Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Positive Psychology at Work:Psychological Capital as a Pathway to Employee Engagement


Affiliations
1 Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Uttrakhand, India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


The purpose of this paper is to examine the significance of psychological capital (PsyCap) in the prediction of employee engagement and how positive psychological strengths and capabilities motivate employees to perform more than their job description. The study has been conducted on a sample of 200 IT professionals. Data analysis was performed using correlation analysis and SEM. The results indicated that psychological capital (PsyCap) is significantly related to employee engagement. The finding suggests PsyCap is a significant predictor, along with other variables in fostering employee engagement.

Keywords

Psychological Capital, Employee Engagement, Positive Psychology.
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • Adler, P. S., & Seok-Woo, K. (2002). Social capital: Prospects for a new concept. Academy of Management Review, 27(1), 17-40.
  • Arakawa, D., & Greenberg, M. (2007). Optimistic managers and their influence on productivity and employee engagement in a technology organisation: Implications for coaching psychologists. International Coaching Psychology Review, 2(1), 78-89.
  • Avey, J. B., Hughes, L. W., Norman, S. M., & Luthans, K. (2008). Using positivity, transformational leadership and empowerment to combat employee negativity. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 29, 110-126.
  • Avey, J. B., Wernsing, T. S., & Luthans, F. (2008). Can positive employees help positive organizational change? Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 44, 48-70.
  • Avey, J. B., Luthans, F., & Jensen, S. M. (2009). Psychological capital: a positive resource for combating employee stress and turnover. Human Resource Management, 48(5), 677-693.
  • Avey, J. B., Luthans, F., & Youssef, C. M. (2010). The additive value of positive psychological capital in predicting work attitudes and behaviors. Journal of Management, 36(2), 430-452
  • Avolio, B. J., & Luthans, F. (2006). The high impact leader. New York: McGraw-Hill.
  • Axelrod, B., Handfield-Jones, H., & Welsh, T. (2001). War for talent, part two. McKinsey Quarterly 2, 9–11
  • Bandura, A. (2000). Exercise of human agency through collective efficacy. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9(3), 75–78
  • Bauer, T.N., Bodner, T., Erdogan, B., Truxillo, D.M., & Tucker, J.S. (2007). Newcomer adjustment during organizational socialization: A meta-analytic review of antecedents, outcomes, and methods. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(3), 707-721
  • Baumgardner, S. R., & Crothers, M. K. (2010). Positive Psychology. New Jersey: Pearson Education.
  • Cameron, K., Mora, C., Leutscher, T., & Calarco, M. (2011). Effects of Positive Practices on Organizational Effectiveness. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 47(3), 266-308.
  • Edwards, J. R. (1996). An examination of competing versions of the person-environment fit approach to stress. Academy of Management Journal, 39, 292-339.
  • Endres, G. M., & Mancheno-Smoak, L. (2008). The human resource craze: Human performance improvement and employee engagement. Organizational Development Journal, 26(1), 69-78.
  • Fishman, C. (1998). The war for talent. Fast Company, 16(July), 104.
  • Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cut-off criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1-55.
  • Joreskog, K. G., & Sorbom, D. (1996). LISREL 8: User’s reference guide. Chicago: Scientific Software International.
  • Kahn, W. A. (1990). Psychological Conditions of Personal Engagement and Disengagement at Work. Academy of Management Journal, 33(4).
  • Kline, R. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modelling (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press
  • Little, B., & Little, P. (2006). Employee engagement: Conceptual issues. Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict, 10(1), 111-120.
  • Luthans, F. (2002). The need for and meaning of positive organizational behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23, 695-706.
  • Luthans, F., & Youssef, C. M. (2004). Human, social and now positive psychological capital management: Investing in people for competitive advantage. Organizational Dynamics, 33, 143-160.
  • Luthans, F., & Youssef, C. M. (2007). Emerging positive organizational behavior. Journal of Management, 33, 321-349.
  • Luthans, F., Avey, J. B., Avolio, B. J., Norman, S. M., & Combs, G. M. (2006). Psychological capital development: toward a micro-intervention. Journal of Organizational Behaviour, 27, 387-393.
  • Luthans, F., Avolio, B. J., Avey, J. B., & Norman, S. M. (2007). Positive psychological capital: Measurement and relationship with performance and satisfaction. Personnel Psychology, 60, 541-572.
  • Luthans, F., Avolio, B. J., Walumbwa, F. O., & Li, W. (2005). The psychological capital of Chinese workers: Exploring the relationship with performance. Management and Organization Review, 1(2), 249-271.
