Perceived organisational support and well-being: the mediating effect of psychological capital
- Authors: Roemer, Anja
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Positive psychology , Psychology, Applied Organizational behavior Well-being
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/23283 , vital:30513
- Description: The field of Positive Psychology focuses on the strengths and positive capacities of human beings and investigates how mental well-being can be actively enhanced. Analysis of those factors influencing employee well-being constitutes a valuable approach for research purposes. Based on the Job Demands-Resources Theory and the Conservation of Resources Theory, it was assumed that Perceived Organisational Support (POS) and the higher-order construct of Psychological Capital (PsyCap), consisting of the facets of self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience, are all resources that can contribute to a sense of greater well-being for employees. It was proposed that POS fuels the capacity of PsyCap, which can then result in an accumulation of resources leading to enhanced well-being. It was therefore hypothesised that the positive capacity of PsyCap would mediate the relationship between POS and well-being. A non-experimental, cross-sectional design using convenience and snowball sampling via personal contacts and social media was utilised. A research sample of 159 South African participants who completed an online survey was thus recruited. The respective constructs were assessed by means of the Survey of Perceived Organisational Support (SPOS), the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ-24), and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS). All measures revealed excellent reliability. The SPOS and the WEMWBS were found to be valid after minor construct modifications had been made. The four-factor structure of the PCQ-24 could not be validated due to high inter-correlations between the subscales. Each subscale, however, was shown to be valid. The results of the statistical analysis indicate that POS, PsyCap and well-being are positively correlated with each other. Hierarchical regression analyses, structural equation modelling, and bootstrapping revealed that PsyCap fully mediates the relationship between POS and well-being. This implies that organisations can contribute to a greater sense of well-being in their employees by systematically enhancing their PsyCap through the offer of support structures.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The relationship between authentic leadership and employee performance
- Authors: Petzer, Liane
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Authentic leadership , Positive psychology , Employee motivation -- South Africa , Employees -- Attitudes , Job satisfaction -- South Africa , Employees -- Rating of -- South Africa , Financial services industry -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59467 , vital:27613
- Description: The impact of a leader on his or her followers has been a topic of much research and therefore organizations, including the financial services sector in South Africa, are placing more and more emphasis on what this leadership construct looks like. Research suggests that Authentic Leadership might be a new kind of leadership approach that the world is looking for. This study aims to establish the possible relationship between an authentic leader and the impact the leader’s behaviour has on the performance of his or her employee. The study further attempts to establish if satisfaction can play a mediating role in the relationship between authentic leadership and the performance of an employee. The research used two established research instruments, namely the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ), as well as a section of Freese and Schalk’s (2008) psychological contract questionnaire relating to satisfaction specifically. Respondents were also requested to indicate their most recent performance rating. The study was conducted within the financial sector based in the Eastern and Southern Cape with a total population of 1077 employees across all business units, job grades, race, age, education and gender. The study established a significant positive relationship between authentic leadership and employee performance. A further significant positive relationship was established between authentic leadership and satisfaction. However, no relationship could be established between satisfaction and performance, thereby indicating that satisfaction was not a mediator of the relationship between authentic leadership and employee performance. In conclusion, recommendations for management practice and for further research are made.
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- Date Issued: 2018