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臺大管理論叢
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26
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2
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45
interpersonal trust develops in a group, members gain more confidence in sharing their
knowledge and capabilities with others. Interpersonal trust in the social environments can
also enhance individuals’ self-efficacy (Cheung and Chan, 2000; Hsu, Ju, Yen, and Chang,
2007; Lu, Leung, and Koch, 2006).
2.3.3 Behavioral Capability
When facing unfamiliar or potentially adverse situations, individuals will naturally
show anxious and stressful reactions. Anxiety increases individuals’ fear arousal and
decreases perceived self-efficacy. To alleviate fear, people strive to prevent, terminate, or
lessen the severity of aversive events. Experiences of coping efficacy can decrease fear
arousal and encourage individuals to cope with problems they have avoided before. Averill
(1973), Lazarus (1981), and Miller (1979) all suggest that a sense of controllability (self-
efficacy) can be achieved through behavioral or cognitive approaches. Under the cognitive
approach, individuals believe that they can manage the threats posed by the environment,
while under the behavioral approach, individuals take actions to modify the adverse events.
In summary, knowledge sharing self-efficacy reflects individuals’ confidence in effectively
sharing knowledge. In general, people in an online setting will perceive a high level of
knowledge sharing self-efficacy when they are on a psychologically safe social media
platform in which they can share and exchange knowledge worry-free. In the organizational
behavior literature, Edmondson (1999) reports that a team’s psychological safety mediates
the effects of team leader coaching and support on team learning behavior because
psychological safety contributes to members’ confidence in finishing the job. This concept
can also apply to SNSs; that is, users’ perceived psychological safety level can boost their
confidence in knowledge sharing self-efficacy. Thus:
H1: Psychological safety positively affects individuals’ knowledge sharing self-efficacy
in SNSs.
2.4 The Dimensions of Social Capital
The central proposition of social capital theory is that networks of relationships are a
valuable resource that can provide members with “the collectivity-owned capital” to conduct
their social affairs (Bourdieu, 1986). Other researchers also corroborate this notion (Baker,
1990; Burt, 1992; Coleman, 1988, 1990; Loury, 1987). For example, knowledge sharing in
an organization requires special facilities for the creation and transfer of tacit knowledge
(Kogut and Zander, 1993, 1996; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Spender, 1996). In addition, it
requires members to coordinate and communicate (Conner and Prahalad, 1996; Kogut and