Self-esteem, Resilience, and Social Trust as Mediators in the Relationship between Optimism and Job Satisfaction: A Preliminary Analysis of Data from European Social Survey

Received 29 Jun, 2016

Accepted 17 Jun, 2017

Published 30 Jun, 2017

This study examined the mediation effects of social trust, selfesteem, and resilience in the relationship between optimism and job satisfaction. Data of appropriate items from the European Social Survey (Round 6) were picked that measured optimism, job satisfaction, self-esteem, resilience, and social trust that were the relevant constructs to this research. The sample for this study comprised of 26716 respondents. Results indicated that optimism, social trust, self-esteem, resilience, and job satisfaction were significantly and positively associated with each other. Results further showed that social trust, self-esteem, and resilience significantly mediated the relationship between optimism and job satisfaction. Implications of research and limitations of the current study were also discussed.

Positive psychology has received great attention from researchers over the last two decades. In this wave, optimism has emerged as an important construct (Malik, 2013). Optimism has been defined as “a generalized belief that good rather than bad outcomes will happen in person’s life” (Scheire & Carver, 1993, p.26). Optimism is described by some authors as a characteristic that is the basis of positive thinking (see e.g., Beheshtifar, 2013). This characteristic is relatively stable (Scheier & Carver, 1985) and reflects future expectation and adjustment (Carver & Scheier, 2002; Peterson, Luthans, Avolio, Walumbwa, & Zhang, 2011).

Scheier and Carver (1987) argued that optimism may be situation specific known as situational optimism and also dispositional, reflecting generalized favorable expectations across a wide range of outcomes. According to explanatory style model (Seligman, 1998), optimists view negative situation as caused by external factors, temporary, and relevant to specific situation, whereas, pessimists view negative situation as permanent, global, being caused by internal factors such as personal (Gillham et al., 2001).

There is good evidence in the previous studies that optimism positively affects job satisfaction (Ahmed, 2012; Kaplan & Biçkes, 2013; Youssef & Luthans, 2007). In other empirical studies, optimism has also been found to determine self-esteem (Bastianello, Pacico, & Hutz, 2014; Creed, Patton, & Bartrum, 2004; Lyubomirsky,Tkach, & DiMatteo, 2006), resilience (Hussin, 2011), and social trust (Putnam as cited in Hearn, 1997; Uslaner, 1999). However, there is scarcity of studies to explore the mediational effects of self-esteem, resilience, and social trust between optimism and job satisfaction relationships. Although, literature shows that optimism is linked with positive work related outcomes (such as job satisfaction), but the mechanism through which this relationship is built needs explanation to advance our understanding of this phenomenonThe current study is an effort to fill this void. However, in the absence of prior research, a general analysis based on existing data from European Social Survey(round 6) has been undertaken in this paper. Should statistically significant effects be reported, the case can subsequently be examined on primary data collected from Pakistan as well.

Optimism
Optimism has been found to be related with important life outcomes such as physical health (Allison,Guichard, Fung, &Gilain, 2003; Giltay, Kamphuis, Kalmijn, Zitman, & Kromhout, 2006); psychological well-being (Boland & Cappeliez, 1997; Leung et al., 2005); lower levels of depression and suicidal ideation (Hirsch & Conner, 2006); lower levels of stress (Chang & Bridewell, 1998); and lesser mood disturbance in case of stressful event (Scheier & Carver, 1992; Segerstrom et al.,1998). Optimism has also been studied in relation to expressing and seeking higher social support (Fontaine & Seal, 1997) and greater adjustment in change situation (Riolli, Savicki, & Cepani, 2002).In addition to individuals’ personal lives, this positive approach has been found to positively affect work-related outcomes and attitudes such as work engagement (Ugwu, 2012) turnover intentions (Bressler, 2006), career planning(Creed et al., 2004) affective commitment (Bressler, 2006), and job satisfaction (Ahmed, 2012; Kaplan & Biçkes, 2013; Youssef & Luthans,2007).

