Psychological Meaningfulness Research Articles

Emotional labor and absenteeism among early childhood educators: The mediating roles of negative affect and psychological meaningfulness

Emotional labor and absenteeism among early childhood educators: The mediating roles of negative affect and psychological meaningfulness

LGBT employees in state agencies and their creation of psychological meaningfulness

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how LGBT employees in state government agencies described how they created their own meaningfulness in the workplace in the US. The theoretical foundation for this study was the Employee Engagement theory by Kahn [Acad Manag J 33(4):692–724, 1990]. Purposive sampling was used to identify 43 questionnaires and 15 semi-structured interviews. Data were then coded and thematically analyzed to answer the research question. Findings revealed LGBT state employees created their psychological meaningfulness by ensuring that they make an impact or difference at work, and by connecting with other people or colleagues. Limitations include the research method and bias. Future research is recommended to explore how other groups within the LGBT community create their psychological meaningfulness.

The effects of perceived corporate social responsibility and Confucian ethics on psychological meaningfulness and employee engagement: A moderated‐mediation study

AbstractThis study aimed to explore whether perceived corporate social responsibility (PCSR) and Confucian values impact employee engagement. Specifically, we investigated the relationships among PCSR, psychological meaningfulness, and employee engagement, as well as the moderating effects of Confucian Ren‐Yi ethics on these relationships by using the social identity theory, Job Demands‐Resources (JD‐R) model and the stimulus‐organism‐response(S‐O‐R) model. A valid survey was conducted among 664 full‐time employees of 228 companies in 72 different cities in China from all walks of life. The findings reveal that PCSR was positively associated with psychological meaningfulness and employee engagement. Confucian Ren‐Yi ethics was positively associated with employee engagement, and psychological meaningfulness mediated the effect of PCSR on employee engagement. Moreover, we found that the positive relationship between PCSR and employee engagement through psychological meaningfulness was stronger for high‐level Confucian Ren‐Yi ethics than for low‐level Confucian Ren‐Yi ethics (i.e., moderated mediation). By verifying the impact of Confucian Ren‐Yi ethics and PCSR on employees' work attitudes, this study makes up for the deficiency of existing literature on CSR and Confucian values and enriches the micro research on CSR. Based on our findings, companies should consider improving employee engagement by implementing social responsibility and aligning their policies with Confucian Ren‐Yi ethics.

The description of meaningful work on male kindergarten teachers

The number of male kindergarten teachers is significantly lower than that of female kindergarten teachers, despite the fact that male teachers are paternal figures who will contribute to the development of students at school. This research aimed to determine the description of meaningful work among male kindergarten teachers. The subjects of this research were three male kindergarten class teachers with different work experiences. A qualitative approach with a case study design was used in this study. The data were obtained through interviews and analyzed from transcribing to interpreting the data. The research findings stated that all the main subjects had different images regarding how each felt their work was meaningful, especially in the aspect of psychological meaningfulness in work. In the aspect of meaning-making through work, all subjects could understand what could improve their qualities and how to understand themselves and their environment. Lastly, in the aspect of greater good motivations, each subject wanted to be helpful to the school stakeholders or even the family of themselves. This research concluded that the three main subjects generally had different images in making their work as kindergarten teachers meaningful. The research implications are that male kindergarten teachers hopefully can improve their performance, early childhood education units are expected to socialize with the public about the presence of male teachers in kindergartens, and the government is also expected to give more appreciation to kindergarten teachers.

Enforced work-from-home and its impact on psychological conditions: a qualitative investigation in India

PurposeEnforced work-from-home (EWFH) was the norm during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to be implemented by many organizations owing to its long-term financial benefits. This study aims to understand the consequences of EWFH on the three psychological conditions of employee engagement: psychological safety, psychological availability and psychological meaningfulness.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 employees from different Indian companies. Thematic analysis was adopted to understand the consequences of EWFH on employee psychological safety, availability and meaningfulness.FindingsThe findings demonstrated that psychological meaningfulness, availability and safety were adversely impacted owing to limited choice and autonomy in EWFH.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to the literature by examining the concept of EWFH in relation to psychological conditions, which is novel and relevant. Also, the job demands and resources framework and the COR theory are used together to explain the findings, which strengthens the concept of EWFH.Practical implicationsOrganizations should consider various aspects of EWFH and make decisions to improve employees’ engagement at work.Originality/valueThis study focuses on an unexplored area and facilitates a better understanding of the concept of EWFH and its impact on employees’ psychological conditions. This study is valuable for both management professionals and organizations considering the continuation of EWFH after the pandemic. It also offers new avenues for future research.

