Institutional Embeddedness of Network Embeddedness in the Workplace: Social Integration at Work and Employee’s Health Across Three Societies

Purpose – This study examines the association between social integration at work and health in three societies, urban China, Taiwan, and the United States.Methodology/approach – It analyzes nationally representative survey data collected simultaneously from those three societies. It measures five indicators of social integration at work (the percentage of work contacts among daily contacts, the number of daily work contacts, the percentage of daily work contacts within the company/organization among all daily work contacts, the number of daily work contacts within the company/organization, and the percentage of work discussants within the company/organization) and two health outcomes (psychological distress and self-reported health limitation).Findings – It finds stronger evidence for the positive health effect of social integration at work in urban China than in Taiwan and the United States.Research limitations/implications – The data set has two limitations: (1) it is cross-sectional; and (2) it was collected from national samples of adults aged 21–64, currently or previously employed, and does not have information on elderly employed adults. This study implies that social integration at work is more likely to protect health in urban China than in Taiwan and the United States.