Intersections of Culture and Well-being in the Workplace Environment

Abstract

This study is an investigation of how culture affects employee well-being in the workplace environment. It is also an attempt at constructing an instrument that measures the relationship between culture and well-being in such settings. Correlation and logistic regression tests were conducted to understand the relationships of the independent variables culture (operationalized by ethnicity), physical environment, social characteristics, and visual characteristics and their effect on well-being. Hofstede's (1984) cultural dimensions and Travis' (2010) 10 principles of Black cultural design were used as theoretical frameworks to ground the concepts. Hypotheses statements were developed for this study and include: culture influences employees' well-being in the workplace; the overall physical environment influences well-being in the workplace; social characteristics influence well-being in the workplace; and visual characteristics influence well-being in the workplace. Findings resulted in no significance for the hypotheses tested nor the logistic regression model. However, it is suggested that further testing of the model is conducted due to the small sample size and skewed variables. It is also highly recommended that more qualitative studies are conducted around the concepts of culture and well-being to have a better understanding of the complex aspects of culture and well-being in the workplace. Culture is important in the workplace environment, therefore studies such as this one are important. Designing spaces that increase connectivity and relationships is not only beneficial to employee well-being, but it also has the advantage of increasing an organization's bottom line.