Impact of Loneliness at Work and Loneliness in Private Life on Employee Performance

Abstract

Loneliness is a grave concern for social scientists. It helps people to put focus on critical tasks but if extended beyond that task to work life and family life, the resultant output starts to decrease. The study focuses on the Work Life Loneliness and Personal Life Loneliness. The study adopts the instrument from the works of Russell et al. (1980) and DiTommasso &Spinner (1993) to capture the effect of Loneliness at the work Place and in Personal Life. Three dimensions of Personal Life Loneliness are observed: Family Life Loneliness, Social Life Loneliness and Romantic Life Loneliness. For the Job Performance the items from Welbourne, Johnson & Erez (1998) are taken. The study applies statistical tests to 120 responses. The regression results reflect that the Work Life Loneliness, Family Life Loneliness and Romantic Life Loneliness have a negative impact on the Job Performance of Employees whereas the Social Life Loneliness has a positive impact on Job Performance. The study discusses several reasons for these results in light of the Affect Theory of Social Exchange and Regulatory Loop Model of Loneliness. In conclusion, the employers and the employees need to work on reducing the level of loneliness at the work place and in personal relationships to be able to perform better in individual’s personal lives as well as at the Job