Abstract
Social capital refers to the structure and quality of social relationships. Given its beneficial role for well-being, social capital has been investigated in organizational life as mainly a contextual resource (i.e., workplace social capital; WSC). However, the empirical evidence regarding its function as a job resource is not systematic. Thus, the main aim of this doctoral thesis is to study whether WSC is a relevant job resource for employee well-being and optimal functioning at work and at home by addressing certain gaps in the literature. First, although WSC contributes to employee and organizational wellness, there is no consensus regarding its definition and measurement. Second, although employees may be benefited from their organizations’ social capital (i.e., WSC) and/or from the social capital that they have access to through their participation in social structures outside the workplace (i.e., individual social capital; ISC), the different types of social capital have not bee ...
Social capital refers to the structure and quality of social relationships. Given its beneficial role for well-being, social capital has been investigated in organizational life as mainly a contextual resource (i.e., workplace social capital; WSC). However, the empirical evidence regarding its function as a job resource is not systematic. Thus, the main aim of this doctoral thesis is to study whether WSC is a relevant job resource for employee well-being and optimal functioning at work and at home by addressing certain gaps in the literature. First, although WSC contributes to employee and organizational wellness, there is no consensus regarding its definition and measurement. Second, although employees may be benefited from their organizations’ social capital (i.e., WSC) and/or from the social capital that they have access to through their participation in social structures outside the workplace (i.e., individual social capital; ISC), the different types of social capital have not been investigated as complementary for employee functioning. Third, although social capital theory encompasses two theoretical approaches (i.e., the individualist and the ecological), most studies examine WSC either as an individual or as a contextual resource, failing to integrate both approaches for its optimal understanding. In addition, social capital has been mainly conceptualized as a rather stable resource, while its dynamic nature has been neglected. Finally, although WSC is considered an indicator of social cohesion in the workplace, its potential as a resource with a broader social function has been ignored. To address these gaps, the current thesis uses the assumptions of dominant resource theories [i.e., conservation of resources (COR) theory, job- demands resources (JD-R) theory, and work-home resources (W-HR) model] to synthesize a valid definition of WSC as a contextual job resource, to determine its different facets and to test its functions as a job resource next to other forms of (social) capital. To this end, four studies (two cross-sectional, one multilevel, and one diary) were conducted.The aim of the first empirical study (Chapter 2) was to synthesize a valid definition of WSC and to develop a valid and reliable instrument to measure the construct. Based on an extended and critical literature review, an updated definition of WSC was proposed. Namely, WSC was conceptualized as a job resource that concerns employees’ perceptions regarding trust, reciprocity (cognitive WSC), and network interactions (structural WSC) that exist among peers (bonding WSC) and among individuals across hierarchical levels and organizations (bridging WSC). This definition was used as the theoretical basis to develop a new scale to assess WSC in a valid and reliable way, the WSC Inventory (WoSCi). The initial structure of the scale was explored in a sample of university employees (N = 376), while multilevel confirmatory factor analysis in a heterogeneous sample of 733 employees nested in 158 work groups supported the hypothesized factor structure of the WoSCi. Further, the results suggested that the WoSCi has good psychometric qualities. Specifically, all sub-scales as well as the total WoSCi scale were found to be reliable. Further, the convergent validity of the scale was supported since the WoSCi correlated positively with other scales assessing WSC, with similar (yet distinct) constructs (i.e., organizational justice and transformational leadership), and with other types of job resources (e.g., colleague support, feedback, autonomy, participation in decision making). Importantly, WSC assessed with the WoSCi showed high criterion and incremental validity in explaining work engagement, burnout, and job performance over and above other types of social capital (i.e., ISC) and psychological capital. The second empirical study (Chapter 3) aimed to test whether WSC functions as a job resource next to other forms of capital and other types of job and personal resources with regard to work-life interface (i.e., work life conflict and work-life facilitation). Drawing on the two main theoretical approaches to social capital (i.e., the ecological, and the individualist), the study investigated WSC as an ecological, organizational-level job resource that facilitates employee functioning in the work domain (over and above other types of relevant resources like job resources and psychological capital), and ISC as an individual resource that facilitates employee functioning in the life domain. Work-life interface processes that expand from work to employees’ personal lives were considered ideal to test how different forms of social capital (i.e., WSC and ISC) facilitate employee functioning in different life domains. Based on COR and JD- R theories, it