Identifying and analyzing the causes and consequences of loneliness in the workplace (A research mixed with the fuzzy cognitive mapping method)

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Management faculty, Lorestan university, Khorramabad, Iran

2 Ph.D. Student in Public Management, Management Department, Faculty of Economics and Management, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran.

3 PhD student in public Administraion, Faculty of Management, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran

10.22059/jomc.2025.397666.1008835

Abstract

Aim: the present study aimed to identify and analyze the causes and consequences of loneliness in the workplace among employees of government organizations in Lorestan province using the fuzzy cognitive mapping method. Methodology: The present study is an exploratory research in terms of its purpose and in terms of data collection. TThe statistical population of this research comprises experts, consisting of faculty members from Lorestan University, along with managers and employees of governmental organizations in Lorestan Province, who were selected using purposive sampling and based on the principle of theoretical adequacy. The data collection tool in the qualitative part is a semi-structured interview, the validity and reliability of which was confirmed using content validity and theoretical validity, and the method of intra-coder and inter-coder reliability. Also, the data collection tool in the quantitative part is a questionnaire, the validity and reliability of which was confirmed using content validity and test-retest reliability. , having nepotistic and cronyistic behaviors by the manager, and institutionalizing a culture of silence are the most important antecedents of loneliness in the workplace. Also, the components of the occurrence of the phenomenon of self-initiated isolation in employees, the occurrence of burnout syndrome in employees, and the dominance of the phenomenon of avoidant communication in employees were identified as the most important consequences of loneliness in the workplace. Conclusion:. This feeling, which is a mental state, is known as a negative emotion that can have a negative and destructive impact on employees' job performance.

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