Place Matters at Work: A Systematic Review of Workplace Attachment and Environmental Factors

Abstract

The topic of workplace attachment has garnered significant attention in academic studies since the early 2010s. However, due to its inherently interdisciplinary scope, research on workplace attachment remains notably fragmented and lacks cohesion, result- ing in numerous unresolved questions. Consequently, a systematic review was conducted to examine the association between workplace attachment and organizational and environmental factors. Both cross-­ sectional and longitudinal studies that used quantitative measures of workplace attachment were included. A total of 16 studies met inclusion criteria (n = 5282). The findings demonstrated distinct relationships between workplace attachment and (1) psychological and relational factors influencing or- ganizational functioning, (2) spatial environmental factors, and (3) variables influencing the perception of work meaningfulness. This review provides nuanced insights into existing literature, examining workplace attachment from employee perspectives. By doing so, it offers an in-­ depth understanding of the challenges present within current theoretical frameworks on workplace attachment. A key contribution of this review is the integration of existing findings into a comprehensive conceptual framework on workplace attachment, which systematically synthesizes the relevant variables and theoretical foundations that underpin research in this domain.