Unravelling the Roles of Social Media Usage, Individual Well-Being, and Working Environment on Happiness at The Workplace

Abstract

Employee happiness at the workplace has become an increasingly popular topic among researchers and scholars in the past two decades due to the rising support over its role as one of the determinants of organisational outcomes. Despite the availability of vast literature on employee happiness, limited studies have been done on its relationship with social media usage. The past two decades have witnessed unprecedented social media infiltration into every aspect of socio-cultural, economic, and human existence. However, little is known regarding whether employees’ social media usage influences their happiness at work. This study delineated the potential effects of social media exposure on individual wellbeing and investigated whether it has a favourable effect on their happiness at work. Specifically, the study delved into the social media usage among employees of manufacturing companies and its impact on their wellbeing, working environment, and happiness. A survey was conducted on 475 employees of manufacturing companies in Malaysia. The results revealed that social media usage had significant relationships with job position and income. In addition, individual wellbeing and working environment were found to have significant relationships with happiness at work. The study’s findings enrich the literature on happiness and social media usage in organisations. The implications of these findings are discussed within the framework of social media usage and workplace happiness.