Effects of enterprise social media use on employee improvisation ability through psychological conditions: The moderating role of enterprise social media policy

The emergence of enterprise social media (ESM) allows enterprises to develop employee improvisation ability for effective decision-making in various emergencies. However, it remains unclear how the use of ESM by employees affects their ability to improvise. Based on the job demands-resources model and Kahn's psychological conditions framework, this study constructs a theoretical model capturing two types of ESM usage—work-related and social-related—and examines their impact on employee improvisation ability. Through the analysis of 307 paired data collected from multi-wave and multi-source questionnaires using Smart-PLS software, the results show that both work-related and social-related ESM use can promote employees' psychological meaningfulness, availability, and safety, thus further stimulating employees' improvisation ability. ESM policies only significantly moderated the effects of work-related ESM use on the three psychological conditions of employees. Moreover, there are significant differences in the intensity of the influence of the two types of ESM uses on the psychological conditions of employees. This study not only enriches and promotes the existing research on ESM usage, psychological conditions, and employee improvisation ability but also helps enterprise management effectively guide employees to use ESM to promote their improvisation ability.

Effect of Fringe Benefits and Remuneration on Employee Engagement: The Moderating Role of Perceived Organisational Support

Purpose of the Study - This study assessed the effect of fringe benefits and remuneration on employee engagement and explored the moderating role of perceived organisational support. Methodology- The study employed a quantitative approach in data collection and analysis. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire distributed among 270 employees from Asanduff Construction Limited- Accra, Ghana. The analysis was conducted using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling. Findings- The study revealed that fringe benefits and remuneration had an effect on employee engagement. With the moderation analysis, perceived organisational support did not moderate the relationship between remuneration and employee engagement but moderated the relationship between fringe benefits and employee engagement. Limitations- First, the study’s limitation has to do with its geographical coverage. The study was also limited to the working staff of Asanduff Construction Limited with an estimated sample size of 278 which could be relatively small. Again, through questionnaires being used as the main instrument, the study responses might be without honesty and accuracy. Thus, the study results might be affected by bias which will limit the generalizability. An additional constraint of the study is its exclusive focus on a single company, thereby restricting the generalizability of the findings to the unique confines of that particular corporate culture. Practical implications- The results of this study will contribute to human resource managers’ efforts in putting plans in place to improve the operations of their companies. Line managers should therefore make every effort to ensure that their staff members perceive a positive and full support from the organisation in order to increase productivity, as this study emphasized on the importance of perceived organisational support. Strategically, leadership and management of organizations will base on the findings of this study and plan important workshops, seminars, symposiums, conferences etc. with a major focus on providing employees with proper fringe benefits at the workplace so as to ensure that they increase productivity at the workplace. Lastly, perceived organisational support which has been highlighted by literature needs to be existent at the workplace. By so doing employees will feel appreciated and will therefore be willing to commit their future to the good of the organisation through psychological meaningfulness Originality/value- The study contributes to literature by assessing the effect of fringe benefits and remuneration on employee performance and exploring the moderating role of perceived organisational support.

Managers’ Motivating Language and employees’ Job Engagement: The Role of Meaningfulness and Employee– Manager Relationships

ABSTRACT Managers’ communication, relationships with subordinates, and employees’ feelings of meaningful work are vital in engaging subordinates. However, their relationships lack a theoretical foundation. Drawing on self-concept theory (SCT), this study assesses the mediating role of psychological meaningfulness and employee – manager relationships (EMR) in the connection between three types of motivating language used by managers and job engagement. This study also tests the moderating role of EMR between psychological meaningfulness and job engagement. A convenience sampling method was used to collect 380 responses from employees working at four- and five-star hotels in Malaysia. Data were analyzed using the partial least squares method. Although three forms of motivating language positively relate to psychological meaningfulness, only empathetic language positively relates to EMR. Psychological meaningfulness mediates relationship between the three forms of motivating language and job engagement, while EMR only mediates the relationship between empathetic language and job engagement. EMR also significantly and negatively moderates the link between psychological meaningfulness and job engagement. These findings add value to the SCT and motivating language by assessing the relationships between motivating language, EMR, psychological meaningfulness, and job engagement. Managers can use motivating language to make jobs meaningful and build relationships with subordinates to improve employee outcomes.

