Loneliness in the Workplace

ISBN-13: 9783639027341 / Angielski / Miękka / 2008 / 240 str.

Sarah Wright

Opis

Loneliness in the workplace has received relatively little attention in the literature. The research surrounding loneliness tends to focus almost exclusively on personal characteristics as the primary determinant of the experience, and largely ignores the workplace as a potential trigger of loneliness. As such, personality tends to be overestimated as the reason for loneliness, whilst only modest emphasis is given to environmental factors, such as organisational environments. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the notion of loneliness in the workplace, with a particular emphasis on examining the antecedents and outcomes of its development in work contexts. The results from the study indicate that environmental factors such as fear, lack of community spirit, and value incongruence play a role in the experience of work-related loneliness and have an overall negative effect on employee withdrawal behaviours and job satisfaction. The findings from this study offer insight into possible areas for organisational intervention and future research.

O autorze

Wright, Sarah Dr Sarah Wright BA, MSc (Hons), PhD is a lecturer in Organisational Development and Leadership at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. She teaches courses on organisational behaviour and diversity in organisations. Her research interests include social relationships in the workplace, loneliness, emotions in organisations, employee selection and assessment, emotional climate in organisations, and employee retention. Prior to becoming an academic, Sarah worked as an organisational psychologist for international and local management consulting firms.