Hope, Organizational Commitment and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour among Employees of Private Sector Organizations

Abstract

The field of positive psychology is gaining prominence in the area of industrial and organizational psychology. The characteristics of hope and hopelessness appear to play a crucial role in the workplace. Research on hope implies important consequences for how employees are managed and their commitment to the The relationship between hope and secondary appraisal may be an important intervening variable in the development of organizational commitment (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984).Hopeful individuals are resilient, have the will to struggle, to achieve positive outcomes, and survive illnesses. Hopeless individuals, on the other hand, are observed to experience more obstacles and less success in goal achievement and, in extreme cases, exhibit loss of energy, enthusiasm, and self-concept, and potentially clinical depression (Farran, Herth, & Popovich, 1995; Snyder et al., 1996).Hope, in combination with adaptive coping strategies, can lead to expanded functioning in which the person feels more positive, his or her expressed thoughts and behaviours are more adaptive, and his or her relationships with others and the world culminate in a greater aliveness (Fromm, 1968). Hope has the ability to be fluid in its expectations, and in the event that the desired object or outcome does not occur, hope can still be present (Farran, Herth, & Popovich, 1995).Hope is a cognitive set of positive expectation for goal attainment that is based on a reciprocally derived sense of successful agency (goal directed determination) and pathways (planning of ways to meet goals) (Snyder, Irving & Anderson, 1991). A study on hope and satisfaction with among youth shows that, satisfaction with life is higher among hopeful youths (Thakre, 2013). However, organizational hope is a vital for studying and strengthening organizations. It affirms the best and most promising dimensions of social and organizational life and provides a moral image of the future to guide collective action (Ludema, Wilmont, & Srivastva, 1997).High levels of commitment are associated with essential work practices and health issues among employees (Thakre & Khubalkar, 2012). These practices include teamwork, contracts, employee involvement, turnover intention, empowerment, and high quality of performance measured by research on organizational citizenship behaviours (Thakre, 2015; Organ, 1990; Katz & Kahn 1978; Smith, Qrgan & Near, 1983; Graham, 1991;Podsakoff et al., 1990).Becker (I960) conducted early studies of organizational commitment. He stated that commitment was a construct that explained the various types of behaviours considered by individuals to be an investment in organizations that ultimately constrain all their action and future. Mowday, Porter and Steers (1982) outlined the distinction between attitudinal commitment and behavioural commitment. Allen and Meyer (1990) state organizational commitment as a psychological state that binds an individual with the mission of the organization. They contributed in defining the three components of organizational commitment i.e. affective commitment, continuance commitment, and normative commitment.Working environments where individuals generate hopeful working team relationships, the result is high energy, extra role performance of OCB. Studies have found workers continuing to exhibit extra role behaviours in spite of the uncertainty and constant change in their work places. Over time OCBs have become valued as critical to organizational success (Katz, 1964; Katz & Kahn, 1978) and important to organizational survival (Miles & Snow, 1994). According to Katz and Kahn (1978), OCBs are part of the spontaneous and innovative behaviours instrumental to organization effectiveness.Bateman and Organ (1983) proposed the concept of organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) to denote organizationally beneficial behaviours that are neither enforced on the basis of formal role obligations nor elicited by contractual compensation. …