PurposeBased on the socially embedded model of thriving at work and using the conservation of resources and job demands-resources theories, this study aims to examine the mediating role of thriving at work, as a personal resource, in the relationship between workplace safety, as job resource, and well-being.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used structural equation modeling to test the mediation model on a sample of 350 correctional officers.FindingsThe results provided support to the authors' model. The authors found that workplace safety is positively linked to job satisfaction and negatively to health complaints, and these relationships are partially mediated by thriving at work. Consistent with the conservation of resources theory, thriving at the workplace is a mechanism that translates the positive effect of workplace safety on well-being.Originality/valueThe contribution of this research resides that a safe work environment leads to improved health and job satisfaction via thriving at work because thriving correctional officers feel energetic and able to acquire and apply knowledge and skills at workplace.

Based on the Job Demands-Resources and Broaden and Build theories, this study examines the role of thriving at work and psychological capital on burnout and, ultimately, job satisfaction and performance one year later. We used structural equation modeling to test the model on a sample of 317 Romanian correctional officers in a two-wave study at T1 and one year later (T2). The results indicate that thriving at work at Time 1 is positively linked to psychological capital at Time 1, and negatively related to burnout at Time 2. Meanwhile, burnout at Time 2 is negatively related to job satisfaction and performance at Time 2. The mediating chain effect of psychological capital at Time 1 and burnout at Time 2 is significant. Thriving at work and psychological capital are essential factors contributing to a decrease in subsequent burnout and increased job satisfaction and performance. In a thriving environment, correctional officers are more resilient, confident, optimistic, and hopeful at work, generating lower burnout over time and increasing job satisfaction and performance. Supervisors need to be encouraged to create a thriving work environment to increase psychological capital, reduce burnout, and improve correctional officers’ satisfaction and performance.

BACKGROUND: Correctional officers’ personal resources, such as psychological capital (PsyCap), may help them better manage their work environment in the penitentiary; however, there is limited research on the relationship between indicators of well-being and types of demands in this cohort and whether this relationship depends on PsyCap. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine three types of demands (job, personal, and group) and the effect of each on three indicators of low well-being: burnout, physical and mental health complaints. We also tested the potential moderating role of PsyCap in the relationship between the three types of demands and indicators of well-being. METHODS: The potential moderating role of personal resources (PsyCap) between demands and well-being was tested via hierarchical multiple regression on a sample of 350 correctional officers. RESULTS: Results show that psychological capital attenuates the effect of personal distress and negative team relationships on all three indicators of low well-being. Psychological capital also moderates the relation between work-family conflict and mental health complaints. However, it does not act as a moderator between work-family conflict and burnout or physical health complaints. CONCLUSIONS: The findings are of value because they emphasize the importance of psychological capital, as a personal and malleable resource, for the occupational health of correctional officers.

Drawing on Job Demands-Resources and Self-Determination theories, this study investigates the relationship between two categories of environmental stressors (operational and organizational) and two indicators of ill-being (burnout and mental health complaints). It also studies the moderating role of psychological needs satisfaction in this relationship. The results showed that environmental stressors are positively related to burnout and mental health complaints in a sample of 345 Romanian correctional officers. Also, high needs for autonomy and relatedness moderated the relationship between stressors and ill-being. Satisfaction of the need for competence, in turn, did not moderate this relationship. This research demonstrates the essential role that satisfying psychological needs plays for the correctional officers' ill-being. The buffering roles of satisfaction of the needs for autonomy and relatedness in the stressor-strain relationship elicits a better understanding of the psychological resources that help maintain low levels of burnout and mental health complaints.