Role Of Psychological Resources Research Articles

Sustainable Career Trajectories in Switzerland: The Role of Psychological Resources and Sociodemographic Characteristics

In the current volatile and insecure professional context, developing and maintaining sustainable careers has become a major concern. This study contributes to the advancement of research on sustainable careers by applying the career sustainability framework in a 7-year longitudinal study on Swiss workers’ career trajectories ( N = 789). We thus aimed to (a) identify various types of career trajectories based on employment status (i.e., full-time employment, substantial part-time employment, marginal part-time employment, unemployment), (b) distinguish sustainable and unsustainable trajectories by investigating their outcomes in terms of health (i.e., self-rated health), happiness (i.e., career and life satisfaction), and productivity (i.e., income and promotion), and (c) predict the probability of falling into a (un)sustainable career trajectory based on psychological resources (i.e., personality traits and career adaptability) and sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., age, gender, and education level). Optimal matching analysis revealed a 4-cluster solution, with the traditional full-time and stable career trajectories being the predominant ones alongside more transitional or discontinuous trajectories. Differences in health, happiness and productivity were found between the four types. Furthermore, our results showed that being a woman, having a lower education level and higher neuroticism and agreeableness scores increased the likelihood of experiencing an unsustainable career.

Impact of Psychological Resources on Employee Engagement: The Mediating Role of Positive Affect and Ego-Resilience

The main purpose of this research is to examine the role of psychological resources in predicting the engagement of night shift employees. Specifically, it tests how resources like supportive organizational climate, family support, and self-efficacy could help employees stay engaged during night shift work. Additionally, this study explores the mediating role of positive affect and ego-resilience. The cross-sectional data collected from night shift employees ( n = 208) working full-time in Canada, the UK, and the US were collected over a period of 3 months. Results of the statistical analysis confirm the significant direct role of self-efficacy and supportive organizational climate in predicting employee engagement. Furthermore, the indirect role of such resources through the mediation of positive affect and ego-resilience was also found. The impact of family support on employee engagement appears significant only through mediators. The current study extends the existing understanding about the role of psychological resources in determining the engagement of night shift employees. It further adds to the literature by explaining mechanisms using positive affect and ego-resilience as mediators.

Capital access and its mobilization for academic achievement: A case of Indian higher education system

Previous research has demonstrated a strong relationship between access to capital and academic achievement. The present study explores the mediating role of the individual mindset and class perception in the capital–achievement relation. A survey-based study is conducted on 314 Delhi based undergraduate students. Different measures/proxies of various forms of capital and achievement are used. To see the role of the individual mindset, psychological resources of individual are considered and operationalized in terms of self-motivation and self-confidence. Results show that economic, social, and cultural capital have a significant influence on academic achievement. However, class perception and involvement in highbrow activities do not show any role in academic achievement. Results further reveal a significant mediating role of psychological resources in the capital–achievement relation. Results demonstrate that in the Indian higher education system, various forms of capital largely shape academic achievement and psychological resources significantly facilitate this relationship. Though the individual mindset can help in breaking this capital–achievement nexus, mostly it seems to be facilitating the relation. The results and implications of the study are discussed.

Exposure to challenging behaviours and burnout symptoms among care staff: the role of psychological resources.

