The Mediating Role of Perceived Comfort between Workplace Attachment Style and Perceived Stress

Abstract

Past studies highlight the relevance of attachment theory to the study of workplace stress and the impact of employee assessments about the physical–spatial work environment on their health. This paper is one of a number of works studying the points of connection between Bowlby’s attachment theory and the place attachment theory adopted by environmental psychologists. We proposed that a secure workplace attachment style would be negatively associated with perceived stress (and vice versa for insecure workplace attachment styles). Perceived comfort was hypothesized to mediate these effects. A convenience sample of French white-collar workers (N = 379) completed an online survey. Hypotheses were tested using the PROCESS macro. Both insecure workplace attachment styles (i.e., avoidant and preoccupied) were negatively associated with perceived comfort, which partially mediated their positive effect on perceived stress. The preventive influence of a secure workplace attachment on perceived stress was entirely mediated by its positive effect on perceived comfort. By setting different expectations regarding the work environment, workplace attachment styles could translate into a more or less stressful and comfortable employee experience. The more secure the bond employees internalize with their workplace, the more they might benefit from its comforts’ restorative potential.