Social face consciousness and life satisfaction in new employees: The roles of perceived social support and rumination

Abstract

To test the relationship between social face consciousness (SFC) and life satisfaction (LS) among new employees in a Chinese context, we administered the Consciousness of Social Face Scale, the Satisfaction With Life Scale, the Perceived Social Support Scale, and the Ruminative Responses Scale to 624 employees with 1 year or less of service in the job market. The results showed that SFC had a significant negative predictive effect on new employees’ LS, and indirectly affected new employees’ LS through perceived social support. Further, rumination played a significant role in moderating the influence of SFC on new employees’ LS; specifically, for new employees with a low level of rumination, SFC had no significant predictive effect on LS, whereas for those with a high level of rumination, SFC had a significant negative predictive effect on their LS. Thus, SFC inhibits new employees’ LS and affects LS through the intermediary role of perceived social support, while rumination moderates this relationship. This study provides insight into how new employees can improve their LS in practice.