MEDIATING EFFECTS OF WORK VALUES ON THE RELATIONSHIP OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL AND PERSONALITY TRAITS TO TEAM CLIMATE

Abstract

This study investigated the mediating effects of work values on the relationship between psychological capital and personality traits and team climate. A validated self-constructed questionnaire was administered to randomly selected 347 regular workers of the three organizations which include hospital and business firms in Zimbabwe. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) the mediating effects of work values on psychological capital and personality traits to team climate was established. This study revealed that the respondents’ psychological capital was rated high in terms of optimism and average in resilience. The personality traits in terms of neuroticism and agreeableness were high. The work values in terms of altruism and management were also rated high by the respondents. Interpersonal relations and cooperation as dimensions of team climate were rated average. In the alternative model, both components of work values have a positive relationship with psychological capital. Furthermore, among the components of work values, only altruism partially mediated the relationship between psychological capital and team climate. This result implies that psychological capital can improve the employees’ work values, which in turn improves teamwork. A confirmatory model was developed based on the result of this study.