Purpose

The purpose of this study is to analyse perceived physical and social isolation and how they are linked in various places of work.

Design/methodology/approach

A nationwide study was conducted involving 3,352 Estonian office workers in spring 2021. Physical isolation was measured in terms of what proportion of time a person works away from co-workers (0%, 1%–25%, 26%–50%, 51%–75%, more than 75%). Social isolation diverged into two factors: lack of contacts and lack of meaningful connections. The different places of work the authors considered in the study included working from home with and without a dedicated room and different types of offices (private office, shared-cell office, activity-based office and open-plan offices of various sizes).

Findings

The results show that the negative consequences of physical isolation in the form of perceiving social isolation start to show when a person works 51% of the time or more away from others. However, the authors revealed the dual nature of social isolation in that when a person experiences a lack of contacts, the connections they do have with their colleagues are actually more meaningful.

Originality/value

The originality of the study comes from the fact that the authors uncovered the paradoxical nature of social isolation. This reveals itself in various places of work depending on the conditions at home and the type of office. Therefore, the authors move away from the simplified distinction of home vs office and take into account the level of physical isolation (what amount of time a person actually works away from colleagues).

中文翻译：

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不同工作场所的身体和社会隔离

目的

本研究的目的是分析感知到的身体和社会隔离以及它们在不同工作场所中的联系。

设计/方法论/途径

2021 年春季，对 3,352 名爱沙尼亚办公室工作人员进行了一项全国性研究。物理隔离是根据一个人远离同事工作的时间比例来衡量的（0%、1%–25%、26%–50%、51 %–75%，超过75%）。社会孤立分为两个因素：缺乏接触和缺乏有意义的联系。作者在研究中考虑的不同工作地点包括在家工作，有或没有专用房间和不同类型的办公室（私人办公室、共享单元办公室、基于活动的办公室和各种规模的开放式办公室）。

发现

结果表明，当一个人工作的时间有 51% 或更多的时间远离他人时，物理隔离的负面后果就会开始显现出来，即感知到社会隔离。然而，作者揭示了社会孤立的双重性质，因为当一个人缺乏接触时，他们与同事的联系实际上更有意义。

原创性/价值

这项研究的原创性来自于作者揭示了社会孤立的矛盾本质。这在不同的工作场所中都有体现，具体取决于家庭条件和办公室类型。因此，作者放弃了家庭与办公室的简单区分，并考虑了物理隔离的程度（一个人实际远离同事工作的时间）。