Does Workplace Loneliness Reduce Employee Performance? A Meta-synthesis

Abstract

Purpose This study investigates whether workplace loneliness reduces employee performance by synthesizing qualitative evidence from previous empirical studies. The research aims to identify the underlying dimensions of workplace loneliness, examine its mechanisms of influence on employee performance, and develop an integrated conceptual understanding of how loneliness shapes work behaviors across different organizational contexts.

Methods This study employed a qualitative meta-synthesis using a systematic literature review approach. Twenty peer-reviewed journal articles indexed in Scopus and other internationally recognized databases were purposively selected based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The selected studies were analyzed using thematic synthesis, involving open coding, descriptive theme development, and analytical theme generation to identify recurring patterns and construct an integrated explanatory framework regarding workplace loneliness and employee performance.

Findings The synthesis revealed that workplace loneliness consists of two interconnected dimensions emotional deprivation and lack of social companionship which jointly undermine employee performance through psychological, behavioral, and organizational mechanisms. The findings indicate that workplace loneliness reduces work engagement, intrinsic motivation, organizational commitment, collaboration quality, creativity, and adaptive performance while simultaneously increasing emotional exhaustion, withdrawal behavior, presenteeism, absenteeism, and turnover intention. The analysis further demonstrates that leadership quality, perceived organizational support, inclusive organizational culture, and interpersonal trust function as important contextual factors that either amplify or mitigate the adverse consequences of workplace loneliness..

Research Implications The findings suggest that organizations should address workplace loneliness as a strategic organizational issue by strengthening supportive leadership, fostering inclusive workplace relationships, promoting psychological safety, and developing organizational interventions that enhance employees’ social connectedness and well-being.

Originality This study contributes to the workplace behavior literature by providing a comprehensive qualitative meta-synthesis that integrates fragmented empirical findings into a multidimensional conceptual framework explaining how workplace loneliness influences employee performance through interconnected psychological, social, and organizational processes.