Effects of Psychological Antecedents of Engagement on Organizational Performance: Mediating Role of Employee Engagement

This study aims to assess the influence of psychological antecedents of engagement on the performance of public sectored organizations in a developing nation within the context of human resources management and public sector management. The study proposed a conceptual model comprising 7 hypotheses tested with employment of the structural equation modelling-partial least squares. Data was gathered using structured questionnaire from 303 public employees from 10 public sectored organizations in Nigeria. The results revealed that of the three main psychological antecedents of engagement, psychological meaningfulness antecedents of engagement and psychological safety antecedents of engagement directly influenced employee engagement. However, no effect was found for psychological availability antecedents of engagement. The finding also showed that employee engagement mediates the relationship between psychological antecedents of engagement and organizational performance. The most significant effect was established in the relationship between psychological meaningfulness antecedents of engagement and employee engagement. The limitation of this study relates to its generalizability because it focuses on only the public sector organization. Additionally, it is cross-sectional research, and the lack of time which a longitudinal study will have could make the findings broader than it is.

Impact of Psychological Conditions on Employee Engagement: Study Based on Regional Branches of ABC Insurance Company at Matale District

The concept of employee engagement has become increasingly important in the literature. Despite increased interest, there is still a scarcity of studies on employee engagement. Alternatively, employees in the insurance industry are required to work under tough conditions and in high-pressure scenarios. Past three-year records of ABC insurance company recorded significant increase in turnover rates and disengaged employees. The purpose of the current research was to study the impact of psychological conditions on employee engagement at regional branches of ABC insurance company at Matale district. In this study, psychological meaningfulness, safety, and availability were examined as dimensions of psychological conditions. Quantitative research methods were employed, and data were collected through a questionnaire. The sample size of 103 employees from three branches of ABC Insurance companies in the Matale district and the researcher utilized the simple random sampling technique. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 23.0 Package and MS Excel. Based on the findings of the study, a significant positive relationship was found between psychological conditions and employee engagement, indicating that psychological conditions had a significant impact on employee engagement with the greatest effect observed in the dimension of meaningfulness. Consequently, managers should take all three predicting psychological conditions into account and use a systematic approach. Accordingly, leading roles organizations should focus on job design to fulfil the work tasks of importance and values.

Effect of Psychological Meaningfulness on Job Involvement, Proactive Behavior, and Performance: Focusing on the Mediating Effect of Self-Efficacy

Employee well-being and productivity are crucial factors for organizational success, and understanding the relationships between psychological meaningfulness, job involvement, proactive behavior, and performance can help organizations to create more supportive and engaging work environments. This empirical study aimed to examine these relationships, with a particular focus on the mediating role of self-efficacy. Research models and hypotheses were derived from a literature review and tested using structural equation analysis on data collected from a questionnaire survey of 398 employees. Results indicated that psychological meaningfulness was significantly related to self-efficacy, job involvement, proactive behavior, and performance. Self-efficacy was found to play a significant mediating role in the relationship between psychological meaningfulness and job involvement, between psychological meaningfulness and proactive behavior, and between psychological meaningfulness and performance. These findings suggest that fostering employees’ psychological meaningfulness can improve their self-efficacy, job involvement, proactive behavior, and, ultimately, their performance. These results have important implications for organizations seeking to enhance their employees’ well-being and productivity.

Achieving career marketability through helping others: A moderated mediation model

We explored the relationship between helping behaviour and career marketability, explicating the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions in that relationship. A total of 203 full-time Chinese workers (female = 51.2%; mean age = 32.27 years, SD = 6.34 years; managers = 16.7%) in the construction industry completed a two-wave survey on helping behaviour and career marketability. Path analyses results indicated that helping behaviour enhances both perceived internal and external marketability. Psychological meaningfulness and work attentiveness sequentially mediated the relationship between helping behaviour and career marketability positively. Psychological entitlement moderates the indirect relationships between helping behaviour and career marketability for those with low psychological entitlement. In our sample, male employees had higher work attentiveness than female employees. This study provides important insights about psychological meaningfulness and work attentiveness as work resources for career advancement through helping behaviours. Human resources managers may improve organisational productivity by rewarding helping behaviour at work.