BackgroundStaff supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities are at risk of burnout symptoms. Evidence suggests an association between exposure to challenging behaviours of individuals with intellectual disabilities and burnout symptoms of staff, but the protective role of staff psychological resources in this relation has been understudied.MethodWe investigated the association between exposure to challenging behaviours and burnout symptoms of staff and the direct and moderating effects of several psychological resources. Staff (N = 1271) completed an online survey concerning burnout symptoms (subscale Emotional Exhaustion of the Maslach Burnout Inventory), exposure to challenging behaviours and a range of potential psychological resources. We examined main and moderating effects with multilevel analyses. In order to control for the multiple comparisons, P values corrected for false discovery rate (P FDR) were reported.ResultsWe found a direct relation between exposure to challenging behaviours and increased levels of burnout symptoms in staff (b = .15, t(670) = 4.466, P FDR < .0001). Perceived supervisor social support (b = −.97, t(627) = −7.562, P FDR < .0001), staff self‐efficacy (b = −.23, t(673) = −3.583, P FDR < .0001), resilience (b = −.19, t(668) = −2.086, P FDR < .05) and extraversion (b = −.20, t(674) = −3.514, P FDR < .05) were associated with reduced burnout symptoms. None of the proposed psychological resources moderated the association between exposure to challenging behaviours and burnout symptoms of staff.ConclusionsOf the psychological resources found to be associated with reduced risk of burnout symptoms, staff self‐efficacy and access of staff to supervisor social support seem to be the factors that can be influenced best. These factors thus may be of importance in reducing the risk of developing burnout symptoms and improving staff well‐being, even though the current study was not designed to demonstrate causal relations between psychological resources and burnout symptoms.

Relational and Spiritual Coping Among Emerging and Young Adult Cancer Survivors.

Cancer presents uncertainties for individuals of any age; however, emerging and young adults (EYA) are challenged to cope with developmental tasks in addition to cancer-related stressors. Guided by the double ABC-X model and biopsychosocial-spiritual framework, the current study investigates coping strategies used by this population and the role of psychological resources (perception of parental care/control and spirituality) on their coping ability. Recruited from online social media, 210 EYA cancer survivors self-reported demographic, medical information, and completed the Brief Cope scale. In addition, spirituality reliance, perceived parental care, and parental control were measured and examined in relation to coping ability. While nearly half of participants experienced positive adaptation in relation to multiple stressors, hierarchical multiple regression revealed the developmental nature of coping and indicated that higher spirituality reliance and higher degree of parental care were predictive of adaptive coping among EYA cancer survivors. Content analyses of the open-ended questions confirmed these results. In order to facilitate adaptive coping, attention must be paid to the unique biopsychosocial-spiritual and developmental needs of young cancer survivors while encouraging family support and spirituality reliance as significant tools in coping. Practical recommendations for nursing support and healthcare teams are discussed.

Psychological Determinants of Graduate Employability: A Comparative Study of Business and Agriculture Students Across Pakistan

Determinants of graduate employability is a point of major concern for academician, practitioners, and Governments across the globe as more than 80 percent (74 percent in Pakistan) university graduates intend to choose employment as a career right after completion of their studies. In this regard, the role of psychological resources like the Psychological Capital (PsyCap) in academic settings has been regarded as relevant and important contributor towards graduates' outcomes but this phenomenon has received very little attention of empirical studies. This paper aims to investigate the level of PsyCap and self-perceived employability (SEP) of business and agriculture students and investigate the link between PsyCap and SEP. The data were collected from 339 graduates enrolled in bachelor, masters and PhD degree programs of agriculture and business departments of three universities of Islamabad, Punjab and Sindh. Means were compared using independent sample t-test and ANOVA, whereas, for hypothesis testing, structural equation modelling was applied using AMOS. Results indicate that no significant difference was found between business and agriculture students with regard to psychological capital and self-perceived employability as these are equally important for business and agriculture graduates. However, the graduates differed on the basis of the degree program they were enrolled in such that students of the master's degree program scored higher on the means of PsyCap and SEP. Structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that hope, optimism, and self-efficacy were positively and significantly related to SEP whereas, resilience was not found significant with SEP. Main implication for this study is the need for the development of students' PsyCap during academic life to enhance employability perceptions of graduates.

