Career Capital and Well-Being: A Configurational Perspective

Area of Science:

• Organizational Psychology
• Human Resource Management
• Employee Well-being Studies

Background:

• Employee well-being is influenced by multiple capital dimensions.
• Understanding the configuration effects of these capitals is crucial for organizational success.
• Previous research has often examined these capitals in isolation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the configuration effects of human capital, social capital, and psychological capital on employee well-being.
• To identify the most critical capital components and their synergistic or independent contributions to well-being.
• To explore the differential impact of task-oriented versus guanxi-oriented psychological capital.

Main Methods:

• A quantitative study involving 458 employees.
• Utilized validated scales for human capital, social capital, Chinese psychological capital, and multiple well-being indicators.
• Employed fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to examine configurational pathways.

Main Results:

• Diversified configurations of human, social, and psychological capital lead to high employee well-being ('all roads lead to Rome').
• Psychological capital alone can ensure high well-being, irrespective of human or social capital.
• Psychological capital emerged as the most critical factor, followed by human capital and social capital.

Conclusions:

• Psychological capital is the most significant driver of employee well-being.
• Task-oriented psychological capital is more critical for high well-being than guanxi-oriented psychological capital.
• Organizations should prioritize fostering psychological capital for enhanced employee well-being.