Approximately 70% of American workers personalize their workspaces. However, some employees personalize more than others, such as managers and employees with enclosed offices. Studies examining personality traits suggest that employees who personalize the most tend to be creative and have a high need for affiliation and a low need for privacy. However, major personality factors have not been examined. This study examines the relationships between workspace personalization and the Big Five personality factors by surveying 234 employees from 33 companies. Results indicate that personality is only indirectly related to personalization through employee characteristics such as status and type of workspace. Personalization is primarily predicted by the company’s personalization policy and an employee’s status and workspace.
Approximately 70% to 90% of American workers personalize their workspaces. Personalization has many benefits for employees (e.g., enhanced job satisfaction and well-being) and organizations (e.g., improved morale and reduced turnover). Personalization is also related to organizational issues such as employee status, workspace quality, and policies. This study extended the research by examining organizational commitment and culture. It was predicted that highly committed employees personalize more than do lesscommitted employees and that culture has an indirect effect on personalization. Thus, 172 office employees from 19 businesses were surveyed. Path analyses revealed that employee commitment was only indirectly related to personalization through status. As expected, organizational culture had an indirect effect on personalization, via personalization policies or norms and employee status. Thus, this research suggests for the first time that the primary predictors of workspace personalization are organizational rather than personal. Your workspace most likely reflects your company rather than you.
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