Workplace Ostracism and Creativity among Startup Employees: The Mediating Role of Workplace Loneliness and the Moderating Role of Resilience

Syafira Azka Farhani (Department of Psychology, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia)
Endang Parahyanti (Department of Psychology, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia)

Psikostudia : Jurnal Psikologi
Vol 15, No 3 (2026): Psikostudia : Jurnal Psikologi

Employee creativity in startups is a crucial factor in fostering creative ideas to adapt to a dynamic work environment. However, workplace social experiences, such as workplace ostracism, can affect employees’ psychological well-being, thereby affecting their creativity. This study explored the effect of workplace ostracism affects employee creativity through workplace loneliness and the role of resilience as a moderating variable in the relationship between workplace loneliness and employee creativity. This study was designed using a cross-sectional quantitative approach. The study involved 305 employees working at startups selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected via a self-report questionnaire using a Likert scale and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4 software. The findings suggest that workplace ostracism affects employee creativity through workplace loneliness. In this context, workplace loneliness acts as a mediating variable linking workplace ostracism to employee creativity. Additionally, resilience acts as a moderator in the relationship between workplace loneliness and employee creativity. Employees possessing strong resilience have a diminished adverse effect of loneliness on creativity in contrast to their low-resilience counterparts. These findings underscore the need of cultivating an inclusive workplace and enhance employee resilience in startups to sustain creativity.Kreativitas dalam perusahaan rintisan merupakan aspek penting untuk beradaptasi di lingkungan kerja yang dinamis. Namun, pengalaman sosial di tempat kerja seperti workplace ostracism, dapat memengaruhi kondisi psikologis karyawan, sehingga berdampak pada kreativitas. Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengeksplorasi bagaimana workplace ostracism memengaruhi kreativitas karyawan melalui kesepian di tempat kerja, serta peran resiliensi sebagai variabel moderasi dalam hubungan antara kesepian di tempat kerja dan kreativitas karyawan. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif cross-sectional. Penelitian ini melibatkan 305 karyawan yang bekerja di perusahaan rintisan yang dipilih melalui teknik convenience sampling. Data diperoleh melalui kuesioner self-report dengan skala Likert, lalu diolah menggunakan metode Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) dengan bantuan aplikasi SmartPLS 4. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan workplace ostracism memiliki pengaruh terhadap kreativitas karyawan melalui kesepian di tempat kerja. Dalam hal ini, kesepian di tempat kerja berfungsi sebagai variabel mediasi yang menghubungkan workplace ostracism dengan kreativitas karyawan. Selain itu, resiliensi berperan sebagai moderator dalam hubungan antara kesepian di tempat kerja dan kreativitas karyawan, dimana karyawan dengan resiliensi tinggi menunjukkan penurunan dampak negatif kesepian terhadap kreativitas dibandingkan mereka yang memiliki resiliensi lebih rendah. Hasil ini menunjukkan pentingnya membangun lingkungan kerja yang inklusif dan penguatan resiliensi karyawan untuk menjaga kreativitas di perusahaan rintisan.