Association Between Psychological Capital and Subjective Wellbeing: a Systematic Review and Meta-analytic Investigation

Abstract

This paper aims to perform a systematic review and meta-analytic investigation of previous empirical studies by examining and synthesizing the strength of the association between psychological capital and subjective well-being and trying to understand the heterogeneity across the studies by potential moderators. Electronic searches of literature on psychological capital and subjective well-being were performed via Scopus, google scholar, web of Science, research gate, etc., and SLR was done as per PRISMA guidelines. The random-effect model was used to compute necessary statistics like effect size, moderating effects, publication bias, and heterogeneity in the meta-essential program. The findings of this meta-analytic study revealed a large, significant, and positive correlation between psychological capital and subjective well-being (r=0.53; k= 42; 95% CI= 0.47- 0.59; P< 0.001). The effect size varied in the presence of moderators. This meta-analytic examination overcomes the research heterogeneity by synthesizing the correlation of all individual studies on psychological capital and subjective well-being to produce the correct and precise academic conclusion which will help further in the development of new hypotheses. One of the major limitations of this meta-analytic study is that it has utilized only empirical and quantitative studies. Additionally, all studies were collected only from a few electronic database searches like Google Scholar, research gate, web of Science, Scopus, etc. which resulted in a limited number study for the analysis. The findings of this Meta-analysis make some administrative recommendations for recognizing the importance of psychological capital to improve the subjective well-being of employees. Accordingly, the organization will either recruit employees having psychological capital/ resources or train them to acquire or enhance psycap with the motive to maintain higher SWB.