A framework for conceiving of job-related affective wellbeing

Abstract

Beginning with the nature of happiness, the philosophical roots of job-related affect are explored to inform contemporary understandings of the phenomenon. Various disciplines, theories, models and schools of thought are contextualised and related to job-related affective wellbeing. Seminal constructs of affective wellbeing are identified, along with issues involved in developing an integrated model of affective wellbeing in the workplace. A synthesis of the literature is given using a tripartite heuristic framework comprising categories of Dispositional, Activity and Telic. Each category explains the tenets of the most influential theories and debates their veracity. Finally, the key theoretical developments are integrated to provide linkages between the conceptual bases of these constructs. Key words: job, affective wellbeing, intrinsic job satisfaction, dispositional, activity, telic Introduction The article provides a comprehensive framework for conceiving of job-related affective wellbeing (affective wellbeing). We begin by exploring the nature of 'happiness' and the philosophical roots of affective wellbeing in the workplace. A theoretical review of the affective wellbeing concepts inform several models that explain this phenomenon. Various disciplines, theories, models and schools of thought are detailed which contextualise affective wellbeing in the workplace. A tripartite heuristic framework comprising: Dispositional, Activity and Telic categories are used to synthesise the literature. Each category of the framework explains the tenets of the most influential theories and debates their veracity. Key theoretical developments are integrated to provide linkages between the conceptual bases of these constructs. Models of affective wellbeing are identified, and issues involved in developing an integrated model of affective wellbeing are given. Happiness Striving toward pleasure or happiness is the basic motivation/or all human behaviour (Tracey 1993: 73). Happiness is arguably fundamental to the human condition, and is the natural state for a human being (Domeyko 1996). Some contend that ... the secret of happiness is the holy grail of the new millennium (Bagnali 2004). Psychologists now recognise the critical influence of affect in human experience. Affective wellbeing has its philosophical and theoretical foundations in the concept of happiness, one of the most obscure expressions in the English language (Haybron 2003). The word happy is ... characterised by or indicative of pleasure, content, or gladness (Delbridge et al. 1996: 801). Classical philosophers have contemplated the authentic nature of happiness for centuries. To this day, numerous journal articles and books continue to pursue this most fundamental and elusive of human meaning. The Greek philosopher Epicurus proffered a hedonistic perspective of happiness which he reasoned to be a natural condition ... guided by our innate instincts for pleasure and penchant for avoiding pain (cited in Waterfield 1993: 11). According to the ancient philosophers, humankind is destined never to attain happiness, as only the Gods are permitted to recognise the sensation or experience this feeling. As with beauty, Plato reasoned that happiness cannot be described, but only experienced. Aristotle, an early proponent of 'activity theory', maintained that happiness is achieved through well performed virtuous activity. In the Categoria, Aristotle (cited in Ackrill 1 963) approached the concept of happiness in a more temperate way, as one of the eight metaphysical dimensions of life that humans are destined to struggle to attain. This type of flourishing described by the philosophers Aristotle and Plato was called eudemonia ('having a good guardian spirit5), a valuable kind of wellbeing that is more than a state of mind (Haybron 2003). Aristotle proposed that the pursuit of happiness is the ultimate human undertaking; . …