How Personality and Social Capital Affect Knowledge Sharing Intention in Online Health Support Groups?: A Person-Situation Perspective

Members’ knowledge sharing is essential in order for online health support groups (OHSGs) to provide informational support, but factors influencing knowledge sharing intention in OHSGs have not been sufficiently explored. This study provides some insights by adopting a person-situation interactionist perspective and developing a model that synthesizes the five-factor model of personality traits and the three dimensions of social capital – structural (social interaction ties), relational (trust), and cognitive (shared vision). Structural equation modeling was used to test the model, drawing on online survey data collected from OHSGs in China (N = 546). Three main findings were revealed. First, sharing intention is promoted by social interaction, trust, and shared vision, although trust has the largest effect size. Second, trust promotes social interaction and shared vision. Third, the five personality factors can be categorized into three groups of personality: interactive (extraversion), trusting (conscientiousness, openness to experience), and cooperative (agreeableness and neuroticism). These findings suggest three mechanisms behind knowledge sharing intention in OHSGs via the three social capital dimensions, with trust being the most important factor.