Loneliness in the Workplace: Construct definition and scale development (2006)

Type of Content
Journal ArticlePublisher
University of Canterbury. College of Arts.University of Canterbury. Management.
University of Canterbury. Psychology.
Collections
- Science: Journal Articles [1139]
Abstract
This paper describes the conceptual development and validation of a scale to measure loneliness in the workplace. Despite extensive literature on loneliness and the measurement of the phenomenon, the issue of assessing worker loneliness is not well researched. A 16-item self-report loneliness scale was developed for intended use in the workplace. Two separate studies were conducted to examine the reliability and validity of the scale . For each study participants were recruited by email and completed the scale via a website published on the internet. The first study included 514 employees, while the second study included 363 employees , each representing various occupational groups. Exploratory factor analysis using oblique rotation generated two factors representing emotional deprivation at work and social companionship at work. On a subsequent sample , confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the two-factor structure by demonstrating a significantly better fit than a single-factor structure. The results indicate the scale has good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Preliminary evidence for convergent and discriminant validity is also provided.
Citation
Wright, S.L., Burt, C.D.B., Strongman, K.T. (2006) Loneliness in the Workplace: Construct definition and scale development. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 35(2), pp. 59-68.This citation is automatically generated and may be unreliable. Use as a guide only.
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Loneliness in the Workplace
Wright, Sarah Louise (University of Canterbury. Psychology, 2005)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 ... -
Predicting workplace loneliness from personality and person-environment fit
Veit K; Wright S; Decker E; Klavohn K (2019) -
The Experience Of Loneliness In Organisations
Wright, S. (University of Canterbury. Management., 2007)Loneliness research tends to focus on personal characteristics as the primary determinant of the experience, and largely ignores the workplace as a trigger. A theoretical model of loneliness at work was developed, taking ...