Optimism and Job Satisfaction
Among employees’ job related attitudes, job satisfaction has remained one of the most important constructs for researchers (Saari & Judge, 2004). Job satisfaction can be defined as “the extent to which people like or dislike their jobs” (Spector, 1997, p. 2). Both individual and organizational variables have an impact on job satisfaction of employees. Individual variables that affect job satisfaction include personal demographic (age, gender, education, seniority) as well as personality traits, beliefs, values, and core competencies (Rayton, 2006).

A growing body of research indicates that the trait optimism is related with job satisfaction that is, optimists are more likely to have greater job satisfaction (e.g., Ahmed, 2012; Kaplan &Biçkes,2013; Youssef & Luthans, 2007). Therefore, the following hypothesis is phrased:

H1.Optimism positively predicts job satisfaction of employees.

Optimism and Self-esteem
Self-esteem, generally, refers to an individual’s overall evaluation of his/her own worth as a person, of his/her capabilities, or generalized feelings of self-acceptance, goodness, and self-respect (Cast & Burke, 2002). Previous researches show that optimism is related with self-esteem (see e.g., Bastianello et al., 2014; Creed et al., 2004; Leung, Moneta, & McBride-Chang, 2005; Lyubomirsky et al., 2006), which in turn accounts for variance in employees’ job related attitudes (see e.g., Judge &Bono, 2001; Judge, Heller, & Mount, 2002). Self-esteem enhances self-worth, musters up courage, and serves as the road to success (Carver & Scheier, 1981). It nourishes confidence in being accepted rather than rejected (Crocker & Major, 1989).

Several previous works like those of Creed, Patton, and Bartrum, (2002) in a study of 500 high school students and Scheier, Carver, and Bridges(1994) found a significant and positive relationship between optimism and self-esteem. Similar results have been shared by other studies as well where optimism is reported to positively predict self-esteem (Pierce & Gardner, 2004; Sandoval, 2008). Besides, optimism promotes self-esteem due to one’s vision to accept reality (Taylor, Collins, Skokan, & Aspinwall, 1989). We thus expect the relationship to hold true in case of employees in different organizations. It is, therefore, hypothesized as follows:

H2. Optimism positivelypredicts self-esteem.

Optimism and Resilience
“Resiliency is an ability to settle and deal with the circumstances when facing negative situations, risk or important changes” (Luthans, 2002, p.702). From organizational behavior perspective, resilience is described as employees’ ability to sustain well-being both personal and professional, when confronting stress and difficulty (McCann et al., 2013).Resilience is a driving force that guides human behavior, mindset, and actions that greatly affect the immediate working environment. In exact, resilience is a psychological resource that has utility in hardships, and demands of times, places, and people (Malik, 2013).

Optimism and resilience go hand in hand (Rutter, 2006). In stressful condition, optimism helps employee to recover (Carver, Scheier, & Segerstrom, 2010); this is since optimism improves one’s cognitive expectation of improved future even in disappointing dispositions (Carver et al., 2010; Synder & Lopez, 2002; Tusaie-Mumford, 2001).

There are good grounds in the previous studies that suggest a positive relationship between optimism and resilience such that optimism predicts resilience (Bonanno, 2005; Carver & Scheier, 2001; Carver et al., 2010; Hussin, 2011; Kumpfer, 1999; Tusaie-Mumford, 2001). Optimism as a motivational force triggers hard work, great determination that render failure merely a milestone rather than a personal misfit (Malik, 2013). Furthermore, it is added that optimism helps in developing internal resilience that comprise self-directedness, efficacy, control, and hopefulness. Some studies have empirically tested deterministic relationship between optimism and resilience (see e.g., Tusaie-Mumford, 2001; Yu & Zhang, 2007). In another study on university students, Dawson and Pooley (2013) have found a statistically significant relationship between optimism and resilience.

