Performance and Satisfaction in Private versus Nonprivate Work Settings

Abstract

The role of individual differences, task complexity, and privacy in determining performance and environmental satisfaction was explored.Greater arousal levels in a nonprivate office were predicted to decrease satisfaction expressed for nonprivate settings but to increase performance by producing a social facilitation effect. It was proposed that sex and introversion/extroversion would interact with task complexity and privacy. Research participants were 169 introductory psychology students who were randomly placed in either private or nonprivate offices. Results indicated that greater satisfaction was expressed by those working in the private offices. In addition, people working on the complex task were more satisfied in the private setting than the nonprivate one. The social facilitation hypothesis was supported, and male introverts performed best in the nonprivate office on the simple task. Implications for organizations and for future research are discussed. Organizations vary considerably in the layout and design of their offices. However, the effects of spatial characteristics on employees in the office have only recently begun to receive attention (Wineman, 1986). One concern is whether or not the open office is an asset to the organization