Organizational social capital, personality and emotional exhaustion in hospital employees: A multilevel approach

Background and objective: The aim of the study is to investigate whether organizational social capital is a predictor of emotional exhaustion in breast center employees after accounting for personality traits. Methods: Two data sets were combined to minimize the problem of common method variance: survey data from 1050 employees (response rate: 51%) and from 87 key informants (e.g.: department heads; response rate: 97%) of breast center hospitals in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. After combining both data sets, data of 772 employees from 48 hospitals were analyzed in the final multi-level logistic regression model. Data on emotional exhaustion were obtained using the Maslach Burnout Inventory – HS. Data collected at the hospital level (key informants) included number of patients, teaching status and hospital ownership. Individual social capital – measured by a highly reliable 6-item scale - was aggregated on hospital level. Personality was measured using the Big 5 measurement approach. Results: High emotional exhaustion was significantly more likely if employees worked in hospitals with poorer social capital. Other hospital characteristics were not associated with higher emotional exhaustion. These associations persisted after including the Big 5 variables in the model. Neuroticism was positively associated with higher emotional exhaustion. Conclusion: Despite methodological limitations (e.g. cross-sectional data, common method variance), the data suggest that high social capital in the hospital - operationalized as a contextual (i.e. level 2) characteristic - is associated with a reduced risk of emotional exhaustion, independent of the Big 5 personality traits.