Psychological Capital: An Evidence-Based Positive Approach

Abstract

The now recognized core construct of psychological capital, or simply PsyCap, draws from positive psychology in general and positive organizational behavior (POB) in particular. The first-order positive psychological resources that make up PsyCap include hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism, or the HERO within. These four best meet the inclusion criteria of being theory-and research-based, positive, validly measurable, state-like, and having impact on attitudes, behaviors, performance and well-being. The article first provides the background and precise meaning of PsyCap and then comprehensively reviews its measures, theoretical mechanisms, antecedents and outcomes, levels of analysis, current status and needed research, and finally application. Particular emphasis is given to practical implications, which focuses on PsyCap development, positive leadership, and novel applications such as the use of video games and gamification techniques. The overriding theme throughout is that PsyCap has both scientific, evidence-based rigor and practical relevance.

How Psychological Capital Mediates Between Study–Related Positive Emotions and Academic Performance

“…This result is coherent with the B&B theory, which emphasizes the role of experiencing positive emotions in generating the development of new psychological resources (in our case, PsyCap), and the derived effects of experiencing positive emotions emerge regardless of their level of arousal (Fredrikson, 2003). In sum, our finding confirms that positive emotions are one of the key mechanisms through which PsyCap operates (Luthans & Youssef-Morgan, 2017). …”

“…Based on B&B theory (Fredrikson, 1998) and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory (Hobfoll, 2002), Luthans & Youssef-Morgan (2017) refer to PsyCap as a positive personal resource. PsyCap is defined as an "individual´s positive psychological state of development characterized by: (1) having confidence (efficacy) to take on and put in the necessary effort to succeed at challenging tasks; (2) making a positive attribution (optimism) about succeeding now and in the future; (3) persevering toward goals and, when necessary, redirecting paths to goals (hope) in order to succeed; and (4) when beset by problems and adversity, sustaining and bouncing back and even beyond (resilience) to attain success" (Luthans, Youssef-Morgan & Avolio, 2015, p. 2).…”

“…Although efficacy, optimism, hope, and resilience are conceptually distinct, these four components share common variance and are part of a synergistic set of resources consistent with the notion of resource caravans (Hobfoll, 2002). That is, these four components of PsyCap may "travel together" and interact synergistically to produce differentiated manifestations over time and across contexts (Luthans & Youssef-Morgan, 2017).…”

“…Second, a key feature of PsyCap is that it is state-like and open to development through instructional programs (Luthans & Youssef-Morgan, 2017). Thus, a PsyCap intervention (PCI) training model (Luthans, Avey, Avolio, Norman & Combs, 2006) has shown the possibility of developing PsyCap in working adults (Luthans, Avey & Patera, 2008) and undergraduate university students (Luthans, Avey, Avolio & Peterson, 2010).…”

The effect of job characteristics on intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction: the moderating role of psychological capital

“…However, the effect of the different job characteristics on job satisfaction also depend on workers' characteristics (Hackman & Oldham, 1980), and psychological capital (PsyCap) could be one of them. PsyCap is a set of resources (self-efficacy, optimism, hope and resilience) related to employees' well-being (Luthans & Youssef-Morgan, 2017). From the perspective of positive organizational behavior (POB), PsyCap has been presented as a set of personal resources that can interact with the work characteristics, protecting employees from their potentially detrimental effects and increasing potential benefits (Avey, Reichard, Luthans, & Mhatre, 2011;Newman, Ucbasaran, Zhu, & Hirst, 2014).…”