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Working Paper
Through a qualitative study of senior executives, the authors examine how they incorporate loneliness into their self-narratives, and how the way they do so influences their relationships to their executive role, their history, and to other people at work. They found two distinct ways of incorporating loneliness—defensively and developmentally. Those who incorporated loneliness defensively narrated it as provoked by their roles, which required them to be guarded and detached, and consistent with their history of self-reliance and independence. They maintained distant relationships with coworkers and believed that loneliness was a necessary, albeit unpleasant, requirement for a successful career.