Nexus among Psychological Capital, Work-life Balance and Job Satisfaction of Employees in Apparel Industry

Abstract

Work-Life balance and job satisfaction are among the topmost manpower managerial issues in most contemporary workplaces. Fluxes in these variables result in productivity losses and inflated overall cost at the organizational level while at the macro level, they hold back the national economic growth. Scholars argue that psychological capital can positively impact the work-life balance and, subsequently job satisfaction. Yet, empirical evidence of this nexus is scant, particularly in the context of the Sri Lankan apparel industry. Therefore, this study primarily aimed at exploring the effect of psychological capital on work-life balance and job satisfaction of employees in apparel industries in Sri Lanka. A quantitative inquiry of the research questions was performed. A self-admin-istrative survey instrument gathered data from a randomly drawn representative sample of 162 employees. Data analysis used descriptive statistics and analytical statistics techniques particularly, Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling. Results in-dicated that all psychological capital antecedents have a significant and positive effect on job satisfaction of apparel employees, among which hope is the strongest influence. Similarly, all psychological capital antecedents except optimism were found to be affecting the work-life balance. Confirmation of the power of psychological capital in manipulating work-life balance and job satisfaction is regarded as the theoretical implication of the study whereas managerial implications highlight the necessity of maintaining the healthy psychological capital state of employees to impact the other desired job-related outcomes.