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Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi and Job Satisfaction Among Migrant Workers in China

Author

Listed:
  • Jie Li

    (Shanghai University)

  • Wangshuai Wang

    (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

  • Gong Sun

    (Central University of Finance and Economics)

  • Zhou Jiang

    (Griffith University)

  • Zhiming Cheng

    (Macquarie University)

Abstract

In urban China, improving rural–urban migrant workers’ subjective wellbeing has become an important goal for workplaces and local governments. Drawing from the social capital theory and using original survey data, we examine the relationship between migrant workers’ guanxi (‘personal relations’ in the Chinese context) with their supervisors and their job satisfaction. Our results show that supervisor–subordinate guanxi is positively related to migrant workers’ job satisfaction. This relationship is mediated by network resources and personal power, which serve as their social resources in workplaces. Our study contributes to the positive psychology literature by understanding the role of guanxi in shaping Chinese migrant workers’ job satisfaction. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Jie Li & Wangshuai Wang & Gong Sun & Zhou Jiang & Zhiming Cheng, 2018. "Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi and Job Satisfaction Among Migrant Workers in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(1), pages 293-307, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:139:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11205-016-1471-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-016-1471-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Xing Zhang & Micha Kaiser & Peng Nie & Alfonso Sousa-Poza, 2019. "Why are Chinese workers so unhappy? A comparative cross-national analysis of job satisfaction, job expectations, and job attributes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(9), pages 1-16, September.
    2. Zejun Ma & Hira Salah ud din Khan & Muhammad Salman Chughtai & Mingxing Li & Bailin Ge & Syed Usman Qadri, 2023. "A Review of Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi: Current Trends and Future Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, January.

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