Does team psychological capital predict team outcomes at work?

Abstract

This study is situated in the paradigms of positive organizational scholarship (POS) and positive organizational behaviour (POB). It draws upon the theoretical mechanisms of social learning and emotional contagion to suggest that psychological capital may spread through work teams to impact team outcomes such as performance, innovation, and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The degree to which team psychological capital (TPsyCap) mediated the relationship between leader psychological capital (LPsyCap) and team outcomes was also tested (n = 94 teams; n = 94 leaders; n = 550 employees). Using structural equation modelling, LPsyCap and TPsyCap were both related to team-level organizational citizenship behavior, team performance, and team innovation. However, the relationship between LPsyCap and TPsyCap was not significant. These findings support the positioning of psychological capital as an important resource for optimal team functioning but also suggest that workplaces cannot expect that leaders, through their own psychological capital alone, can create team-level psychological capital. Instead, the current research suggests that other organizational initiatives and experiences are needed to enhance LPsyCap. The results contribute to a better understanding of POS and POB in general and, specifically, to the recently emerging construct of team psychological capital.

Psychological capital and organisational citizenship behaviour in selected public hospitals in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

“…For example, they might be involved in assisting a fellow employee who is behind in his or her job or mentoring new workers. This finding is consistent with that of Waters, Strauss, Somech, Haslam and Dussert (2020) who reported a positive and a statistically significant correlation between PsyCap and OCB.…”

The Effect of Adversity Quotient on Psychology Capital and Performance: Evidence from Indonesian Teachers

“…Carmona-Halty, Schaufeli, and Salanova (2019) prove that Psycap affects academic performance in the educational field. Other studies revealed that PasyCap is related to career outcomes (Baluku et al, 2021) and organizational citizenship behavior (e.g., Chamisa, Mjoli, & Mhlanga, 2020; Waters et al, 2020). The recent studies also claimed that PsyCap influences innovative behavior (Slatten et al, 2020; Wang, Chen, & Zhu, 2021).…”

The Moderating Role of Attachment in the Associations Between Group Variables and OCB

“…Self-efficacy is considered a powerful individual resource and a part of one's psychological capital (Paterson et al, 2014). Recent work suggests that it can also be generalized to the group level (Waters et al, 2020). Indeed, group efficacy was found to be strongly associated with group member performance in the organizational setting (e.g., Yaakobi & Weisberg, 2018) and in sports (Eys et al, 2019), and individuals and teams in the educational setting (Heled et al, 2016).…”

“…Group efficacy may convince individual members that extra efforts and cooperative contributions to the group is worthwhile, because the group is capable of accomplishing its goals. Group efficacy can also be considered as psychological capital from which the member can draw resources when necessary, resulting in increased OCB (Liu et al, 2017; Waters et al, 2020). Indeed, several studies confirmed positive associations between group efficacy and OCB (Chen & Kao, 2011; Lin & Peng, 2010).…”