Impacts of psychological capital on organizational behavior

A few years ago, the idea of positive organizational behavior (POB) was introduced as a
means of emphasizing the application of positive psychology in the workplace.

Psychological capital places an emphasis on "individual strength" and "enthusiasm" and

highlights accomplishments rather than flaws in workers.

The term "psychological capital" refers to all actions that have the potential to benefit both
people and organizations. Examples include organizational commitment, loyalty, and
integrity as well as civic engagement, the psychological contract, job involvement, and
organizational identity.

The psychological capital and knowledge sharing of team members are impacted by abusive
supervision. Employee self-efficacy declines because of abusive supervision and could be a
factor in how anxious or depressed someone feels. Employees generally experience negative
mental states because of abusive management. They lack self-efficacy, recovery skills, and
optimism, which together lead to low psychological capital.

With less psychological capital, subordinates who experience abusive supervision share less
knowledge. Knowledge exchange could be viewed as a form of resource investment. When a
subordinate's psychological capital is low because they lack confidence, they have a negative
outlook on their surroundings. They might be concerned about diminished job security and a
lack of knowledge reciprocity from coworkers after knowledge donation. As a result, they are
typically reluctant to share their knowledge. Challenges can also arise during the knowledge
acquisition process, in which members pick up new information. People with low
psychological capital are less optimistic and full of self-doubt, which makes them hesitant to
learn new things. Along with having depression, they might also lack the resources to recover
(6, page 6 )

It was discovered that there is a negative correlation between psychological capital and
unfavorable employee traits like cynicism, plans to leave their jobs, job stress and anxiety, as
well as unfavorable employee actions like workplace deviance. Additionally, it was
discovered that employees' psychological capital had a favorable relationship with both their
financial performance and performance as rated by their supervisors.
Hope is described as a positive motivational mood based on an interactively acquired feeling
of success (agency and pathways).Since agency or willpower serves as the primary
motivating factor that keeps a person motivated to achieve a goal, it is a crucial component of
the hope theory for POB. Thinking about alternate pathways, is the second element of the
hope theory. This thought process can be primarily understood in terms of time (how a person
can get from point A to B).People with high hopes create determined plans with a high
chance of success because they are confident in the plan they have chosen, and they've
deliberately created backup plans in case the first one doesn't function. Success, good mental
and physical health, and the capacity to handle adversity are all highly correlated with hope.
In addition, high-hope leaders are better leaders because to their capacity for setting
objectives, laying out a plan of action, and conceiving of alternate options. Also, higher levels
of hope among managers are correlated with improved retention rates and happier staff
members.

While hope and self-efficacy frequently have a narrower focus on a single objective or topic,
optimism may be more comprehensive in character and represent a broad optimistic
expectation of achievement. Therefore, in areas where efficacy or hope have not previously
been developed, optimism about the future can be tapped upon. Additionally, while
externalizing bad events, an optimistic explanatory style may relate to other individuals or
contextual elements(2, page 8)

Optimism has been characterized as a personality feature and trait. Regarding the effect on
performance, more optimistic sales agents sold a lot more life insurance than less optimistic
ones did. It was discovered that the more upbeat salespeople had higher retention rates.
Positive leadership impacts on followers' optimism, satisfaction, stress, and retention are
correlated with optimism levels. Because team members feel comfortable speaking up and
helping to solve problems as they arise, psychological capital encourages optimism.
Additionally, the team evaluates the present and looks for opportunities to face the future

More psychological capital in a team can lead to more innovative ideas. Teams with members
who possess high levels of psychological capital are known to be more innovative.

The ability to create innovative solutions to problems that arise and to persevere in the face of
difficulties that are inherent in the creative process are two reasons why hope may be vital for
creativity at work. Hope is a creative force (3)
The ability to be optimistic is crucial for creativity because it affects how people react to
setbacks in the creative process and spurs them to look for fresh options, innovative solutions,
and novel approaches to pressing issues.

With a high level of psychological capital, team members are more likely to believe in their
capacity for creativity, have the drive and strength to experiment with novel ideas and
methods, be resourceful in overcoming obstacles, and have a positive outlook and expectation
of success.

