Social Network Structure as a Moderator of the Relationship between Psychological Capital and Job Satisfaction: Evidence from China

Fan Gu,Yuanyuan Xiao,Fei Xiong

doi:10.1155/2021/2550944

Abstract

Although networking is reported to be a job search strategy in the literature, research on the interaction between social networking and other personal resources and its effect on job satisfaction is scarce. In the perspective of social networks, the present study explored whether the social network structure, which consists of network size and tie strength, moderates the relationship between psychological capital and job satisfaction. By using a two-wave longitudinal design, we collected the quantitative data (survey of 344 undergraduate students who were about to graduate soon) from 19 universities in Beijing city, Shandong Province, and Jiangsu Province in Eastern China. Factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were adopted to analyze the data of the survey. We found that psychological capital has a positive impact on job seekers’ job satisfaction. Furthermore, smaller networks and weaker ties in social networks both render the positive effect of psychological capital on job satisfaction even stronger.

Highlights

Social networks, an essential component of social capital, refer to interpersonal relationships, which are built, developed, and maintained through stable ties and frequent interactions [1]. e previous research had divided social networks mainly into two typical categories: formal and informal networks [2]
Tie strength moderates the relationship between psychological capitals and job satisfaction, such that the relationship is more positive for job seekers with weaker ties in their social networks
We added psychological capital into the equation in the second step. e results showed that R2 significantly increased in step 2, compared to the counterpart in step 1, which represents the positive impact of psychological capital on job satisfaction and supports Hypothesis 1 (Table 6)

Summary

Introduction

An essential component of social capital, refer to interpersonal relationships, which are built, developed, and maintained through stable ties and frequent interactions [1]. e previous research had divided social networks mainly into two typical categories: formal and informal networks [2]. Social networks are reported to be universally valid, it is still found that social networks in China have unique characteristics compared to their counterparts in Western countries. Social networks in East Asia are influenced by local culture [3] and become a dominant norm in Chinese society [4]. Us, due to the remarkable intraregional differences, scholars even adopted guanxi to describe the informal social network in Chinese society. Whether in China or in the West, a large number of fresh graduates are confronted with difficulty in seeking employment in the last year of their student lives. Chinese national government pays great attention to this issue and publishes reports to announce the rate of unemployment, which partly represents the economic prosperity of a country, every year. As a matter of fact, a large number of studies showed that unemployment is harmful to individuals’ mental and physical health and decreases satisfaction with their lives [6]. erefore, the research had concentrated on the exploration of the relationship between individuals’ job search behaviors and employment quality, such as job-organization fit, job satisfaction, and turnover intention [7,8,9], in order to clarify what factors in the job search process could eventually increase the individuals’ opportunities of obtaining job offers and enhance their performance [10]

Methods

Results

Conclusion