Psychological capital huh? Sounds interesting, but what is it?

Psychological capital has been defined as an individual’s positive psychological state of development.

It is characterized by:

Having confidence (self-efficacy) to take on and put in the necessary effort to succeed at challenging tasks
Making a positive attribution (optimism) about succeeding now and in the future
Persevering towards goals and when necessary, redirecting paths to goals (hope) in order to succeed
When beset by problems and adversity, sustaining and bouncing back and even beyond (resilience) to attain success (Luthans, Youssef, & Avolio, 2007).

Each of these criteria has a positive impact on work-related individual performance and satisfaction. Interestingly, psychological capital is actually a set of resources that can be increased by intervention or decreased through usage.

Psychological capital (PsyCap) is an important aspect of individual flourishing through one's work relationship:

PsyCap has been linked to increased self-rated performance and job satisfaction (Luthans et al., 2007) .
It has been shown that a simple web-based intervention can increase PsyCap (Luthans, Avey, & Patera, 2008).

Different job positions draw on different sets of psychological resources. Furthermore, individuals are able to replenish some resources faster than others.

Thus, if a match exists between what resources are required for a particular position and an individual high in the ability to use these resources and replenish them quickly, the employee will perform better and will be more engaged in his or her work.


REFERENCES:

Luthans, F., Avey, J. B., & Patera, J. L. (2008). Experimental analysis of a web-based training intervention to develop positive psychological capital. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 7(2), 209-221.

Luthans, F., Avolio, B. J., Avey, J. B., & Norman, S. M. (2007). Positive Psychological Capital: Measurement and Relationship with Performance and Satisfaction. Personnel Psychology, 60(3), 541-572.

Luthans, F., Youssef, C. M., & Avolio, B. J. (2007). Psychological Capital. New York: Oxford University Press.