Social Networks, Social Circles, and Job Satisfaction

Abstract

This paper tests the proposition that social networks serve as a social resource which affects job satisfaction through the provision of social support. Drawing from the literature on job satisfaction and social support, the author argues that three types of networks are likely to affect job satisfaction: dense networks, social circles composed of co-workers, and kin-centered networks. Data from the 1985 General Social Survey, indicates that co-worker social circles and kin-centered networks positively affect job satisfaction and that certain of these network effects vary by contextual factors.