An examination of the effect of loneliness on the innovative behavior of health science faculty students

BACKGROUND: Contributing to the innovative behavior of individuals in the health management process is a desirable condition for increased health institution performance. The relationship between the sense of loneliness and individual innovation behaviors has not been studied and relevant literature is extremely limited. The purpose of this research was to examine the effect of an individual's sense of loneliness on their innovative behavior. METHODS: The research was performed between January and October 2018. The effects of loneliness feelings on the individual innovative behaviors of 451 health science faculty students were measured. The data were collected using the “Individual Information Form,” the “individual innovation scale,” and the “University of California Los Angeles loneliness scale.” The reliability and validity of the scales were tested with Structural Equation Modeling. RESULTS: It was found that the female participants showed exhibited more innovative behavior than the men. However, there was no significant difference in the loneliness status of participants by gender. A group of 23-year-old individuals showed a significant difference in the risk taking dimension compared to other age groups. First-grade students had more points in the experimental openness and opinion leadership sub-dimension than the other classes. It was observed that the behavior is molded as the education level increases. The regression models showed that loneliness has a negative effect of −0.254 on experiential openness and the leadership of ideas, and has a negative effect of −0.216 on risk taking. There was no effect of the sub-dimensions of loneliness on change resistance. Moreover, on the individualistic behavior of physical loneliness, a −0.267 negative effect was observed. Emotional loneliness has no effect on the sub-dimensions of individual innovation. Finally, the total sense of loneliness was found to have a negative effect on total individual innovation. CONCLUSIONS: The study results clearly show that physical loneliness has a negative effect on individual innovation. It can be said that individuals living in social environments exhibit more innovative behaviors. However, emotional loneliness has no significant effect on innovative behavior. In this context, designing social spaces in health institutions will stimulate individuals’ innovative behaviors.