In the light of this discussion, we can expect that optimism would positively affect employee’s resilience. Thus, it is hypothesized that:

H3.Optimism positively predicts employee resilience.

Optimism and Social Trust
The term interpersonal trust is also used for social trust. According to Sturgis et al.(2012), social (or generalized) trust is a belief that is held by an individual about others’ actions towards him/her in a society. Social trust is considered as a core personality trait of individuals (see Allport, 1961). It has been documented that social trust aids in generating positive attitudes (Brashear et al., 2003; Dirks & Ferrin, 2002; Matzler & Renzl, 2006; Mooradian et al., 2006; Perry & Mankin, 2007).

Previous studies have found trust to be an element of optimism (Jones, 1996; Kılınç, 2013). Hoy, Tarter, and Woolfolk-Hoy (2006) suggest social trust to come from the affective side of optimism. Hence, research reveals that people with high levels of social trust are more likely to be optimistic about the future (Putnam ascitedin Hearn, 1997). Similarly, Uslaner (1999) provides a standing ground for the relationship between optimism and trust, stating that social trust is based on optimism and sense of control over one’s own life which are fundamental personality characteristics. We, thus, put forth the following hypothesis:

H4.Optimism will positively predict social trust.

Mediating Role of Self-Esteem, Resilience, and Social Trust
One important research question that is yet to be answered is what possible mediating routes are to be followed to explain the positive effect of optimism on job satisfaction? Existing literature provides some evidence regarding few potential intervening psychological constructs (such as social trust, self-esteem, resilience) that have relationship with both optimism and job satisfaction either as a predictor or outcome variable.

Having established that there is a positive relationship between optimism and job satisfaction, the first potential construct which may mediate the relationship between optimism and job satisfaction is self-esteem. Some researches indicate that optimism has indirect effect on satisfaction through the mediation of self-esteem where optimism also predicted life satisfaction directly and indirectly through self-esteem and relationship harmony (Malik, 2013). The optimism and self-esteem, self-esteem and job satisfaction, and optimism and job satisfaction relationships provide some evidence about the mediating role of self-esteem in the optimism-job satisfaction relationship.

Likewise, resilience may be posited to mediate the relationship between optimism and job satisfaction. In existing literature, resilience has been found to have positive effects on job satisfaction (see e.g., Kaplan & Biçkes, 2013; Youssef & Luthans, 2007). Malik (2013) has found a positive relationship between job satisfaction and resilience. Therefore, the optimism-resilience and the resilience-job satisfaction relationships provide clue about the mediating role of the resilience in the optimism-job satisfaction relationship. Such indirect relationship between optimism and social trust has also been found. Woolfolk-Hoy, Hoy, and Kurz (2008) suggest that social trust is elemental in achievement. We can suggest that social trust may itself be another mediating factor between optimism and job satisfaction. In the presence of foundations in literature for self-esteem, resilience, and social trust being probable mediators between optimism-job satisfaction relationships, we hypothesize that:

H5. Self-esteem, resilience, and social trust will mediate the relationship between optimism and job satisfaction.

METHOD

Participants
The analysis in this study is based upon data collected in the Edition 2.0 of the European Social Survey (ESS)-Round 6 (2012), an academically driven cross-national survey conducted across Europe. The ESS 6 is representative of citizens of 29 countries (27 European countries, Russian Federation, and Israel), with sample sizes over 1000, except in Italy and Iceland, which had sample sizes of 960 and 752, respectively. Full details of the ESS, including the questionnaire, submodules, and variable descriptions, are available on the ESS official website.

The data were collected using random sampling method using list of household addresses and the sample frame included all persons aged 18years and over; while, there was no upper age limit. The sample was representative of all 29 countries in that it accomplished an effective achieved sample size of 800 to 1500 for each country.

