The Role of Social Capital Dimensions in Enhancing Job Satisfaction and Willingness to Share Historical Knowledge Among Employees of the National Museum of Iran

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Social Sciences, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Department of Knowledge and Information Science, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22059/jlib.2026.409888.1811

Abstract

Objective: The present study examines the role of social capital dimensions in enhancing job satisfaction and willingness to share historical knowledge among employees of the National Museum of Iran.
Method: This study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive–survey in terms of methodology. The statistical population consisted of all employees of the National Museum of Iran in 2025. Using Cochran’s formula and simple random sampling, a sample of 175 respondents was selected. The data collection instrument was a composite questionnaire including the Social Capital Scale developed by Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998), the Job Satisfaction Scale by Paul Spector (1985), and the Knowledge Sharing Scale by Wang and Noe (2010). The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, yielding a coefficient of 0.89. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with LISREL software.
Results: Based on the direct effects of social capital dimensions on the willingness to share knowledge, the cognitive dimension (factor loading = 0.62), the structural dimension (factor loading = 0.49), and the relational dimension (factor loading = 0.31) exhibited the greatest influence on willingness to share knowledge, respectively. Furthermore, job satisfaction (factor loading = 0.70) had a strong effect on willingness to share knowledge. In all cases, the obtained t-values exceeded 1.96, and based on these results, the research hypotheses were confirmed. Regarding the indirect relationships among the research variables, through the mediating role of job satisfaction, the relational dimension (0.95), structural dimension (0.79), and cognitive dimension (0.77) of social capital had, respectively, the greatest effects on the willingness to share historical knowledge.
Conclusions: The findings emphasize that social capital, as one of the organization’s intangible assets, plays a key role in enhancing job satisfaction and improving employees’ willingness to share historical knowledge at the National Museum of Iran. Therefore, managers of this organization should strengthen social interactions, foster mutual trust, and promote shared goals and a common language in order to create the necessary conditions for improving workplace relationships and organizational productivity.

Keywords


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