Distinctly lonely: how loneliness at work varies by status in organizations
ISSN: 2040-8269
Article publication date: 4 January 2022
Issue publication date: 2 June 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the differing pathways to loneliness in managers and their employees. Literature on emotions in organizational life, organizational management and leadership and loneliness are explored to develop and test hypotheses regarding the differential prototypical scripts that can be generative of loneliness in managers and employees.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 28 managers and 235 employees from a horticultural company based in Mexico were surveyed, using measures of perceived connection quality, loneliness and meaningful work to test three hypotheses.
Findings
Data from 28 managers and 235 staff indicate that while loneliness scores do not significantly differ between managers and their subordinates, the predictors of loneliness differ between managers and employees, with emotional connection and mutuality predicting loneliness in employees but not in managers.
Originality/value
This paper adds specification to the literatures on workplace loneliness, the loneliness associated with management roles, emotions in organizational life and emotions and leadership. The findings are discussed in relation to the literature on manager-subordinate relationships.
Keywords
Citation
Silard, A. and Wright, S. (2022), "Distinctly lonely: how loneliness at work varies by status in organizations", Management Research Review, Vol. 45 No. 7, pp. 913-928. https://doi.org/10.1108/MRR-05-2021-0379
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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