Work Alienation During COVID-19: Main Factors and Conditions (An Example of University Professors)

Abstract

Background. !e economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic pose a threat to psychological well-being in di"erent spheres of life. In accordance with Self-Determination !eory, it is assumed that working conditions during a pandemic frustrate the psychological needs of people in the workplace, thereby increasing their alienation. Objective. To study the in#uence of working conditions on work alienation among employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. As factors of working conditions, we studied workplace distancing (isolation), temporary #exibility of work, the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), and job insecurity. Design. !e study had a correlation design, used a survey, and consisted of two parts. !e $rst part studied a sample of 62 university professors for dynamics of work alienation at three periods of time. !e second part studied 104 subjects for the e"ect of workplace distancing (isolation), temporary #exibility, ICT, and job insecurity on work alienation. Results. In the $rst part of the study, it was found that work alienation increased during the pandemic. !e second part showed that workplace distancing, temporary #exibility of work, ICTs, and job insecurity are signi$cant predictors of work alienation among university professors. Conclusion. Changes in working conditions during a pandemic have negative consequences for employees in the form of alienation from work. !is $nding can have practical application in recommendations for organizations planning structural changes or transfer of employees to telecommuting.

Fear of Covid-19 and Hotel Frontline Employees’ Sense of Work Alienation: Intervening and Interactional Analysis

“…In so doing, the present work also contributes to the scarce literature on death anxiety (Belmi & Pfeffer, 2016;Sliter et al, 2014) in the work context. Second, by highlighting the role of intrinsic spirituality as a boundary condition of the indirect relationship between fear of Covid-19 and FLEs' sense of work alienation-via death anxiety-we not only extend the scarce literature (e.g., Kozhina & Vinokurov, 2020) on the link between fear of Covid-19 and work alienation but also contribute to the hospitality literature on intrinsic spirituality (Farmaki et al, 2020). Although previous research on intrinsic spirituality suggested that it contributes to a salutary human experience (Farmaki et al, 2020;Hodge, 2003), its role in addressing the psychological repercussions of fear of Covid-19 was overlooked.…”

“…Additionally, Turan and Özkan (2019) suggest that traumatic situations (e.g., fear of Covid-19) positively influence employees' sense of work alienation (Turan & Özkan, 2019). Likewise, Kozhina and Vinokurov (2020) show that work alienation increased during Covid-19. Yet, our knowledge as to how and when fear of Covid-19 affects employees' sense of work alienation is scarce.…”

“…First, by theorizing and empirically investigating the indirect path of fear of Covid-19 to FLEs’ sense of work alienation via death anxiety, the work at hand foregrounds the importance of death anxiety as a mechanism that explains how fear of Covid-19 evokes feelings of work alienation among FLEs in the hospitality industry and contributes to the literature on fear of Covid-19 in the hospitality industry. Although previous studies bring to the fore several psychological consequences of fear of Covid-19 (Atadil & Lu, 2021; Ozili & Arun, 2020), as well as the direct association of fear of Covid-19 with work alienation (Kozhina & Vinokurov, 2020), there is little known about how fear of Covid-19 leads to work alienation. Thus, we contribute to these studies by establishing death anxiety as a mechanism through which fear of Covid-19 shapes work alienation.…”

The negative effects of the pandemic on human behavior; alienation and social anhedonia: the example of sport sciences students

“…Considering that social research cannot be independent of social changes, the two important concepts mentioned above have become a universal phenomenon in today's world life. In other words, the speed of social change and the current COVID 19 pandemic are similar in terms of affecting human behavior all over the world [8,22,23,24]. When the literature on the subject is examined, it is possible to come across studies that reveal the effects of the mentioned social events on various social groups [13,25].…”