New teachers' Lived Experiences of Organizational Loneliness in Elementary Schools (Disease Factors and Work Methods)

Khani, Kousar; Toulabi, Zeinab; Yasini, Ali

doi:10.22054/jrlat.2025.82959.1807

New teachers' Lived Experiences of Organizational Loneliness in Elementary Schools (Disease Factors and Work Methods)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Kousar Khani ¹

Zeinab Toulabi ²

Ali Yasini ²

¹ M.A. of Training and Improvement of Human Resources, Ilam, Iran

² Management Faculty of Ilam university, Ilam, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22054/jrlat.2025.82959.1807

Abstract

Contemporary organizations increasingly face the widespread issue of workplace loneliness, which undermines individual performance and personal satisfaction. New teachers, in particular, are vulnerable to emotional deprivation, a lack of constructive relationships, psychological burnout, depression, and anxiety within school environments. Given that organizational loneliness remains a relatively new and underexplored concept in Iran-especially in the context of education-this study aims to identify, examine, and analyze the lived experiences of novice elementary school teachers with respect to organizational loneliness. The research specifically focuses on contributing factors, consequences, and individual and collective coping strategies. Adopting a qualitative phenomenological approach, the study involved 12 new teachers in Ilam, selected through purposive sampling. Data were gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews, continuing until theoretical saturation was achieved. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics for demographic profiling and thematic analysis via MAXQDA20 software. To ensure validity, member checking was employed, and inter-coder agreement was used to verify coding reliability. The findings categorized the contributing factors into four dimensions: individual, socio-cultural, psychological, and occupational-encompassing 36 subthemes. The consequences of organizational loneliness were similarly grouped into four domains: personal, interpersonal, psychological, and professional, comprising 37 subthemes. In terms of solutions, 24 individual strategies (including communicative and professional aspects) and 21 collective strategies (psychological, group-based, occupational, and interpersonal) were identified. The study concludes that organizational loneliness has significant negative implications for both individuals and institutions. As loneliness continues to rise globally, recognizing its causes and consequences within organizational settings is of critical importance. Understanding novice teachers' experiences in this regard can provide educational administrators with valuable insights to foster greater job satisfaction, organizational commitment, creative engagement, social interaction, teamwork, and a stronger sense of belonging among teachers-particularly by addressing the critical role of organizational support.

The findings revealed four categories of factors contributing to organizational loneliness: individual, socio-cultural, psychological, and occupational, encompassing 36 concepts. Additionally, 37 consequences were identified, including personal, communicative, psychological, and job-related effects. The study also proposed 24 individual and 21 group strategies for addressing loneliness. The results indicate that organizational loneliness has detrimental effects on both individuals and organizations, highlighting the importance of understanding its causes and consequences. Investigating this issue can help improve new teachers' attitudes, job attachment, social interactions, teamwork, and overall job satisfaction, particularly by addressing the lack of organizational support that contributes to their feelings of loneliness.

Keywords

Feeling alone

Organizational loneliness

New teachers

Phenomenology

Ilam

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