Influence of Service Employees’ Grateful Disposition on Psychological Well-Being and Prosocial Behaviors : Focusing on the Mediating Role of Psychological Resources

서비스 접점에서 활동하는 종업원들의 심리적 건강은 기업의 관리자에게 가장 걱정스러운 문제 중 하나인데(Watson 2005), 많은 연구들은 단순히 정신적 질병의 치료보다는 종업원의 적절한 심리적 부 즉, 심리적 안녕감의 개발이 필요함을 역설하고 있다(Page and Vella-Brodrick 2009). 본 연구는 심리적 안녕감의 선행요인으로 감사성향을 제안하고, 이것이 심리적 안녕감에 영향을 미치는 지, 그 과정에서 형성될 수 있는 심리적 자원 그리고 심리적 안녕감이 친사회적 행동에 미치는 영향을 규명하고자 한다. 연구결과의 요약과 시사점은 다음과 같다. 첫째, 서비스 종업원의 감사성향이 높을수록 심리적 안녕감이 높다는 것을 확인하였다. 감사성향은 상황이나 환경에 대해 긍정적으로 재해석하게 한다. 서비스 종업원의 감사성향이 높을수록 자신의 직무나 상황의 부정적인 면보다는 긍정적인 면에 초점을 두고 긍정적으로 재해석하게 함으로써 부정적 경험이나 좌절감의 수준을 감소시키기 때문이다. 이러한 결과는 감사성향이 서비스 종업원의 심리적 안녕감을 향상시키는 하나의 요인이 됨을 의미한다. 둘째, 서비스 종업원의 감사성향은 심리적 안녕감에 긍정적인 영향을 미치고 심리적 안녕감은 친사회적 행동(즉, 고객지향행동과 조직시민행동)에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 이는 관리자가 종업원 개인의 심리적 안녕감에 관심을 가져야 할 필요성을 나타낸다. 감사성향이 개인의 기질적 특성이기는 하나 선행연구에서는 그것의 개발 및 향상이 가능함을 보여주고 있다. 따라서 기업의 관리자는 심리적 안녕감을 향상시키기 위해 조직 차원의 노력뿐만 아니라 개인의 심리도 중요한 요인이 될 수 있음을 인식해야 할 것이다. 또한 감사성향의 개발은 서비스 종업원 자신의 태도뿐만 아니라 궁극적으로 조직의 성과를 높임으로써 조직의 경쟁력 강화에 기여할 수 있음을 제안한다. 셋째, 서비스 종업원의 감사성향이 심리적 안녕감에 미치는 과정에서 지각된 사회적 지지, 자아존중감, 그리고 자아탄력성의 다양한 심리적 자원이 형성됨을 확인하였다. 감사성향은 주변으로부터 사회적 지지를 받는다는 것을 느끼게 하고 자신이 존중받는다고 생각하게 하며 스트레스 환경에서도 평정을 되찾게 하면서 심리적 자원을 강화하는데, 이는 결과적으로 심리적 안녕감을 향상시키게 된다.

Family Relational Health, Psychological Resources, and Health Behaviors: A Dyadic Study of Military Couples.

In addition to facing stressors that are typical of life course development (e.g., marital struggles, balancing work/family demands), military families face additional stress attributed to their military context (e.g., deployments, relocations). Using a systems framework and stress process perspective, this study examined military couples' relational health, as a gauge for how couples collectively cope and address challenges as a united front and how their relational health influences crucial health behaviors (sleeping and eating) through the promotion or erosion of psychological resources (N = 236 couples). This study evaluated a latent variable structural equation dyadic model whereby each partner's perspective of their family's relational health was hypothesized to influence their own eating and sleeping behaviors (actor effects), as well as the eating and sleeping behaviors of their spouse (partner effects). The role of psychological resources (high self-efficacy, few depressive symptoms, and minimal anxiety) as a mechanism linking family functioning to health behaviors was also examined. Overall, the findings supported the hypothesized model, particularly for actor (intraindividual) effects. Discussion is provided pertinent to service providers and researchers, including the importance of improving, or maintaining, family relational health, as a means for encouraging positive health behaviors among active duty military members and their spouses.

Capital, Psychological Resources and High Achievement: a Biographical Analysis of the Accomplishment of High Achievers

This work examines the role of capital and psychological resources in the achievements of high achievers. It investigates the integrative role of psychological resources and capital in the achievement process. In the study, we chose four Indian high achievers: two first-generation achievers and two non-first-generation achievers - JRD Tata, Dhirubhai Ambani, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar and Srinivasa Ramanujan. The written biographies were analysed. The biographical analysis shows that while capital plays a major role in the success of non-first-generation achievers, psychological resources are more important in first-generation achievers. The results indicate that psychological resources are important in channelizing capital for achievement. It was also found useful for the generation and maintenance of various forms of capital. Though hard work and inborn talent cannot be ignored, the role of capital and psychological resources must not be underestimated in the process of attaining high achievement.

