Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 Feb 14;52(1):283-330.
doi: 10.1177/01492063241313320. eCollection 2026 Jan.

All the Lonely People: An Integrated Review and Research Agenda on Work and Loneliness

Julie M McCarthy  1 , Berrin Erdogan  2   3 , Talya N Bauer  2 , Selin Kudret  4 , Emily Campion  5
Affiliations
Review

All the Lonely People: An Integrated Review and Research Agenda on Work and Loneliness

Julie M McCarthy et al. J Manage. .

Abstract

Decades of studies spanning multiple disciplines have provided insight into the critical role of loneliness in work contexts. In spite of this extensive research, a comprehensive review of loneliness and work remains absent. To address this gap, we conducted a multidisciplinary review of relevant theory and research and identified 213 articles reporting on 233 empirical studies from management, organizational psychology, sociology, medicine, and other domains to uncover why people feel lonely, how different features of work can contribute to feelings of loneliness, and the implications of employee loneliness for organizational settings. This enabled a critical examination of the distinct conceptualizations and operationalizations of loneliness that have been advanced and the theories underpinning this scholarship. We developed a comprehensive conceptual model that integrates cognitive discrepancy theory, the affect theory of social exchange, and evolutionary theory. This model elucidates the core antecedents, mediators, outcomes, moderators, and interventions forming the nomological network of work related loneliness, including cross-level influences within teams and among leaders. Our review also identifies a number of promising areas for future inquiry to improve our understanding and measurement of loneliness, the process of experiencing and managing loneliness in the workplace, and potential interventions to reduce it. Finally, we provide tangible guidance for organizations and practitioners on how to address and mitigate employee loneliness. Ultimately, our review underscores the complex nature of loneliness and work and establishes a foundation for advancing both scholarly discourse and organizational practices in this critical domain.

Keywords: affect and emotions; emotions; groups; health; job attitudes; networks; social exchanges; social networks; teams; well-being; work stress.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Conceptual Model of Loneliness and Work
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aase M., Nordrehaug J. E., Malterud K. 2008. “If you cannot tolerate that risk, you should never become a physician”: A qualitative study about existential experiences among physicians. Journal of Medical Ethics, 34: 767-771. - PubMed
    1. Abdellaoui A., Chen H. Y., Willemsen G., Ehli E. A., Davies G. E., Verweij K. J. H., Nivard M. G., de Geus E. J. C., Boomsma D. I., Cacioppo J. T. 2019. Associations between loneliness and personality are mostly driven by a genetic association with neuroticism. Journal of Personality, 87: 386-397. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Allen R. L., Oshagan H. 1995. The UCLA loneliness scale: Invariance of social structural characteristics. Personality and Individual Differences, 19: 185-195.
    1. Alroomi A. S., Mohamed S. 2022. a. Does fatigue mediate the relation between physical isolation and safety behaviour among isolated oil and gas workers? Safety Science, 147: 105639.
    1. Alroomi A. S., Mohamed S. 2022. b. Physical isolation and safety behavior among oil and gas workers in Kuwait: The mediating role of mental health. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 75: 104692.

LinkOut - more resources