The Influence of Social Capital: A Trigger for Increasing Job Satisfaction

PURPOSE: Evidence suggests that social capital in medical and health institutions is associated with the job satisfaction of medical staff. We examined the relationship between the social capital of Primary Healthcare Institutions (PHI) and the job satisfaction of pharmacists within it. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From August 24 to September 1, 2021, we visited a total of 253 PHIs in 31 provinces of China. The social capital of healthcare organizations reported by employees (SOCAPO-E) scale was used to measure the social capital level of PHIs. And the Minnesota short-form job satisfaction scale was used to obtain pharmacists’ job satisfaction. We employed multiple linear regression to explore the relationship between the social capital of PHI and pharmacists’ job satisfaction. We also examined the effects of pharmacists’ individual characteristics and job-related factors on pharmacists’ job satisfaction. RESULTS: It was statistically significant that the higher the social capital stock of PHI, the higher the job satisfaction level of pharmacists becomes. In addition, the regression analysis revealed that work hours, employment form, license acquired condition, disputes with patients and training frequency were significantly associated with the job satisfaction of pharmacists in PHI. CONCLUSION: Social capital in PHI has a significant impact on pharmacists’ job satisfaction, suggesting that investing in social capital in PHI is a valuable investment in China. Furthermore, trust, which can be divided into affective trust and cognitive trust, and reciprocity are vital to the fulfillment of pharmacists’ job satisfaction as core elements of social capital.