IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v165y2023i2d10.1007_s11205-022-03028-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Workplace Social Capital: Redefining and Measuring the Construct

Author

Listed:
  • Andreas Tsounis

    (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

  • Despoina Xanthopoulou

    (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

  • Evangelia Demerouti

    (Eindhoven University of Technology)

  • Konstantinos Kafetsios

    (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

  • Ioannis Tsaousis

    (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)

Abstract

Although workplace social capital (WSC) is a relevant construct that contributes positively to employee and organizational wellness, there is lack of consensus regarding its definition and measurement. The aim of this paper was to synthesize a valid definition of WSC and develop an instrument measuring the construct. Based on a literature review of existing definitions (Phase 1), we conceptualized WSC as a workplace 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). Next, we developed the WSC Inventory (WoSCi; Phase 2) and, we tested the psychometric properties of the new scale (Phase 3). The initial structure of the scale was explored in a sample of university employees (N = 376). Multilevel confirmatory factor analysis in a heterogeneous sample of 733 employees nested in 158 work groups supported the hypothesized factor structure of the WoSCi. Results also supported the internal consistency, as well as the convergent, criterion-related and incremental validity of the WoSCi in explaining work engagement, burnout, job performance over and above similar constructs, such as individual social capital and psychological capital. These results highlight the relevance of WSC as defined and measured with the WoSCi and underline its value for explaining work-related well-being and organizational behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Andreas Tsounis & Despoina Xanthopoulou & Evangelia Demerouti & Konstantinos Kafetsios & Ioannis Tsaousis, 2023. "Workplace Social Capital: Redefining and Measuring the Construct," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 555-583, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:165:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-022-03028-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-022-03028-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-022-03028-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11205-022-03028-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sébastien Brion & Vincent Chauvet & Barthelemy Chollet & Caroline Danièle Mothe, 2012. "Project leaders as team boundary spanners: Relational antecedents and performance outcomes," Post-Print hal-00919228, HAL.
    2. Wilfred Dolfsma & Charlie Dannreuther, 2003. "Subjects and Boundaries: Contesting Social Capital-Based Policies," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 405-413, June.
    3. De Silva, Mary J & Harpham, Trudy & Tuan, Tran & Bartolini, Rosario & Penny, Mary E & Huttly, Sharon R, 2006. "Psychometric and cognitive validation of a social capital measurement tool in Peru and Vietnam," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(4), pages 941-953, February.
    4. Meng, Annette & Borg, Vilhelm & Clausen, Thomas, 2019. "Enhancing the social capital in industrial workplaces: Developing workplace interventions using intervention mapping," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 227-236.
    5. Maurice Schiff, 1992. "Social Capital, Labor Mobility, and Welfare," Rationality and Society, , vol. 4(2), pages 157-175, April.
    6. Joel Sobel, 2002. "Can We Trust Social Capital?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(1), pages 139-154, March.
    7. Christoph Kowalski & Oliver Ommen & Elke Driller & Nicole Ernstmann & Markus A Wirtz & Thorsten Köhler & Holger Pfaff, 2010. "Burnout in nurses – the relationship between social capital in hospitals and emotional exhaustion," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(11‐12), pages 1654-1663, June.
    8. Christiaan Grootaert & Thierry Van Bastelar, 2002. "Understanding and Measuring Social Capital : A Multidisciplinary Tool for Practitioners," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 14098, December.
    9. Hisashi Eguchi & Akizumi Tsutsumi & Akiomi Inoue & Yuko Odagiri, 2017. "Psychometric assessment of a scale to measure bonding workplace social capital," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(6), pages 1-13, June.
    10. Peter Graeff & Gert Svendsen, 2013. "Trust and corruption: The influence of positive and negative social capital on the economic development in the European Union," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 47(5), pages 2829-2846, August.
    11. Uphoff, Norman & Wijayaratna, C. M., 2000. "Demonstrated Benefits from Social Capital: The Productivity of Farmer Organizations in Gal Oya, Sri Lanka," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(11), pages 1875-1890, November.
    12. He Chen & Tianguang Meng, 2015. "Bonding, Bridging, and Linking Social Capital and Self-Rated Health among Chinese Adults: Use of the Anchoring Vignettes Technique," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(11), pages 1-15, November.
    13. Felix Requena, 2003. "Social Capital, Satisfaction and Quality of Life in the Workplace," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 331-360, March.
