Understanding the physical environment of work and employee behavior: An affective events perspective

Abstract

Despite the fact that so many employees in the modern industrialized world work in office settings, organizational behavior researchers to date have been slow to recognize how important it is to study the effects of the physical work environment on office workers. Consequently, we have yet to form a clear understanding of the connection between the workplace physical environment and office workers' behaviors and outcomes. In this essay, therefore, we seek to unpack some of the broad issues, including the effects of major characteristics of the physical environment of work-such as personal space and spatial density, personalization and identity, territoriality, conflict, and emotions-that can..