  • Luthans, F., Luthans, K. W., & Luthans, B. C. (2004). Positive psychological capital: Going beyond human and social capital. Business Horizons, 47, 45-50.
  • Luthans, F., Youssef, C. M., & Avolio, B. J. (2007). Psychological capital: Developing the human competitive edge. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Macey, W. H. & Schneider, B. (2008). The meaning of employee engagement. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1, 3-30.
  • Macey, W. H., Schneider, B., Barbera, K. M., & Young, S. A. (2009). Employee engagement: Tools for analysis, practice and competitive advantage. Wiley-Blackwell
  • Michaels, E., Handfield- Jones, H., & Axelrod, B. (2001). The war for talent. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.
  • O’Reilly, C. A., Chatman, J., & Caldwell, D. F. (1991). People and organizational culture: A profile comparison approach to assessing person-organization fit. Academy of Management Journal, 34(3), 487-516.
  • Peterson, C. (2000). The future of optimism. American Psychologist, 55(1), 44-55
  • Peterson, S. J., Walumbwa, F. O., Byron, K., & Myrowitz, J. (2009). CEO positive psychological traits, transformational leadership, and firm performance in high-technology start-up and established firms. Journal of Management, 35(2), 348-368
  • Rothmann, S. (2003). Burnout and engagement: A South African perspective. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 29(4), 16-25.
  • Rothmann, S., & Essenko, N. (2007). Job characteristics, optimism, burnout, and ill health of support staff in a higher education institution in South Africa. South African Journal of Psychology, 37(1), 135-152
  • Rurkkhum, S., & Barlett, K. R. (2012). The relationship between employees engagement and organizational citizenship behavior in Thailand. Human Resource Development International, 15(2), 157-174.
  • Saks, A. M. (2008). The Meaning and Bleeding of Employee Engagement: How Muddy is the Water? Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1(1).
  • Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25, 293-315.
  • Schaufeli, W. B., Bakker, A. B., & Salanova, M. (2006). The measurement of work engagement with a short questionnaire: A cross-national study. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66, 701-716.
  • Schaufeli, W. B., Taris, T. W., Le Blanc, P., Peeters, M., Bakker, A. B., & De Jonge, J. (2001). Does work make happy? In search of the engaged worker. De Psycholoog, 36, 422-428.
  • Simons, J. C., & Buitendach, J. H. (2013). Psychological capital, work engagement and organisational commitment amongst call centre employees in South Africa. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology.
  • Snyder, C. R. (2002). Hope theory: Rainbows in the mind. Psychological Inquiry, 13(4), 249-276.
  • Snyder, C. R., Irving, L., & Anderson, J. R. (1991). Hope and health: measuring the will and the ways. Handbook of social and clinical psychology: The health perspective (pp. 285-307). Elmsford, NY: Pergamon Press.
  • Sonnentag, S. (2011). Research on work engagement is well and alive. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 20(1), 29-38.
  • Sundaray, B. K. (2011). Employee engagement: A driver of organizational effectiveness. European Journal of Business and Management, 3(8).
  • Vinarski-Peretz, H., & Carmeli, A., (2011). Linking care felt to engagement in innovative behaviors in the workplace: The mediating role of psychological conditions. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 5(1), 43-53.
  • Weick, K. E., & Quinn, R. E. (1999). Organizational change and development. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 361-386.
  • Welch M (2011). The Evolution of the Employee Engagement Concept: Communication Implications. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 16, 328-346.
  • Wijhe, C., Peeters, M., Schaufeli, W. & Hout, M. (2011). Understanding workaholism and work engagement: The role of mood and stop rules. Career Development International, 16(3), 254-170.

Abstract Views: 389

PDF Views: 1




  • Positive Psychology at Work:Psychological Capital as a Pathway to Employee Engagement

Abstract Views: 389  |  PDF Views: 1

Authors

Kumari Soni
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Uttrakhand, India
Renu Rastogi
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Uttrakhand, India
Pooja Garg
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Uttrakhand, India

Abstract


The purpose of this paper is to examine the significance of psychological capital (PsyCap) in the prediction of employee engagement and how positive psychological strengths and capabilities motivate employees to perform more than their job description. The study has been conducted on a sample of 200 IT professionals. Data analysis was performed using correlation analysis and SEM. The results indicated that psychological capital (PsyCap) is significantly related to employee engagement. The finding suggests PsyCap is a significant predictor, along with other variables in fostering employee engagement.

Keywords


Psychological Capital, Employee Engagement, Positive Psychology.

References