After deleting missing values on main variable (i.e., job satisfaction or including only employees in analysis), the final sample contained 26716 respondents (Albania = 331; Belgium = 952; Bulgaria = 946; Switzerland = 929; Cyprus = 534; Czech Republic = 1042; Germany = 1603; Denmark = 924; Estonia = 1249; Spain = 825; Finland = 1131; France = 949; United Kingdom = 1038; Hungary = 941; Ireland = 1078; Israel = 1322; Iceland = 502; Italy = 456; Lithuania = 1008; Netherlands = 988; Norway = 1067; Poland = 944; Portugal = 854; Russian Federation = 1407; Sweden = 1022; Slovenia = 516; Slovakia = 917; Ukraine = 900; Kosovo = 342). Respondents included both male (n = 13588) and female (n = 13118) employees with an average age of 43.04 years (SD = 12.43).

Measures
Optimism. In the ESS, the dispositional optimism was measured through a single item: “I am always optimistic about my future.” The item was rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (agree strongly) to 5 (disagree strongly).

Social trust. In the ESS, three items were used to measure social trust: (1) “Most people can be trusted or you cannot be too careful” (coded on a metric from 0 = You can't be too careful to10 = Most people can be trusted); (2) “Most people try to take advantage of you, or try to be fair”(coded on a metric from 0 = Most people try to take advantage of me to10 = Most people try to be fair); and (3) “Most of the time people are helpful or mostly looking out for themselves” (coded on a metric from 0 = People mostly look out for themselves to10 = People mostly try to be helpful). To create a composite measure of social trust, scores on these three items were averaged. In this study, the internal consistency of the scale was found to be .92.

Self-esteem. In the ESS, a single item measure was used to assess the self-esteem of respondents: “In general, I feel very positive about myself”. The item was rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from agree strongly (1) to disagree strongly (5)as used in ESS. The item was reverse-coded, so that higher scores indicated higher levels of self-esteem.

Resilience. In the ESS, a single item measure was used to assess the dispositional optimism of respondents. “When things go wrong in my life, it takes a long time to get back to normal”. The item was rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = agree strongly to 5 = disagree strongly.

Job satisfaction. The ESS asks one question to assess global job satisfaction: “How much satisfied with your job” coded on a metric from 0 = extremely dissatisfiedto10 = extremely satisfied.

Ethical Considerations
The ESS data is open source and is available online for download for non-commercial research purposes. The only requirement is an online registration for the download. The data providing organization has been paid no remuneration for the data and as such has no influence over the purpose of the independent research.

RESULTS

Correlation coefficients showed positive association between job satisfaction and age (r = .07, p<.01) as well as between social trust and age (r = .04, p< .01), whereas negative correlation coefficients of age were observed for optimism (r = -.05, p<.01), self-esteem (r = -.03, p<.01), and resilience (r = -.04, p<.01).

Correlation matrix was tabulated to determine the association among the major variables of the study (see Table 1).

Table 1:	Correlation Matrix for Optimism, Social Support, Self-esteem, Resilience, and Job Satisfaction (N = 26716)
Note. Correlations above diagonal are controlled for country, gender, and age N = 26716 **p< .01

Results given in Table 1showed that optimism was positively and significantly associated with social trust, self-esteem, resilience, and job satisfaction. In addition, social trust, self-esteem, and resilience are positively and significantly associated with job satisfaction. Similarly, social trust, self-esteem, and resilience are positively aligned with each other (see Table 1).

Table 2:	Gender Differences on Study Variables (N = 26716)

Results presented in Table 2 showed that male employees significantly score higher than female employees on optimism, self-esteem, and resilience. On the other hand, female employees report higher levels of social trust than male employees. However, non-significant differences between male and female employees are found on the dependent variable (i.e., job satisfaction).

In line with suggestions outlined by Preacher and Hayes (2008), we examined the mediating effects of social trust, self-esteem, and resilience in the relationship between optimism and job satisfaction. This method generates bootstrap results for indirect effects (mediating effects) of independent variable on dependent variable through proposed mediators and accompanying 95% confidence intervals. If the estimate of an indirect effect is significantly different from zero (at p< .05), then the confidence interval will not contain zero and thus, one can conclude that the effect of the independent variable (in this case optimism) on the dependent variable (job satisfaction) is mediated by the mediating variable(s) (in this case social trust, self-esteem, and resilience). We used 1000 bootstrap resamples to obtain confidence inter­vals for the mediated or indirect effects. Table 3 gives the overall indirect effects of the mediation analyses.

