Retail employees' self-efficacy and hope predicting their positive affect and creativity

Subjective well-being among PhD students in mainland China: the roles of psychological capital and academic engagement

The mental well-being of PhD students is a major concern in higher education. However, very few studies have investigated the influencing factors of PhD students' subjective well-being (SWB) - an important indicator of mental well-being. Even no study on the influencing factors of PhD students' SWB has been undertaken in mainland China. Based on job demands-resources theory, the present study pioneers the investigation of the relationship between PhD students' psychological capital (PsyCap; comprising self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism) and SWB (comprising positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction) in mainland China. It further examined the mediating role of academic engagement (comprising vigor, dedication, and absorption) in this relationship. PhD students (n = 376) from two comprehensive universities in Jiangsu province responded to an online survey. The results showed that (1) self-efficacy was positively associated with life satisfaction, hope was positively associated with positive affect, optimism was significantly associated with all three dimensions of SWB, but resilience was not significantly associated with any of the three SWB dimensions; and (2) dedication mediated the relationship between hope and life satisfaction and that between optimism and negative affect and life satisfaction, but vigor and absorption did not mediate any of the PsyCap-SWB relationships. Limitations and practical implications of this study are discussed.

Positive Verbal Rewards, Creative Self-Efficacy, and Creative Behavior: A Perspective of Cognitive Appraisal Theory

The creative behavior of cultural innovation team members is the key to driving the team forward. Previous studies have relatively neglected the dynamic mechanism of positive verbal rewards on the creative behavior of cultural innovation team members. This paper, drawing on cognitive appraisal theory, focuses on the dynamic mechanism of positive verbal rewards on the creative behavior of cultural innovation team members and the moderating effect of positive affectivity. Based on the survey of 211 cultural innovation team members in Guangdong, China, this paper constructs a relationship model between positive verbal reward, creative self-efficacy, positive affectivity, and members’ creative behaviors and empirically tests the model. The results of statistical data analysis show that positive verbal reward has a significant positive impact on members’ creative behavior. Creative self-efficacy partially mediates between positive verbal rewards and members’ creative behavior; positive affectivity moderates the positive influence of creative self-efficacy on members’ creative behavior. The higher the level of positive affectivity, the stronger the positive impact of positive verbal rewards on members’ creative behavior, and vice versa. The above research findings help clarify the mechanism of positive verbal rewards on the cultural innovation team members’ creative behaviors in the context of Chinese organizations and provide theoretical support for cultural innovation team management practices.

A Study on Paradoxical Leadership and Multiple Path Mechanisms of Employees' Bootleg Innovation

Purpose

Based on the social cognitive theory and cognitive-affective system theory, the purpose of this study is to explore how and when paradoxical leadership enhances employees' bootlegging innovation. To achieve this purpose, the authors proposed a double-chain mediation model in this study.

Methods

Data with 342 questionnaires were collected for effective matching between employees and leaders at two time nodes. The hypotheses were validated by structural equation modeling and bootstrap approaches.

Results

Results indicate that paradoxical leadership has a significant and positive impact on employees' bootleg innovation. In addition, psychological capital and thriving at work play a partial mediating role between paradoxical leadership and employees' bootlegging behaviors respectively and a chain mediating role between the two together. Moreover, there is no significant difference among the three mediating paths.

Conclusion

The present research advances our understanding of bootleg innovation with a focus on the specific role of paradoxical leadership. Our findings, and especially those related to the role of psychological capital and thriving at work, reveal the influence mechanisms of paradoxical leadership on employees' bootleg innovation. At the same time, it is useful for understanding what leadership style can effectively stimulate employees' bootleg innovation.

The role of affect in international opportunity recognition and the formation of international opportunity beliefs

Despite the significance of individual factors in how entrepreneurs recognize international opportunities either by active search or passive discovery, prior research has typically focused on cognitive aspects overlooking affect as a critical driver of this process. Drawing upon broaden-and-build and affect-as-information theories, we explore how courage, hope, fear of failure, and anticipated regret, as stable affective dispositions, can influence entrepreneurs’ active and passive international opportunity recognition (IOR). Also, based on the mental model theory, we examine whether both processes can lead entrepreneurs to differently form opportunity desirability and feasibility beliefs to judge the opportunities recognized in the foreign market. Based on data from a sample of 172 international entrepreneurs, we find that hope and anticipated regret are positively related to active IOR. Hope and courage are positively related to passive IOR, and fear of failure and anticipated regret are negatively related to passive IOR. Moreover, active IOR better informs opportunity desirability and feasibility beliefs than passive IOR, which indeed only predicts feasibility. These findings are original and novel and thus add value to the flourishing literature on the individual-level factors that influence IOR processes and the emerging literature on how international opportunity desirability and feasibility beliefs are formed to evaluate IOs.

Core self-evaluations and project managers' competencies: the moderating role of cultural intelligence

Purpose

The study investigates the effects of core self-evaluations on project managers' competencies. The study further examines the moderating effect of cultural intelligence between core self-evaluations and competencies.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, with a descriptive-survey approach, necessary data were collected from a sample of project managers of Iran's Ministry of Communication and Information Technology through questionnaires. The conceptual framework of the study was tested according to structural equation modeling by PLS software.

