Workplace isolation amongst home-based teleworkers: Can psychological capital make a difference?

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: With the advent of COVID-19 pandemic, home-based teleworking has become the new normal. Researchers have suggested workplace isolation as the most frequently reported employee concern of teleworkers. Workplace isolation is reported to have many undesirable outcomes. However, limited studies have examined the influence of workplace isolation on mental health and its underlying mechanisms. Drawing from the emotion-centered model of occupational stress and conservation of resources theory, the purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between workplace isolation and mental ill-health with negative emotions as a mediator and psychological capital as a moderator. METHODS: The data was collected from 322 home-based teleworkers working in Information Technology companies in India using a survey method. The data was analyzed using SmartPLS, SPSS and PROCESS macro. RESULTS: The results suggest the following. First, workplace isolation was associated with mental ill-health and negative emotions mediated this relationship. Second, psychological capital was found to buffer the effects of workplace isolation on negative emotions. Third, the conditional indirect effect of workplace isolation on mental ill-health through negative emotions was weaker in the presence of high psychological capital. CONCLUSION: The current study is the first one to examine the mediating role of negative emotions and the moderating role of psychological capital in the relationship between workplace isolation and mental ill-health among home-based teleworkers. This study demonstrates the importance of psychological capital as a personal resource that can help in coping with the negative effects of workplace isolation.