Workplace loneliness and the communication climate of healthcare workers: the moderating role of perceived social competence

TL;DR

This study explores how workplace loneliness affects communication in healthcare settings and finds that perceived social competence can help reduce negative impacts.

Contribution

The study introduces perceived social competence as a moderator in the relationship between workplace loneliness and communication climate in healthcare.

Findings

Emotional deprivation negatively affects organizational communication climate, but perceived social competence mitigates this effect.

Lack of social companionship is strongly linked to poor communication climate, with perceived social competence having limited moderating effects.

Demographic factors have small and mostly insignificant moderating effects on these relationships.

Abstract

Workplace loneliness has emerged as a significant challenge for healthcare systems, with consequences extending beyond employee wellbeing to organizational communication and patient safety. This study investigates how two dimensions of workplace loneliness –emotional deprivation (ED) and lack of social companionship (LSC)– relate to organizational communication climate (OCC), and whether perceived social competence (PSC) and demographic characteristics moderate these associations.

Data were collected from 391 healthcare professionals working in two university hospitals in Türkiye using validated scales. Moderation analyses were conducted with Hayes’ PROCESS Macro (Models 1 and 2) and bootstrapping (5,000 resamples) to examine hypothesized effects.

Emotional deprivation was negatively associated with the organizational communication climate, b=-1.450, SE = 0.223, 95% CI [-1.888, -1.012], p < .001. Perceived social competence was positive, b = 0.739, SE = 0.189, 95% CI [0.368, 1.110], p < .001, and their interaction was significant, b = 0.070, SE = 0.027, 95% CI [0.016, 0.123], p = .012. Model R²=0.321, F(3,387) = 60.948, p < .001. In a parallel model, lack of social companionship was negatively associated with the communication climate, b=-2.761, SE = 0.155, 95% CI [-3.066, -2.456], p < .001, and perceived social competence was positive, b = 0.809, SE = 0.145, 95% CI [0.523, 1.094], p < .001, while their interaction was not significant, b=-0.003, SE = 0.023, 95% CI [-0.048, 0.043], p = .910. Model R²=0.543, F(3,387) = 153.476, p < .001. Demographic moderation analyses indicated small effects. For emotional deprivation, individual interactions with gender and marital status were not significant, ΔR²=0.001, p = .709, and ΔR²=0.010, p = .126, and the ED×PSC increment was modest, ΔR²=0.011, p = .083, the combined interaction block in the marital status model was significant, Both ΔR²=0.022, p = .030, with overall model R² between 0.331 and 0.344. For lack of social companionship, two demographic interactions reached significance with small variance gains, LSC×Gender ΔR²=0.002, p = .045, and LSC×Marital status ΔR²=0.003, p = .030, others were not significant, all ΔR²≤0.010 and p ≥ .057, with overall model R² between 0.556 and 0.565.

Findings highlight that workplace loneliness – particularly LSC – is linked to unfavorable communication climates in healthcare settings. PSC functions as an individual resource that mitigates ED-related risks but is insufficient when structural companionship deficits exist. These results emphasize the need for dual-track interventions that build individual social capacities while fostering inclusive communication networks. Enhancing OCC may ultimately support staff wellbeing, institutional resilience, and patient safety.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-025-13911-2.

Figures