Family or otherwise: Exploring the impact of family motivation on job outcomes in collectivistic society

The motive of the current research is to determine the influence of family motivation on intent to leave and job performance using self-determination theory. Moreover, this study also explores the moderating role of collectivistic culture and the mediating role of psychological meaningfulness on the relationship between family motivation and work outcomes. The data (N = 175) were collected from paramedical staff working in Pakistani public hospitals, and data was analyzed using PROCESS method. The findings revealed that family motivation enhanced employee job performance and lessened employees' intent to leave. At the same time, family motivation and psychological meaningfulness are stronger in highly collectivistic cultures compared to less collectivist cultures. This study extends the investigation of the newly developed construct of family motivation by focusing on psychological meaningfulness and collectivistic culture. Moreover, this study is the first to introduce psychological meaningfulness as a mediator and collectivistic culture as a moderator for the relationship between family motivation and employee job outcomes. This study provides several critical insights for the hospitals by exploring the importance of family motivation as a potential motivational resource for maintaining high employee job-performance levels and lessening the intent of employees to leave.

Being helpful and being innovative: The role of psychological meaningfulness and positive affect.

The present study is developed based on conservation of resources theory (COR) to explore the underlying mechanism and boundary condition for the relationship between helping behavior and innovative behavior. To avoid the shortages of cross-sectional data, the present study collected two-wave and multi-source data. By collecting from 193 full-time Chinese workers and 68 supervisors at two separate time points, this study developed and examined a moderated mediation model using Mplus 7.0. The results show that helping behavior increases innovative behavior through enhancing positive affect, and psychological meaningfulness moderates the indirect relationship between helping behavior and innovative behavior through positive affect. In the condition of high psychological meaningfulness, helping behavior has a stronger indirect impact on innovative behavior through enhancing positive affect. This study enriches the literature on the outcomes of helping behavior. Moreover, this study provides several managerial implications to amplify the positive impact of helping behavior on innovative behavior. This study develops several strategies to enhance psychological meaningfulness and promote the benefits of helping behavior.

Authors' response to “Comment on Al-Hakim et al. ‘The effect of psychological meaningfulness and perceived organisational support on the relationship between nursing workload and job satisfaction: A prospective, cross-sectional investigation’”

Authors' response to “Comment on Al-Hakim et al. ‘The effect of psychological meaningfulness and perceived organisational support on the relationship between nursing workload and job satisfaction: A prospective, cross-sectional investigation’”

(In)Congruences of Giving-Receiving Helping and Innovative Behavior: A lens of COR theory

Although helping behavior at work has been widely concerned, previous findings may overestimate the benefits of giving helping behavior for helpers because of the overlook of its prerequisites. In the present research, our model considered giving helping behavior and receiving helping behavior simultaneously. Specifically, we investigated the impact of the (in)congruence of giving and receiving helping behavior on relational job crafting of helper based on conservation of resources (COR) theory, and then explored the mediating role of relational job crafting and psychological meaningfulness between (in)congruence of giving and receiving helping behavior and innovative behavior of helper. We used a two-wave and leader-subordinate questionnaire survey design. Our results revealed that when giving-receiving congruence of helping behavior, compared to those in low–low congruent dyads, high–high congruent dyads had a positive effect relational job crafting of helper. The results further revealed that the higher the congruence, the more significant the positive effect on relational job crafting. In addition, we found that relational job crafting and psychological meaningfulness sequentially mediated the positive impacts of helping behavior congruence on helper’s innovative behavior. Finally, the present research from a new perspective discusses the implications for both theories and practices.

Student Engagement and Learning Approaches during COVID-19: The Role of Study Resources, Burnout Risk, and Student Leader–Member Exchange as Psychological Conditions

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to explore the interplay of psychological conditions that influenced personal engagement among university students. As a theoretical lens through which to investigate this, the study used the job demands-resources model, the study demands-resources model, and the leader–member exchange theory. This study further aimed to explore outcomes that supported students in becoming lifelong learners (i.e., deep-learning approach). Method: Participants were undergraduate students registered at a South African university. We used a purposive, non-probability sampling strategy and employed a cross-sectional survey research design. This study used Mplus version 8.6 for the statistical analyses. Results: Results showed that the psychological conditions of meaningfulness (study resources), availability (burnout risk), and safety (student–leader–member exchange) influenced student engagement. In addition, the results showed that study demands were positively associated with student engagement, although this association can be regarded as small. Furthermore, study resources and student engagement were associated with a deep approach to learning. Conclusions: Findings from the present study demonstrated that Kahn’s theory carried implications beyond the workplace and held true in a student learning environment. Further, an exploration of the psychological conditions that led to engagement showed that the job demands-resources model and the study demands-resources model could be used to operationalise study resources as psychological meaningfulness and burnout risk as availability. Similarly, in the context of exploring the student-lecturer relationship, student leader–member exchange could be operationalised as psychological safety. Implication for Practice: Leaders in higher education are encouraged to focus not only on ensuring that students receive adequate support in terms of structures and physical resources during periods of uncertainty, such as the global COVID-19 pandemic, but to adopt a holistic approach that includes considering all the psychological conditions that encourage and promote students’ engagement.

