Workplace happiness, well-being and their relationship with psychological capital: A study of Hungarian Teachers

Agota Kun,Peter Gadanecz

doi:10.1007/s12144-019-00550-0

Agota Kun, Peter Gadanecz

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00550-0

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Abstract

Happiness and well-being at work has been an increasingly popular topic in the past two decades in academic and business contexts alike, along with positive psychology, through which organizations aim to find out, what makes working environments engaging and motivating. Few studies have focused on education, however, especially from a solution-focused perspective, even though it is a sector where employees are highly exposed to stress and burnout. Accordingly, the purpose of his study was to investigate the relationship between teachers’ psychological resources through the concept of psychological capital, workplace well-being and perceived workplace happiness. We used both qualitative (open-ended question) and quantitative (test battery) methods to examine the relation between the various factors. Content analysis of responses in our qualitative research suggests that the main pillars of teachers’ workplace happiness were realization of goals, feedback, finding meaning in work and social relationships. The results of our quantitative study indicated that workplace well-being and happiness correlated with inner psychological resources, hope and optimism in particular. We conclude that the future focus on employee well-being must take into account positive contributing factors and adopt a positively-oriented approach to promoting well-being. Suggestions for practical implications are also discussed.

Highlights

The mental health and well-being of employees are crucial factors in an organization’s performance and success (Page and Vella-Brodrick 2009)
We aim to reveal the unique contribution of each psychological capital (PsyCap) component to each of the PERMA factors, as well as to overall workplace happiness
The aim of this research was to explore the determinants of workplace happiness via content analysis of teachers’ answers written to the open-ended question: “When do you feel/ experience happiness at work?” Given that happiness is defined as a subjective phenomenon, our aim was to explore what teachers identified as the main factors that determine their workplace happiness experience in their own words, and this open-ended question was asked before the rest of the test battery

Summary

Introduction

The mental health and well-being of employees are crucial factors in an organization’s performance and success (Page and Vella-Brodrick 2009). The dynamics of employee well-being at work are pivotal for understanding the different components that affect their health, work behaviour and performance. There are resources on individual, group, managerial and organizational levels that are strongly related to employee well-being (Nielsen et al 2017). Subjective well-being is connected with levels of workplace stress, absenteeism, intrinsic motivation, commitment, innovation, and satisfaction. Work-related well-being and workplace happiness have been identified as important factors in performance, job satisfaction (Crede et al 2007; Fisher 2010), and susceptibility to burnout (Iverson et al 1998).

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