Employee reactions to the physical work environment: The role of childhoodresidential attributes

This study examines the possibility that 2 employee background attributes, childhood residential density and childhood community type, moderate relati ons between characteristics of the physical work environment and employee r esponses. Administrative employees (N = 75) from 25 offices of a university participated in the research. Results demonstrate that employees from high -density childhood residences and urban communities exhibited more positive responses as adults (i.e., higher performance and lower crowding) to high- contact work environments (i.e., those characterized by few enclosures, hig h spatial density, and close interpersonal distance) than employees from ot her combinations of childhood residential density and community type. Resul ts also suggest that the contributions of residential density and community type were somewhat accounted for by individual differences in social avoid ance tendencies and noise sensitivities.