Psychological Capital, Work Well-Being, and Work-Life Balance Among Chinese Employees

This study adopts conservation of resources theory to investigate the relationship between psychological capital (PsyCap) and outcomes of work well-being and work-life balance among Chinese employees. A 2-wave survey was conducted among 287 health care workers in Chinese societies. Adapted from Western scales, a 22-item measure of PsyCap was constructed and confirmatory factor analyses supported a higher-order construct of PsyCap comprising self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and resiliency. Results from cross-lagged analysis demonstrated that PsyCap at Time 1 had a significant positive relationship with participants’ work well-being (higher levels of job satisfaction and physical/psychological well-being) and more work-life balance at Time 2 (conducted 5 months later). Implications for theory and practice are discussed.