1. Scientific Advances in Positive
Organizational Psychology
Meghana A. Rao, MA, MOD Meghana.Rao@cgu.edu
President, IPPA Work and Organizations Division
July 3rd, 2014
2. Positive Psychology and its Pillars
Peterson (2006) articulated 3 pillars of positive
psychology
1. Positive states or subjective experiences
2. Positive traits
3. Positive institutions
Positive institutions, include families, schools,
businesses, communities, and societies that support
the proliferation of positive states and traits thereby,
promoting human flourishing.
3. Positive Lens in the Workplace
IPPA Work and Organizations Division
Positive Organizational Scholarship
Positive Relationships at Work Micro-community
Positive Organizational Behavior
4. Positive Organizational Psychology
Donaldson & Ko (2010) defined positive
organizational psychology as “the scientific study of
positive subjective experiences and traits in the
workplace and positive organizations, and its
application to improve the effectiveness and quality
of life in organizations” (p. 178).
5. Method
• English-language peer-reviewed journal publications between
2001 -2013
• Search in databases: Academic search premier; Business
source premier; ERIC; PsycINFO, and PsycARTICLES.
• Met the following search criteria:
– the article was linked to the Positive Organizational Behavior literature;
– the article was linked to the Positive Organizational Scholarship literature;
– the article reported about a study or concept that applied positive
psychology topics in an organizational setting; or
– the article reported about organizational studies or concepts that revisited
established/pre-existing topics from positive psychology perspectives.
6. Positive Organizational Psychology
• Total of 315 peer-reviewed articles published
between 2001 and 2013
• Total empirical articles = 152 (48.3%)
• Total non-empirical articles = 163 (51.7%)
7. Location of 1st author
8%
6%
5%
4%
3%
2%
1%
11%
UK Canada
Australia Netherlands
Spain Switzerland
South Africa Other
42%
59%
Other U.S.
8. Journal Publications
42 different journals published two or more articles related to POP during 2001–2013
92 journals have published one article
A total of 134 different journals have published work in this area (n=315)
10. Key Topics in POP
S.No. Topic Total
1 Positive leadership 30
2 Positive organizational development and change 19
Psychological capital (PsyCap) 19
4 Job satisfaction/happiness 18
Well-being at work 18
Work engagement 18
7 Virtuousness and ethics 15
Positive psychology at work 15
9 Stress 13
10 Emotions 12
Character strengths 12
12 Career 12
Overview of POB 11
14 Coaching 10
Overview of POS 10
11. Findings on Positive Leadership
• Authentic leaders are confident, hopeful, optimistic,
future-oriented, resilient, moral/ethical, and give
priority to developing associates to be leaders (Avolio
et al., 2004).
• They promote POBs which enhance organizational
performance, OCBs, organizational commitment, job
satisfaction, satisfaction with supervisor, team
virtuousness, team affective commitment, and team
potency (Rego et al., 2013; Walumbwa et al., 2008;
Yammarino, et al., 2008;)
12. Positive Organizational Development & Change
• Applications include appreciative inquiry (Boyd &
Bright, 2007) and crisis management (Brockner &
James, 2008)
• Focus on discovering positive aspects and alleviate
stressful change and organizational tragedy such as
downsizing
• Support from friends and family is helpful for
individuals dealing with organizational change,
followed by personal attitudes, traits, and positive
emotions (Butterfield et al., 2010)
13. Psychological Capital
• PsyCap is characterized by self-efficacy, optimism, hope,
resiliency (Luthans et al., 2006)
• Positive outcomes of PsyCap include performance, job
satisfaction, & commitment (Larson & Luthans, 2006),
engagement and OCB (Avey, Wernsing, & Luthans, 2008),
problem solving & innovation (Luthans, Youssef, & Rawski,
2011), lower absenteeism (Avey, Patera, & West, 2006), lower
cynicism and deviance (Avey et al., 2008); less stress
symptoms, intentions to quit, (Avey, Luthans, & Jensen, 2009).
• PsyCap contributes to positive organizational change by
promoting positive attitudes and behaviors while countering
dysfunctional attitudes and behaviors
14. Future of Positive Organizational Psychology
• Peer-reviewed research and evidence-based practice
• More research across a variety of contexts, and application in
contexts that match the evidence
15. References
Avey, J.B., Patera, J.L., & West, B.J. (2006). The implications of positive psychological capital on employee
absenteeism. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 13, 42–60.
Avey, J.B., Wernsing, T.S., & Luthans, F. (2008). Can positive employees help positive organizational change? Impact of
psychological capital and emotions on relevant attitudes and behaviors. The Journal of Applied Behavioral
Science, 44, 48–70.
Avey, J.B., Luthans, F., & Jensen, S.M. (2009). Psychological capital: A positive resource for combating employee stress
and turnover. Human Resource Management, 48, 677–693.
Avolio, B.J., Gardner, W.L., Walumbwa, F.O., Luthans, F., & May, D.R. (2004). Unlocking the mask: A look at the process
by which authentic leaders impact follower attitudes and behaviors. Leadership Quarterly, 15, 801–823.
Boyd, N.M., & Bright, D.S. (2007). Appreciative inquiry as a mode of action research for community psychology.
Journal of Community Psychology, 35, 1019–1036.
Brockner, J., & James, E.H. (2008). Toward an understanding of when executives see crisis as opportunity. The Journal
of Applied Behavioral Science, 44, 94–115.
Donaldson, S. I. & Ko, I. (2010). Positive Organizational Psychology, Behavior, and Scholarship: A Review of the
Emerging Literature and Evidence Base. Journal of Positive Psychology, 5 (3), 177-191.
Donaldson, S. I. & Rao, M. A. (forthcoming). Positive Organizational Psychology. In Shane J. Lopez (Ed.) The
Encyclopedia of Positive Psychology, Second Edition. New Jersey: Wiley Publishers.
Larson, M., & Luthans, F. (2006). Potential added value of psychological capital in predicting work attitudes. Journal of
Leadership and Organizational Studies, 13, 75–92.
Luthans, F., Avey, J.B., Avolio, B.J., Norman, S.M., & Combs, G.M. (2006). Positive psychological capital: Toward a
micro-intervention. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27, 387–393.
Peterson, C. (2006). A primer in positive psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Walumbwa, F.O., Avolio, B.J., Gardner, W.L., Wernsing, T.A., & Peterson, S.J. (2008). Authentic leadership:
Development and validation of a theory-based measure. Journal of Management, 34(1), 89–126.
Yammarino, F.J., Dionne, S.D., Schriesheim, C.A., & Dansereau, F. (2008). Authentic leadership and positive
organizational behavior: A meso, multi-level perspective. The Leadership Quarterly, 19, 693–707.