Table 3:	Mediating Role of Social Trust, Self-Esteem, and Resilience in Predicting Job Satisfaction
N = 26716, **p< .01

Figure 1 shows the mediation results. Social trust, self-esteem, and resilience were significant mediators of the relationship between optimism and job satisfaction.

Fig. 1: Path model showing social trust, self-esteem, and resilience mediating the relationship between optimism and job satisfaction

DISCUSSION

The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating role of self-esteem, resilience, and social trust in the relationship between optimism and job satisfaction. Given that, to our knowledge, no study has investigated the mechanism through which optimism influences the job satisfaction, our findings add to current literature by highlighting such a mechanism. Our results showed that self-esteem, resilience, and social trust mediated the relationship between optimism and job satisfaction. Employees having more optimistic approach reported greater social trust, resiliency, and self-esteem, and all of these contributed to job satisfaction through direct pathways.

The results showed a positive relationship between optimism and job satisfaction. There are several possible explanations to this relationship which include the experience of cognitive appreciation of a positive and pleasurable feeling about the future (Saari & Judge, 2004). The pleasure in the feelings of output, in turn, bring about job satisfaction. The results, thus, are in conformity with previous studies conducted in different contexts.

The second hypothesis proposed a positive relationship between optimism and self-esteem where the former determines the later. We retained this hypothesis as optimism positively and significantly determined self-esteem. Optimism improves employee’s self-worth and nurtures a sense of being accepted (see e.g., Bastianello et al., 2014; Hutz, Midgett, Pacico, Bastianello, & Zanon, 2014). The self-worth itself represent the self-esteem. So, as an employee becomes more optimistic, he/she develops a sense of being accepted by others and this feeling improves with greater optimism.

The third hypothesis of the study suggested that optimism positively determines resilience. The hypothesis was retained as the results indicated in favor of it. As discussed earlier that resilience is a psychological resource (Malik, 2013) that gives rise to capacity to rebound from troublesome times. Optimism enriches one in hopefulness that soothes the disappointments residing in failure (Carver et al., 2010; Synder & Lopez, 2002; Tusaie-Mumford, 2001) and mitigates the feelings of stress and discontent (Carver et al., 2010). As a result, with greater optimism there exists greater resilience to adversities.

The fourth hypothesis predicted a positive determination of social trust by optimism. This hypothesis was also retained in the face of supporting results. The primary reason for this is that the previous literature has considered social trust itself to be an element of optimism (Hoy, Tarter, & Woolfolk-Hoy, 2006; Jones, 1996; Kılınç, 2013). Social trust arises out of the affective side of optimism (Hoy et al., 2006). Thus, being an aspect of optimism itself, social trust improves as optimism increases.

The first observation that self-esteem mediates the relationship between optimism and job satisfaction is logically supported by self-consistency theory forecasting that individuals having higher self-esteem pick jobs that are according to their interest, leading to their greater job satisfaction (see Ferris, Lian, Brown, Pang,& Keeping, 2010). In a study on elderly people, Leung et al. (2005) argue that optimism enhances self-esteem because optimists are more hopeful about future so they are motivated to capitalize in personal development. In addition, optimists are more disposed to accept facts and reality (Scheier et al., 1986; Taylor, 1983; Taylor et al., 1989). Jackson et al. (2005) document that optimism and self-esteem both reinforce each other as both are in viable mutual relationship. The person’s positive image of oneself is related to job performance (Pierce & Gardner, 2004). Locke et al. (1996) observed that those with high self-esteem think of a difficult job as a chance to learn and benefit from it, while, on the other side, those having low self-esteem take it as an unjustified one or an opportunity to fail.

