Rao s19

Scientific Advances in Positive Organizational Psychology

Meghana A. Rao, MA, MOD [email protected]

President, IPPA Work and Organizations Division

July 3rd, 2014

Positive Psychology and its Pillars

Peterson (2006) articulated 3 pillars of positive psychology 1. Positive states or subjective experiences2. Positive traits 3. Positive institutions

Positive institutions, include families, schools, businesses, communities, and societies that support the proliferation of positive states and traits thereby, promoting human flourishing.

Positive Lens in the Workplace

IPPA Work and Organizations Division

Positive Organizational Scholarship

Positive Relationships at Work Micro-community

Positive Organizational Behavior

Positive Organizational Psychology

Donaldson & Ko (2010) defined positive organizational psychology as “the scientific study of positive subjective experiences and traits in the workplace and positive organizations, and its application to improve the effectiveness and quality of life in organizations” (p. 178).

Method

• English-language peer-reviewed journal publications between 2001 -2013

• Search in databases: Academic search premier; Business source premier; ERIC; PsycINFO, and PsycARTICLES.

• Met the following search criteria: – the article was linked to the Positive Organizational Behavior literature;

– the article was linked to the Positive Organizational Scholarship literature;

– the article reported about a study or concept that applied positive psychology topics in an organizational setting; or

– the article reported about organizational studies or concepts that revisited established/pre-existing topics from positive psychology perspectives.

Positive Organizational Psychology

• Total of 315 peer-reviewed articles published between 2001 and 2013

• Total empirical articles = 152 (48.3%)

• Total non-empirical articles = 163 (51.7%)

Location of 1st author

8%

6%

5%

4%3%

2%

1%

11%

UK Canada

Australia Netherlands

Spain Switzerland

South Africa Other

42%59%

Other U.S.

Journal Publications

42 different journals published two or more articles related to POP during 2001–2013

92 journals have published one article

A total of 134 different journals have published work in this area (n=315)

Topics in Positive Organizational Psychology

Key Topics in POP

S.No. Topic Total

1 Positive leadership 30

2 Positive organizational development and change 19

Psychological capital (PsyCap) 19

4 Job satisfaction/happiness 18

Well-being at work 18

Work engagement 18

7 Virtuousness and ethics 15

Positive psychology at work 15

9 Stress 13

10 Emotions 12

Character strengths 12

12 Career 12

Overview of POB 11

14 Coaching 10

Overview of POS 10

Education and training 10

Findings on Positive Leadership

• Authentic leaders are confident, hopeful, optimistic, future-oriented, resilient, moral/ethical, and give priority to developing associates to be leaders (Avolio et al., 2004).

• They promote POBs which enhance organizational performance, OCBs, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, satisfaction with supervisor, team virtuousness, team affective commitment, and team potency (Rego et al., 2013; Walumbwa et al., 2008; Yammarino, et al., 2008;)

Positive Organizational Development & Change

• Applications include appreciative inquiry (Boyd & Bright, 2007) and crisis management (Brockner & James, 2008)

• Focus on discovering positive aspects and alleviate stressful change and organizational tragedy such as downsizing

• Support from friends and family is helpful for individuals dealing with organizational change, followed by personal attitudes, traits, and positive emotions (Butterfield et al., 2010)

Psychological Capital • PsyCap is characterized by self-efficacy, optimism, hope,

resiliency (Luthans et al., 2006)

• Positive outcomes of PsyCap include performance, job satisfaction, & commitment (Larson & Luthans, 2006), engagement and OCB (Avey, Wernsing, & Luthans, 2008), problem solving & innovation (Luthans, Youssef, & Rawski, 2011), lower absenteeism (Avey, Patera, & West, 2006), lower cynicism and deviance (Avey et al., 2008); less stress symptoms, intentions to quit, (Avey, Luthans, & Jensen, 2009).

• PsyCap contributes to positive organizational change by promoting positive attitudes and behaviors while countering dysfunctional attitudes and behaviors

Future of Positive Organizational Psychology

• Peer-reviewed research and evidence-based practice

• More research across a variety of contexts, and application in contexts that match the evidence

ReferencesAvey, J.B., Patera, J.L., & West, B.J. (2006). The implications of positive psychological capital on employee

absenteeism. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 13, 42–60.

Avey, J.B., Wernsing, T.S., & Luthans, F. (2008). Can positive employees help positive organizational change? Impact of psychological capital and emotions on relevant attitudes and behaviors. The 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, 677–693.

Avolio, B.J., Gardner, W.L., Walumbwa, F.O., Luthans, F., & May, D.R. (2004). Unlocking the mask: A look at the process by which authentic leaders impact follower attitudes and behaviors. Leadership Quarterly, 15, 801–823.

Boyd, N.M., & Bright, D.S. (2007). Appreciative inquiry as a mode of action research for community psychology. Journal of Community Psychology, 35, 1019–1036.

Brockner, J., & James, E.H. (2008). Toward an understanding of when executives see crisis as opportunity. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 44, 94–115.

Donaldson, S. I. & Ko, I. (2010). Positive Organizational Psychology, Behavior, and Scholarship: A Review of the Emerging Literature and Evidence Base. Journal of Positive Psychology, 5 (3), 177-191.

Donaldson, S. I. & Rao, M. A. (forthcoming). Positive Organizational Psychology. In Shane J. Lopez (Ed.) The Encyclopedia of Positive Psychology, Second Edition. New Jersey: Wiley Publishers.

Larson, M., & Luthans, F. (2006). Potential added value of psychological capital in predicting work attitudes. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 13, 75–92.

Luthans, F., Avey, J.B., Avolio, B.J., Norman, S.M., & Combs, G.M. (2006). Positive psychological capital: Toward a micro-intervention. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27, 387–393.

Peterson, C. (2006). A primer in positive psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.

Walumbwa, F.O., Avolio, B.J., Gardner, W.L., Wernsing, T.A., & Peterson, S.J. (2008). Authentic leadership: Development and validation of a theory-based measure. Journal of Management, 34(1), 89–126.

Yammarino, F.J., Dionne, S.D., Schriesheim, C.A., & Dansereau, F. (2008). Authentic leadership and positive organizational behavior: A meso, multi-level perspective. The Leadership Quarterly, 19, 693–707.