Evaluating the Impact of Workplace Friendship on Social Loafing in Long-Term Care Institutions: An Empirical Study

Abstract

In light of the aging population and the rapid growth of people with mental and physical disabilities, the demand for long-term care has increased significantly. In order to meet the massive need for long-term care, the government of the Republic of China has accelerated the training of manpower for care services, and the number of qualified staff and institutions in the long-term care industry has increased accordingly. Although the need for long-term care employees has increased, they face problems such as low pay, low levels of decent work feelings, and high work pressure. Moreover, the increase in employee numbers in the organization does not improve the overall efficiency of long-term care workers. Instead, it has a social loafing effect. Not only in Taiwan, but other countries worldwide, such as Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates, are experiencing a staff shortage, a lack of training, and social loafing in long-term care institutions due to the aging of their populations. Therefore, in this study, workplace friendship as the independent variable, organizational commitment and psychological safety as the mediating variables, and service climate as the moderating variable were used to investigate the effects of social loafing on the employees of long-term care institutions in Taiwan. The results showed that workplace friendship between employees positively and significantly affects organizational commitment and psychological safety. Moreover, organizational commitment and psychological safety will negatively and significantly affect their social loafing. Second, organizational commitment and psychological safety have mediating effects between workplace friendship and social loafing. Furthermore, the service climate of employees in long-term care institutions will positively moderate the impact of their workplace friendship on psychological safety. The results will be provided to those in charge of the long-term care service industry, training institutions, long-term care business-related organizations, and government agencies, as well as for reference in subsequent studies.