The second assumption that resilience works as mediator in the relationship between optimism and job satisfaction was also substantiated. Jeong (2008) argues that “optimists are resilient because they see adversity as a challenge, transform problems into opportunities, persevere in finding solutions to difficult problems, maintain confidence, and rebound quickly after setbacks” (p. 131).Thus, employees who can handle task pressure have greater psychological well-being (Rahmawati, 2013) and maintain their performance even in difficult circumstances (Garmezy, 1991).As a result, they are more satisfied with their jobs.

Finally, in this study social trust emerged as a significant mediator in the relationship between optimism and job satisfaction. Our results showed a positive relationship between optimism and social trust. These results are in line with the arguments presented by scholars that optimism and social trust are most closely correlated to each other (Delhey & Newton, 2003; Putnam as cited in Hearn, 1997; Uslaner, 1999). Furthermore, in line with previous studies, significant positive correlation was found between social trust and job satisfaction (Brashear et al., 2003; Matzler & Renzl, 2006; Perry & Mankin, 2007).

LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

The current study has several limitations. First, the cross-sectional survey data was used in this study due to which causal relationship cannot be inferred. The future researches should adopt a longitudinal strategy to confirm the direction of causation. Second, the social desirability bias can be a big problem with self-report measures, as participants often answer in a way to portray themselves in a good light. Third, data were mainly from European countries. Future studies could examine whether the relationships found out in this study should be generalized to sample of other cultures beyond European context, because the meaning of job satisfaction varies from culture to culture (see e.g., Kuehneisen, 2013). Similarly, other psychological constructs studied also have social/cultural connotations. Finally, the current study has taken a survey data of employees working in different sectors without any differentiation on the basis of sectors or nature of industry (work). The future studies should also consider this difference. Studies should also be conducted to see the impacts of demographic characteristics (age, gender, marital status) in the relationship between optimism and other variables.

IMPLICATIONS

Although the current study is not without limitations, but still it has important implications for the organizations. The past researches have proved that optimism is a coping mechanism against negative events and adversity and also a positive force within an individual to accept challenges at the workplace. The analysis of current study, revealed that optimism is not only a direct predictor of job satisfaction but it also indirectly supports the activation of other psychosocial traits such as self-esteem, resilience, and social trust that lead to job satisfaction. Therefore, organizations should plan to focus on developing these positive qualities in employees, because it is argued that optimism along with other psychosocial traits is combination of nature and nurture. Employees and organizations affect each other, either negatively or positively. Employees’ characteristics that are beneficial for themselves and also for organizations can be promoted and reinforced through different techniques.

Apart from optimism, scholars have suggested that social trust, self-esteem, and resilience, which emerged as significant mediators in our study, may be learned. It is theorized that interpersonal trust is learned through ones’ experiences and brought up (Nunkoo & Smith, 2014). As workplace is an important socialization institution, the management takes proper measures for trust building in their organizations through different techniques such as uniform treatment and frequent and rich communication, and transparent and fair decision making (Matzler & Renzl, 2006). Similarly, employees’ resilience can be fostered through different training techniques such as emotions regulation, impulse control, and self-efficacy.

CONCLUSION

The present study extends earlier researches by providing first evidence for the mediating role of positive internal dispositional factors in the relationship between optimism and job satisfaction. The current findings suggest that optimism may act as an accelerator to positive thinking and adjustability, like resilience, social trust, and self-esteem. From organizational behavior perspective, these findings suggest that optimist may be, a more beneficial asset for organizations, especially, in times of crises and adversity. Employees could be satisfied with their jobs even in crises if they are optimistic, have trust in themselves (self-esteem) and in others (social trust) and are emotionally resilient. In other words, employees with optimistic approach, higher self-esteem, resiliency, and higher social trust are more likely to experience greater job satisfaction in comparison to those who have lower level of these traits. The good thing is that these dispositional traits can be developed in individuals.

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