognitions and the indirect relationship between employee workplace loneliness and territorial behavior through self-serving cognitions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Flexible Work Arrangements and Employees’ Knowledge Sharing in the Post-Pandemic Era

Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) have become the norm in the post-epidemic era, but are they really beneficial to employees’ work? Previous literature, based on Social Exchange and Resource Conservation Theories, has viewed FWAs as signals caring for employees and resources supported to employees, arguing that FWAs triggered employees’ positive attitudes and behaviors. Our study challenges this view. We propose a moderated mediation model based on Affective Event Theory (AET) by exploring the relationship between FWAs and employees’ knowledge sharing, and further examining the mediating role of workplace loneliness and the moderating role of task interdependence. The analysis of a three-wave survey of 343 employees in a large group of companies in the field of information technology shows that: (1) FWAs can both negatively affect employees’ knowledge sharing directly and (2) negatively impact employees’ knowledge sharing through the mediating mechanism of workplace loneliness. Further, task interdependence can weaken (3) the positive relationship between FWAs and workplace loneliness, (4) the negative relationship between FWAs and knowledge sharing, and (5) the indirect effect that FWAs negatively affect knowledge sharing via workplace loneliness. Our study contributes to the negative effects of FWAs. Keywords: FWAs; workplace loneliness; knowledge sharing; task interdependence

To Express or to Suppress? The Affective and Behavioral Consequences of Loneliness at Work

Workplace loneliness is deleterious and on the rise, and as a phenomenon has recently captured the attention of organizational scholars and managers due to its potential effects not just on the lonely, but those around them. Yet despite its likely pervasiveness, there is still much to be understood of how those who experience loneliness feel and behave at work. To advance our understanding of how workplace loneliness manifests itself, we draw on the evolutionary theory of loneliness and the literature on emotion regulation to develop a model of how employees manage their emotions when they feel lonely. We examine how expressing positive emotions and suppressing negative emotions in response to workplace loneliness yields negative consequences for discretionary behaviors at work. We also suggest that a climate of authenticity—a work environment where employees feel they can display emotions authentically to others—may attenuate the maladaptive effects of workplace loneliness. Four complementary studies—an archival field study (Study 1A), a critical incident experiment (Study 1B), a vignette-based experiment (Study 2A), and an experience sampling field study (Study 2B)—largely support our model, highlighting the affective and behavioral responses employees have to feeling lonely at work.

Surviving Remotely: How the Forced Shift to Remote Work Impacted Work Behaviors and Well-being

This paper investigates the impact of job control and work-related loneliness on employee work behaviors and well-being during the massive and abrupt move to remote work amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We draw on job-demands control and social baseline theory to link employee perceived job control and work-related loneliness to emotional exhaustion and work-life balance and posit direct and indirect effects on employee counterproductive work behaviors, depression, and insomnia. Using a two-wave data collection with a sample of U.S. working adults to test our predictions, we find that high job control was beneficially related to emotional exhaustion and work-life balance, while high work-related loneliness showed detrimental relationships with our variables of interest. Moreover, we find that beneficial impact of high perceived job control was conditional on individual segmentation preferences such that the effects were stronger when segmentation preference was low. Our research extends the literature on remote work, job control, and workplace loneliness. It also provides insights for organizations to manage widespread remote work that is likely to persist long after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Exploring the Dreadful Agony and Combating the Hideous Shades of Workplace Loneliness

Scholars have explored the issue of loneliness and its impact on individuals and society for more over half century; yet, from a theoretical standpoint, the intellectual stance of workplace loneliness (WL) is nascent, having arisen in the previous decade. Despite several studies highlighting the rising frequency of WL and its harmful effects on individual and organizational performance, there has been a lack of scholarly effort devoted to analyzing the existing literature in this topic, resulting in a fragmented body of empirical insights. This paper fills a gap in the literature by doing a comprehensive analysis and synthesis of the WL literature from 1984 to 2021. Based on the findings of the literature research, this paper defines the causes of WL while also providing strategies that can be employed to reduce the occurrence of WL. This paper concludes by identifying promising areas for future research in efforts to progress scholarly research.

Disconnectedness at Work: Conversations to Connect Theories and Empirics

The increasing work digitization (exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic) has left many individuals feeling disconnected from others. Given the pervasive impact of disconnectedness for employees (e.g., poor health) and organizations (e.g., reduced productivity) alike, it is critical to investigate this topic in more depth. In the current symposium, we bring together scholars across the globe to explore when, why and how disconnectedness at work has negative consequences for employees as well as to critically reflect on and discuss current issues in research on disconnectedness. Drawing upon a variety of methodologies (e.g., scale development, cross-lagged survey) and different levels of analysis (individual and team), our presenters shed light on (a) how professional isolation relates to, and when it would reduce, experiences of role ambiguity, (b) how loneliness from remote work relates to employee exhaustion, (c) the need for a new, validated measurement instrument to properly capture loneliness at the workplace, and (d) how communication-based Faultline in virtual teams affects team coordination. We conclude with an integrative summary that showcases key insights from the presentations and important research questions to address moving forward. Finally, we aim to provide practical insights into what both employees and organizations can do to minimize feelings of disconnectedness at work in today’s digitalized workplace. Consequences of Professional Isolation for Role Ambiguity and Productivity of Remote Workers Presenter: Maral Darouei; Vrije U. Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics Workplace Loneliness Trajectories during Remote Work: Exhausted, Leaderless, Alone? Presenter: Timo Walz; Maastricht U., School of Business & Economics Workplace Loneliness: Consolidation and Validation of a Scale Presenter: Hodar Lam; U. of Amsterdam Communication-based Faultline and Digital Communication Configuration in Virtual Teams Presenter: Sut I Wong; BI Norwegian Business School

A study on the mediating effects of anxiety and happiness for workplace loneliness and behavioral outcomes of Korean police officers

PurposeWorkplace loneliness has become a concern in diverse work settings. However, workplace loneliness research is in its early stages of development and not much is known about the effects of it on organizations and its members, especially in police organizations. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between workplace loneliness, anxiety, happiness, task performance, and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Data from police officers in Korea were used to test these relationships.Design/methodology/approachUsing a three-wave time-lagged procedure, the study sample consisted of 227 police officers in South Korea from one regional police headquarters (Yongin Dongbu Police Station) and four substations in the Yongin region. The study tested parallel mediation of anxiety and happiness in the relationships between workplace loneliness and workplace outcomes using the PROCESS macro (Model 4) for SPSS 26.FindingsThe regression analyses with bootstrapping results indicated that police officers' anxiety and happiness served as mediating mechanisms linking workplace loneliness with task performance and OCB.Originality/valueThe police force is a very significant facet within society. However, research has not yet investigated loneliness in the police context. Thus, the study investigated the proximal and distal effects of workplace loneliness by associating workplace loneliness with task performance and OCB via anxiety and happiness.

The antecedents and consequences of workplace loneliness: A regulatory focus theory perspective

The antecedents and consequences of workplace loneliness: A regulatory focus theory perspective