Office types and workers' cognitive vs affective evaluations from a noise perspective
2021 (English)In: Journal of Managerial Psychology, ISSN 0268-3946, E-ISSN 1758-7778, Vol. 36, no 4, p. 415-431Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Purpose: This study aims to examine the links between office types (cellular, shared-room, small and medium-sized open-plan) and employees' subjective well-being regarding cognitive and affective evaluations and the role perceived noise levels at work has on the aforementioned associations. Design/methodology/approach: A survey with measures of office types, perceived noise levels at work and the investigated facets of subjective well-being (cognitive vs affective) was distributed to employees working as real estate agents in Sweden. In total, 271 useable surveys were returned and were analyzed using analyses of variance (ANOVAs) and a regression-based model mirroring a test of moderated mediation. Findings: A significant difference was found between office types on the well-being dimension related to cognitive, but not affective, evaluations. Employees working in cellular and shared-room offices reported significantly higher ratings on this dimension than employees working in open-plan offices, and employees in medium-sized open-plan offices reported significantly lower cognitive evaluation scores than employees working in all other office types. This pattern of results was mediated by perceived noise levels at work, with employees in open-plan (vs cellular and shared-room) offices reporting less satisfactory noise perceptions and, in turn, lower well-being scores, especially regarding the cognitive (vs affective) dimension. Originality/value: This is one of the first studies to compare the relative impact of office types on both cognitive and affective well-being dimensions while simultaneously testing and providing empirical support for the presumed process explaining the link between such aspects.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Emerald , 2021. Vol. 36, no 4, p. 415-431
Keywords [en]
Affective evaluation, Cellular office, Cognitive evaluation, Negative deactivation, Noise, Office type, Open-plan office, Positive activation, Shared-room office, Subjective well-being
National Category
Occupational Health and Environmental Health
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-291695DOI: 10.1108/JMP-09-2019-0534ISI: 000595696600001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85096914810OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-291695DiVA, id: diva2:1538224
Note
QC 20250304
2021-03-182021-03-182025-03-04Bibliographically approved