Impact of Psychological Capital and Social Capital on the Job Stress and Deviant Behaviors in Clinical Staff

Background and Objectives: Working in hospital is stressful, and this may result in deviant behaviors of clinical staff and thus irreparable damages to the patients’ health. It is, therefore, crucial to empower hospital workers in managing job stress to ensure high quality of healthcare. Psychological and social capitals have been shown to influence organizational behaviors of the employees. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of psychological capital (PC) and social capital (SC) on job stress and deviant behaviors in clinical staff. Methods: A random sample of 375 individuals was randomly selected from among the clinicians of hospitals of Tabriz City (North-western Iran). Data were collected using valid and reliable questionnaires. The obtained data were summarized using descriptive statistical methods. The relationship between the variables was explored by Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multiple regressions analysis. Findings: Higher PC and SC negatively predicted both job stress and deviant behaviors. In addition, the negative correlation between PC and job stress was found to be stronger in the employees with higher SC. Conclusions: Our study, hence, suggests promotion of PC and SC in clinical staff as an effective approach to empower them in managing stressful situations. Increased PC may also alleviate the rate deviant behaviors in clinicians, resulting in higher performance of healthcare human resources.