Employee motivation to work can be preserved by psychological capital. However, those

with greater psychological capital will actively seek out additional resources, pick up new
job-related skills, and encourage personal development and performance enhancement.

Better performance, greater job satisfaction, and a lower likelihood of leaving the job are all
outcomes of psychological capital, particularly hope and self-efficacy, which instill
confidence in people and encourage positive thinking. Efficacy and hope both involve
optimistic anticipation of achievement because of confidence in one's own talents. Employees
who are highly effective and optimistic establish difficult objectives for themselves and
choose difficult assignments while being driven and persistent in their pursuit of
achievement.

When faced with challenges, failures, and opportunities, more resilient people improvise in
settings that are characterized primarily by change and uncertainty, and it is likely that they
create new methods of doing things. Because the creative process is characterized by risk and
uncertainty, more resilient people are more equipped to deal with the contradictions and
failures that come with it, which in turn inspires their own original ideas(3) (not sure)
Psychological capital and its impacts on organizational behavior in the aftermath of Covid-19

Various people around the world have been impacted by COVID-19. The COVID-19
pandemic has had a negative impact on people's mental health and future aspirations since it
first appeared. In turn, this has impacted people's sense of confidence in life. Lifestyle and
economic conditions have also been impacted. Many people may be more likely to
experience mental health problems like anxiety or depression because of this.

Particularly, lockdowns and quarantines had negatively impacted both the workforce as a
whole and the employees. The effects of COVID-19 on employees have taken a variety of
shapes, including a greater reliance on remote work, travel restrictions, and layoffs.

Following COVID19, psychological capital had an impact on both employees and the
workplace, including an increase in the strain on mental health. Numerous factors may have a
negative impact on a worker's productivity and behavior at work. Among them are using
public transportation and worry about catching the virus when returning to work.
Additionally, it affected the regularization of remote work. As a result of a sharp rise in
employees working remotely since the pandemic started, this fact may be the most significant
impact of COVID-19 on workers.

Companies that were previously averse to using a virtual workforce will eventually be forced
to change their ways and support remote work because of this viral desire. Corporate offices
will adjust to this change because many businesses will do so as well. As more employees
engage in remote work, offices will turn into hubs for team meetings and brainstorming
sessions. Employers and managers will put more emphasis on leading remote teams and
using tools to make this much easier to do.

Organizations must actively promote the health and wellbeing of their workforces
considering the pandemic's unknowns. In accordance with the job demands-resources theory,
it is noteworthy that there are differences between and within industries in terms of how
COVID-19 has impacted both the demands and resources of various jobs. Evidence exists to
support the notion that many employees' working conditions have gotten worse. Given these
pressures, COVID-19 has increased the possibility that workers will experience job burnout,
a chronic stress condition that includes ongoing exhaustion and a disinterested attitude toward
their jobs.

Prior to the pandemic, traditional teamwork issues like conflict and coordination could
escalate quickly in virtual teams because they tended to lack the rich communication that
face-to-face teams could. Building structural scaffolds will help virtual teams at team
alignment, conflict reduction, and secure, thorough information processing are all achieved.
As a result of COVID-19, there may be an increase in team virtuality, which could have an
impact on pro-social and helpful behavior. Teams that collaborate online tend to be more
productive brainstormers than teams that collaborate in person. The rapid expansion of virtual
teams presents a chance to investigate new issues and create interventions to enhance
teamwork in virtual environments; in this endeavor, close attention must be paid to the
multifaceted ways in which virtuality differs among remote teams.

Loneliness is a psychologically distressing emotion that arises from people's subjective

perceptions that their intimate and social needs are not sufficiently met, making it more
pernicious than the loss of social connections. Furthermore, workers' social lives are likely to
suffer because of the loss of those connections, both for those who were laid off and those
who were required to work WFH (work from home). For mental and physical health, it is
crucial to engage in positive social interactions, including casual conversations with
coworkers. After the pandemic, it has been shown that there is more loneliness at work. The
performance, affiliative behaviors, engaging techniques, psychological dedication, and
affective commitment of workers are strongly correlated negatively. Online communication
carries a greater risk of miscommunication because no nonverbal cues exist, which makes it
more likely for misunderstandings to occur and increase loneliness among workers.