    14. Fredrica Nyqvist & Bernd Pape & Tony Pellfolk & Anna Forsman & Kristian Wahlbeck, 2014. "Structural and Cognitive Aspects of Social Capital and All-Cause Mortality: A Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 116(2), pages 545-566, April.
    15. Woolcock, Michael & Narayan, Deepa, 2000. "Social Capital: Implications for Development Theory, Research, and Policy," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 15(2), pages 225-249, August.
    16. Krishna, Anirudh, 2001. "Moving from the Stock of Social Capital to the Flow of Benefits: The Role of Agency," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 925-943, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Esperanza Vera-Toscano & Fernando Garrido-Fernández & José Gómez-Limón & José Cañadas-Reche, 2013. "Are Theories About Social Capital Empirically Supported? Evidence from the Farming Sector," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 1331-1359, December.
    2. Dufhues, Thomas & Buchenrieder, Gertrud & Quoc, Hoang Dinh & Munkung, Nuchanata, 2011. "Social capital and loan repayment performance in Southeast Asia," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 679-691.
    3. Dufhues, Thomas & Buchenrieder, Gertrud & Munkung, Nuchanata, 2012. "Individual social capital and access to formal credit in Thailand," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 123401, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. Jing Li & Carla Barbieri, 2020. "Demystifying Members’ Social Capital and Networks within an Agritourism Association: A Social Network Analysis," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 1(1), pages 1-18, December.
    5. Dufhues, Thomas & Buchenrieder, Gertrud & Fischer, Isabel, 2006. "Social capital and rural development: literature review and current state of the art [Sozialkapital und ländliche Entwicklung: Literaturüberblick und gegenwärtiger Stand der Forschung]," IAMO Discussion Papers 96, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO).
    6. repec:zbw:iamodp:92017 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Xinguang Chen & Bin Yu & Jie Gong & Peigang Wang & Amy L. Elliott, 2018. "Social Capital Associated with Quality of Life Mediated by Employment Experiences: Evidence from a Random Sample of Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(1), pages 327-346, August.
    8. Nyangena, Wilfred & Sterner, Thomas, 2008. "Social Capital and Institutions in Rural Kenya: Is Machakos Unique?," RFF Working Paper Series dp-08-01-efd, Resources for the Future.
    9. Park, Duk-Byeong & Lee, Kwang-Woo & Choi, Hyun-Suk & Yoon, Yooshik, 2012. "Factors influencing social capital in rural tourism communities in South Korea," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1511-1520.
    10. Bisung, Elijah & Elliott, Susan J., 2014. "Toward a social capital based framework for understanding the water-health nexus," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 194-200.
    11. Junfeng Jiang & Peigang Wang, 2020. "Is Linking Social Capital More Beneficial to the Health Promotion of the Poor? Evidence from China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 147(1), pages 45-71, January.
    12. George Okello Candiya Bongomin & John C. Munene & Joseph Ntayi Mpeera & Charles Malinga Akol, 2017. "Financial inclusion in rural Uganda: The role of social capital and generational values," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(1), pages 1302866-130, January.
    13. Boyas, Javier F. & Wind, Leslie H. & Ruiz, Erika, 2013. "Organizational tenure among child welfare workers, burnout, stress, and intent to leave: Does employment-based social capital make a difference?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1657-1669.
    14. Michael Weiler & Oliver Hinz, 2019. "Without each other, we have nothing: a state-of-the-art analysis on how to operationalize social capital," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 13(5), pages 1003-1035, November.
    15. Wouter Groot & Haranath Tadepally, 2008. "Community action for environmental restoration: a case study on collective social capital in India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 519-536, August.
    16. Bamieh, Omar & Cintolesi, Andrea, 2021. "Intergenerational transmission in regulated professions and the role of familism," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 857-879.
    17. Ma Yuan & Cao Yue-qun & Wang Hao & Xiang Hong, 2022. "Does Social Capital Promote Health?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 501-524, July.
    18. Agampodi, Thilini Chanchala & Agampodi, Suneth Buddhika & Glozier, Nicholas & Siribaddana, Sisira, 2015. "Measurement of social capital in relation to health in low and middle income countries (LMIC): A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 95-104.
    19. Ghazala Mansuri, 2004. "Community-Based and -Driven Development: A Critical Review," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 19(1), pages 1-39.
    20. Haddad, Lawrence James & Maluccio, John A., 2002. "Trust, membership in groups, and household welfare," FCND briefs 135, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    21. van Staveren, I.P., 2002. "Social capital :What is in it for feminist economics?," ISS Working Papers - General Series 19126, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:165:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-022-03028-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.