was hypothesized that WSC will buffer the positive relationship between job demands (i.e., workload and emotional demands) and work-life conflict, and it will boost the positive relationships between job (i.e., job autonomy and performance feedback) and personal (i.e., psychological capital) resources and work-life facilitation. Similarly, ISC was expected to buffer the negative relationship between work-life conflict and psychological well-being and to boost the positive relationship between work-life facilitation and well-being. These hypotheses were tested on a sample of 547 workers nested in 115 different organizations. Results of multilevel analyses showed that WSC boosted the positive relationship between psychological capital and work-life facilitation, while work-life conflict related negatively with well-being for employees with lower ISC. Additional analyses revealed that workload and emotional demands were indirectly and negatively related to well-being through increased work-life conflict but only among workers with lower ISC. Further, performance feedback, psychological capital and WSC were indirectly and positively related to well-being through increased work-life facilitation. These results support the role of WSC as a job resource since they highlight that WSC energizes employees, while it also activates the potential of other resources. To further extend the study of WSC as a job resource, in the third empirical study (Chapter 4) the individualist next to the ecological approach of WSC were integrated to identify different facets of WSC. To this end, WSC was operationalized as both an organizational-level (WSC) and an individual-level job resource (i.e., IWSC; the extent to which individual employees have access to their organizations’ WSC). Moreover, IWSC was captured as a relatively stable job resource, but also as a dynamic one that can vary daily (i.e., daily IWSC). In addition, the study also considered the dynamic nature of ISC (i.e., daily ISC). In line with Chapter 3, the role of the different facets of social capital (i.e., WSC, IWSC -as a state and as a dynamic state- and daily ISC) was tested in relation to the daily work-life conflict and facilitation processes. Based on the W-HR model, it was hypothesized that WSC, IWSC and daily IWSC will buffer the negative relationship between daily job demands and energy at the end of work, and that WSC and IWSC will boost the positive relationship between daily IWSC and energy at the end of work. It was, also, expected that daily ISC will strengthen the negative relationship between energy and work-life conflict and the positive relationship between energy and work-life facilitation. Eighty-five employees filled out a general survey and daily surveys for five consecutive workdays, twice per day (at the end of work and before bedtime). Results showed that the relationship between daily job demands and energy was negative in conditions of lower daily IWSC, but positive in conditions of high daily IWSC. Moreover, the daily IWSC-energy relationship was positive for those employees who reported higher IWSC, and negative for those with lower IWSC. Additional analyses showed that WSC and IWSC related positively and indirectly to work-life facilitation through their positive association with daily energy at the end of work. These findings demonstrate the importance of considering different facets of WSC to gain a more comprehensive understanding of its functions as a job resource for employees’ work and private life. The fourth empirical study (Chapter 5) aimed to investigate whether WSC as a job resource with a broader social function may help employees in socially threatening conditions such as high job insecurity. Based on COR and JD-R theories, this study explored the buffering role of WSC on the negative relationship between (quantitative and qualitative) job insecurity, on the one hand, and work engagement and in-role job performance, on the other hand. The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 376 employees from various Greek universities. Contrary to expectations, qualitative job insecurity was negatively related to work engagement in conditions of higher WSC, and positively to in-role performance in conditions of lower WSC. Post-hoc analyses revealed that the network sub-dimension of WSC was responsible for these unexpected effects. These findings suggest that an employee’s positioning in and access to the organizational network is relevant under insecure conditions, since an existing but non-accessible resource may be perceived as a threat or as a lost opportunity, rather than as a positive framework for employee well-being.The current thesis provides strong support for the relevance of WSC as a job resource. WSC has an energizing and motivating potential that promotes personal development within (i.e., work engagement) and beyond the workplace (i.e., work-life facilitation), may contribute to goal achievement (i.e., job performance), while it may also boost the positive effects of personal resources (e.g., psychological capital) on work-life facilitation. Moreover, WSC explains additional variance in employee well-being and optimal functioning over and above other job and personal resources and other forms of capital. However, there is evidence that WSC may also have a “dark side” that highlights that is not enough for WSC to exist in an organization, but it is important for employees to have access to it. The integration of the ecological and the individualist approach of WSC provides a more comprehensive understanding of the role of WSC as a job resource, while its study as a stable but also a dynamic characteristic also broadens its nature as a relevant resource.
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