Modeling life satisfaction in spinal cord injury: the role of psychological resources.

The aims of the study were (1) to examine the associations between the psychological resources general self-efficacy (GSE) and purpose in life (PIL), appraisals, coping and life satisfaction, and (2) to examine whether the effects of the psychological resources on life satisfaction are mediated by appraisals and coping, as proposed by the spinal cord injury adjustment model (SCIAM). Cross-sectional multicenter study conducted with persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) living in the community in Switzerland (N = 516). Pearson's correlations were calculated for aim 1, and structural equation modeling was conducted to address aim 2. GSE (r = .48) and PIL (r = .58) were positively related to life satisfaction. The initial model corresponding to the SCIAM yielded a poor model fit. The final model had a good model fit [χ (2) = 66.0, df = 21, p < .01, RMSEA = .065 (90 % confidence interval .048-.082), CFI = .97] explaining 57 % of variance of life satisfaction. PIL had a direct large effect on life satisfaction (β = .54). The influence of GSE on life satisfaction was mediated by loss appraisals. Avoidance, active and humor coping had small effects on life satisfaction. Psychological resources have a substantial effect on life satisfaction in persons with SCI. Our results correspond with the SCIAM and its conceptualization of adjustment as a multifactorial process, but did not fully support the hypothesized mediation. PIL was strongly related to higher life satisfaction and may be a suitable intervention target to support persons with SCI.

Change in health and self-perceptions of aging over 16 years: The role of psychological resources.

Self-perceptions of aging (SPA) are argued to be an indicator of the ability to adapt to heath decline in late life. Our objective was to examine the influence of psychological resources in maintaining positive self-perceptions of aging in the face of declining health in older adults. Time-varying change in health (medical conditions), physical functioning (ADLs), and psychological resources (expectancy of control and self-esteem) on change in SPA were examined over 16 years (5 waves) in a large representative sample (N = 1569) of older adults (65 + years at baseline) from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Aging. Multilevel structural equation models revealed mediating effects of psychological resources at the within-person level for the relationship between decline in ADLs and SPA. At the between-person level, the relationship between medical conditions and SPA was not mediated by psychological resources, whereas ADLs and SPA were shown to be indirectly associated through self-esteem and expectancy of control. Results demonstrate that maintaining self-esteem and an expectancy of personal control can buffer the effects of declining ADLs on perceptions of aging. Findings have clinical implications regarding psychological interventions aimed at improving resilience in older adults, which may ultimately increase health outcomes and quality of life.

Sense of coherence and intentions to retire early among Finnish women and men

BackgroundPrevious studies have shown that age, physical and mental health status and working circumstances, along with different socio-economic and psychosocial factors affect the retirement process. However, the role of psychological resources, such as sense of coherence (SOC), on the retirement process is still poorly understood. This study investigated the associations between SOC and intentions to retire early and whether these associations were explained by socio-economic, psychosocial and work and health related factors.MethodsThe data were derived from the Finnish Health and Social Support (HeSSup) Study. The information was gathered from postal surveys in 1998 (baseline) and in 2003 (follow-up). The analyzed data consisted of 7409 women and 4866 men aged 30-54 at baseline. SOC and background factors including childhood circumstances, language, education, working circumstances, social support, health behaviour and somatic and mental health status were assessed at baseline. The intentions to retire early were assessed at follow-up using logistic regression analysis.ResultsSOC was associated with intentions to retire early among both genders. Socio-economic, psychosocial and work and health behaviour related factors did not influence the association between SOC and intentions to retire early among women and men reporting somatic or mental illness. Further, the association between SOC and intentions to retire early remained among (somatically and mentally) healthy men. Among healthy women the association was weaker and statistically non-significant. Among unhealthy women, the odds ratios of SOC was 0.97 (CI 95% 0.96-0.98) and 0.97 among ill men (CI 95% 0.96-0.98), i.e., each additional SOC score reduced the risk of intentions by 3% among both genders.ConclusionUnhealthy employees with low SOC and low education were in the greatest risk to have reported intentions to retire early. SOC had an independent effect on intentions to retire early, and a strong SOC may have a potential to prevent early retirement in groups otherwise at risk. An important challenge would be to target the resources of SOC to the most vulnerable and design appropriate interventions in order to strengthen the level of SOC and hence prolong working years of the aging employees.

