A Tale of Two Paradigms: The Impact of Psychological Capital and Reinforcing Feedback on Problem Solving and Innovation

Impact of psychological capital on innovative performance and job stress

“…In addition, these authors did not include any study examining the association between PsyCap and innovative behaviour. In another recent study, Luthans et al () examined the impact of PsyCap on innovation. Unfortunately, these authors did not report the bivariate correlations in their study; therefore, we could not compare the effect size for PsyCap and innovative performance observed in our study with Luthans et al’s () findings.…”

“…Therefore, it is possible that positive PsyCap of hope, efficacy, optimism, and resilience use positive emotions to develop broader thought‐action repertoires that are manifested as innovative performance. The broadened inventory of positive psychological resources such as hope, efficacy, optimism, and resilience may be helpful in problem solving and enhancing creativity since employees with a positive mindset are more creative (Luthans et al, ; Rego, Sousa, and Marques, ). Employees with a positive mindset may not only be able to generate innovative ideas but may also acquire approvals from colleagues to support their ideas and transform them into useful applications in the workplace.…”

“…Although several studies have recently investigated the relationship between PsyCap and creativity (Luthans, Youssef, & Rawski, ; Rego, Sousa, & Marques, ; Sweetman, Luthans, Avey, & Luthans, ), they all used exercises and scales that were restricted to the idea generation phase of innovation and had less relevance to job‐related innovative performance. In addition, Luthans et al () relied on self‐reports for both psychological capital and creativity, while Sweetman et al () recognized the limitations of focusing on the idea generation phase and called upon future research to draw from an alternative measure of creative performance.…”

The Importance of Definitional and Temporal Issues in the Study of Resilience

“…A similar approach focuses on the ability to maintain normal functioning when faced with hardship, notwithstanding “transient perturbations” (Bonanno, , p. 21) or “short‐lived” downturns in functioning (Crane & Searle, , p. 468). Consistent with this, many authors acknowledge that resilience can be demonstrated both in the form of bouncing back and by “sustaining” (Luthans, Youssef, & Rawski, , p. 335), “maintaining” (van Erp et al, , p. 403), or otherwise withstanding or enduring under difficult circumstances (Kossek & Perrigino, ; Lee, Sudom, & Zamorski, ; van der Vegt, Essens, Wahlström, & George, ). In either case, primary emphasis is placed on the outcome of having successfully weathered some form of adversity or hardship.…”

Psychological capital: A review and synthesis

“…Although not addressed by Avey, Reichard, et al's () meta‐analysis, PsyCap has also been found to influence employees' creative performance, problem solving and innovation at the individual‐level. For example, Sweetman, Luthans, Avey and Luthans () and Rego et al () found that PsyCap was positively related to creative performance, and Luthans, Youssef, and Rawski () found that PsyCap was positively related to problem‐solving performance and reported innovation. Also excluded from Avey, Reichard, et al's () meta‐analysis is the relationship between PsyCap and performance at the team and organizational‐levels of analysis.…”