The effect of psychological meaningfulness and perceived organisational support on the relationship between nursing workload and job satisfaction: A prospective, cross-sectional investigation

BackgroundEvidence emphasises a strong relationship between nursing workload and job satisfaction. This study sets out to test empirically the roles of psychological meaningfulness and perceived organisational support on the nursing workload-satisfaction relationship. ObjectiveTo investigate empirically the role and impact of psychological meaningfulness and perceived organisational support on the relationship between nursing workload and job satisfaction. DesignProspective cross-sectional study. SettingA large acute care and teaching hospital in China. Participants500 nurses were asked to participate in this study and respond to a survey questionnaire. 426 nurses participated in this study, of which 395 responses (valid response 79%, 52% general nurses, 40% nurses in charge, and 9% senior nurses) were considered valid. MethodsA multi-item questionnaire was used to assess the constructs of interest, which included demographic items; items related to nursing satisfaction, meaningfulness, and perceived organisational support; and lastly items assessing workload. Included items were a combination of previously validated scales and items co-developed between the research team and nurses of the study hospitals. Since the study relies on self-reported scales, the common latent factor technique was initially used to ensure that the common bias was not a major concern. Model fitness was tested using one-factor congeneric measurement. The research hypotheses were tested using the SPSS add-on PROCESS v3.3 model in a bootstrap approach. ResultsIn the first part of the analysis, 43 of 51 factors survived the initial tests using common latent factor technique and model fitness measurements. We found that the direct effect of psychological meaningfulness on the workload-satisfaction relationship was significant. This suggests that psychological meaningfulness mediates the relationship. It further illustrates that perceived organisational support acts as a moderator for the relationship and accordingly it specifies conditions under which the workload can be related to job satisfaction. However, in the presence of psychological meaningfulness, the perceived organisational support moderated the workload-psychological meaningfulness relationship and its direct effect on workload-job satisfaction relationship became non-significant. ConclusionOur study provides an understanding of how psychological meaningfulness and perceived organisational support may play out in the context of nursing work. To the best of our knowledge, this the first study to directly measure and explore these relationships in a quantitative manner. Our results indicate the critical role of perceived organisational support, where present, in allowing nurses to see the connection between their workload and their ultimate aspirations so that their work becomes more psychologically meaningful. Tweetable abstractThis study provides an understanding of how psychological meaningfulness and perceived organisational support affect nursing work.

Does job autonomy affect job engagement? Psychological meaningfulness as a mediator

We investigated the effect of job autonomy on engagement at work, focusing on the mediating role of psychological meaningfulness. To test our hypotheses, we analyzed responses to a survey completed by 486 employees of private organizations in the US. The results show that job autonomy had a positive relationship with engagement, and with psychological meaningfulness. The relationship between job autonomy and work engagement was moderated by learning culture. Our results can help corporate managers understand employees' engagement at work, and contribute to an understanding of how job elements and work context promote engagement through perceived psychological meaningfulness.

Factors affecting lecturers’ decision to stay or leave academia, Namibia

Orientation: Attracting and retaining academic staff needs to become a priority for tertiary institutions.Research purpose: Instead of spending funds on replacing staff members, tertiary institutions need to invest in interventions to keep staff committed to and embedded into the organisation.Motivation for the study: Lecturing staff are valuable resources that need to be nurtured, taken care of, and retained to keep tertiary institutions functioning effectively. This study focused on factors that impact lecturing staff’s decision to stay at or leave the University of Namibia.Research approach/design and method: Making use of quantitative research (a questionnaire), data was collected from lecturing staff (n = 242) to investigate the relationship between organisational commitment, job embeddedness and turnover intention.Main findings: Affective commitment, normative commitment, organisational fit and organisational sacrifices reported significant negative relationships with turnover intention. Affective commitment, organisational fit and organisational sacrifice were found to be significant predictors of turnover intention.Practical/managerial implications: Including lecturing staff in the decision-making process, ensuring that there is an equitable exchange for their labour and being fair during interactions enhances psychological meaningfulness and affective commitment. Providing career development opportunities enhances organisational fit, effectiveness of staff and reduces turnover intention. Assessing the job demands-resources relationship remains of cardinal importance.Contributions/value-add: Provision of benefits, employees identifying with the organisation and having the needed resources mitigate the demands of the job, reduce exhaustion, enhance levels of commitment and decrease turnover intention.