The role of psychological resources in the affective well-being of never-married adults

We compared psychological resources between heterosexual never-married and married adults and their group-specific role in positive and negative affect after controlling for social resources. Although never-married respondents scored slightly lower than married adults on social resources and affective well-being, the two groups were comparable on psychological resources. Moderated regression analysis indicated that psychological resources were more strongly related to negative affect for never-married than married adults. In addition, never-married respondents with lower personal mastery scored higher on negative affect than did married adults, and higher levels of self-sufficiency contributed to lower negative affect for never-married adults but to higher negative affect among married individuals. Psychological resources appear to have a differential role in shaping negative affect between never-married and married individuals.

Socioeconomic Differences in Adolescent Stress: The Role of Psychological Resources

Purpose To investigate whether psychological resources influenced the association between parent education (PE), a marker of socioeconomic status (SES), and perceived stress. Methods Cross-sectional analyses were conducted in a sample of 1167 non-Hispanic black and white junior and senior high school students from a Midwestern public school district in 2002–2003. Hierarchical multivariable regression analyses examined relationships between PE (high school graduate or less = E1, > high school, < college = E2, college graduate = E3, and professional degree = E4), and psychological resources (optimism and coping style) on teens’ perceived stress. Greater optimism and adaptive coping were hypothesized to influence (i.e., mediate or moderate) the relationship between higher PE and lower stress. Results Relative to adolescents from families with a professionally educated parent, adolescents with lower parent education had higher perceived stress (E3 β = 1.70, p < .01, E2 β = 1.94, p < .01, E1 β = 3.19, p < .0001). Both psychological resources were associated with stress: higher optimism (β = − .58, p < .0001) and engagement coping (β = − .19, p < .0001) were associated with less stress and higher disengagement coping was associated with more stress (β = .09, p < .01). Adding optimism to the regression model attenuated the effect of SES by nearly 30%, suggesting that optimism partially mediates the inverse SES-stress relationship. Mediation was confirmed using a Sobel test ( p < .01). Conclusions Adolescents from families with lower parent education are less optimistic than teens from more educated families. This pessimism may be a mechanism through which lower SES increases stress in adolescence.

2: Socioeconomic differences in adolescent stress: The role of psychological resources

Chronic stress and differences in the ways people cope with stress may be important factors in the development of the known socioeconomic status (SES) gradient in health. Lower SES is associated with greater life stress and worse adolescent health, but few studies have examined whether lower SES youth have fewer psychological resources (PR) to manage the effects of stress. This study investigated whether PR influenced the association between SES and perceived stress levels in adolescence.

Political Advertising and Public Mood: A Study of Children's Political Orientations

Political advertising can cause changes in children's political attitudes and affect their involvement in politics by momentarily altering their levels of "public mood." We define this concept and present results from a study in which we use the tone of political advertising to induce change in the public moods of young children. Results support the hypothesis that advertising tone affects public mood. These changes in feelings, in turn, mediate attitude change in some political orientations. In addition, while advertising tone does not significantly affect children's desire to vote as a main effect, it moderates the role of psychological resources. Children high in political efficacy are stimulated by negative advertising, whereas children low in political efficacy lose enthusiasm for voting. No such differences are observed for children who view positive ads.

The Role of Psychological Resources in Well-Being: A Reply

The Role of Psychological Resources in Well-Being: A Reply