Findings

Findings show that core self-evaluations have positive and significant effects on project managers' competencies among which psychological stability has the greatest effect. Furthermore, the moderating role of cultural intelligence in the relationship between core self-evaluations and project managers' competencies was confirmed. According to the calculated coefficient, motivational cultural intelligence had the greatest role.

Research limitations/implications

The data were collected using a questionnaire at a single point in time, and thus, not allowing cause–effect inferences. Also, the demographic variables were not controlled.

Practical implications

The results of this study provide some implications for HRM professionals and project managers interested in promoting a system of HR practices that contributes to enhancing project managers' competencies and effectiveness.

Originality/value

This study advances our understanding of the factors that have an effect on project managers' competencies, specifically on a list of main competencies necessary for project managers' performance. Moreover, it suggests that project managers' competencies will benefit from cultural intelligence, which will display a greater effect when embedded in highly diverse cultural contexts.

The Mediating Role of Psychological Capital between Motivational Orientations and Their Organizational Consequences

Just as we can speak of different personality traits, it is also possible to identify distinct motivational traits, which may be related to a series of organizational consequences. In this sense, understanding how these traits are related to workers performance is fundamental. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to test the mediating role of psychological capital in the relationship between such traits and organizational citizenship behaviors and counterproductive work behaviors, which is expected to be more significant in the first case. The study was carried out using a panel design, with a sample group of Spanish employees aged over 40 (n = 741), in two waves (with a 4-month interval). The results support the hypothesis that psychological capital resources may play a mediating role in some of the relationships explored and that approach orientation traits are mainly related to a better performance, fostering organizational citizenship behaviors and diminishing counterproductive work behavior. The findings show that employees who develop their personal resources may have a positive impact on their organizations. The implications of this study for counseling practices are discussed.

Hope and Creative Self-Efficacy as Sequential Mediators in the Relationship Between Family Socioeconomic Status and Creativity

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how socioeconomic status (SES) predicts individual creativity through the mediating roles of hope and creative self-efficacy (CSE). Participants were recruited from ten universities in Mainland China. Students' SES, hope, CSE, and creativity were assessed via the socioeconomic status scale, the adult hope scale, the creative self-efficacy scale, and the Runco Ideational Behavior Scale. Correlational analyses indicate that SES, creative ideation, hope, and CSE were significantly and positively associated with each other. Path analyses revealed that hope and CSE played sequential mediating roles in the link between SES and creative ideation. These findings suggest that hope and CSE underlie the effect of SES on individuals' creative ideation.

Authentic Leadership and Creativity: Moderated Meditation Model of Resilience and Hope in the Health Sector

Authentic leaders are recognized as self-aware individuals who act according to their values and beliefs in the organization. Most of the studies have acknowledged the positive impact of authentic leaders on followers. However, the characteristics of an authentic leader, such as making decisions according to his/her own belief system, might negatively affect the followers. The current study aims to investigate the relationship of authenthic leadership/leaders (AL) and creativity through the mediating role of resilience. In this study, data were collected from 172 nurses working at public hospitals using a three-wave, time-lagged study design. The findings show that authentic leadership significantly predicts hope among employees. A hopeful individual positively reflects creativity in the workplace and also mediates the relationship between authentic leadership and creativity at workplace. These results report that authentic leadership impacts hope in a positive manner; thereby, increasing the level of creativity of nurses at the workplace. The study also highlights that if a resilient nurse is supervised by an authentic leader, it decreases hope and eventually creativity at work. The paper elaborates theoretical and practical implications for the health care sector along with limitations and direction for future research.

Beliefs About Creativity Influence Creative Performance: The Mediation Effects of Flexibility and Positive Affect

This research explores potential factors that may influence the relationship between beliefs about creativity and creative performance. In Study 1, participants (N = 248) recruited from upper secondary schools in Thailand were asked to solve the Alternative Uses Task (a typical divergent thinking task) and complete a series of questionnaires concerning individual beliefs about creativity and potential factors of interest. The results of structural equation modeling reveal a mediation effect of flexibility on the relationship between self-efficacy and originality. The path from self-efficacy to flexibility was also partially mediated by positive affect. Self-efficacy was also positively correlated with task enjoyment and effort. Additionally, the growth mindset was positively associated with positive affect, while the fixed mindset was positively related to negative affect. In Study 2, participants (N = 214) were asked to solve the Insight Problems Task (a typical convergent thinking task). The results indicate that the growth mindset was positively related to task enjoyment, effort, and positive affect. The fixed mindset was negatively related to task enjoyment, effort, and creative performance. A positive relationship between the fixed mindset and negative affect was also observed. Taken together, these findings unveil some potential factors that mediate the relationships between beliefs about creativity and creative performance, which may be specific to divergent thinking tasks.

Hope in Adolescent Careers

Being hopeful is critical for individuals who are engaged in vocational pursuits. However, the empirical research examining how and why hope is related to work and career outcomes remains sparse. We evaluate a model that proposes that dispositional hope affects job performance and turnover intentions through increased work motivation in terms of autonomous goals ( reason to motivation), positive affective experience at work ( energized to motivation), and occupational self-efficacy beliefs ( can do motivation). The hypotheses were tested among 590 Swiss adolescents in vocational education and training using path analysis and multiple mediation analyses. The results revealed that hope was positively related to all three motivational states and supervisor-rated job performance and negatively related to turnover intentions. Positive affect mediated the effects of hope on turnover intentions and performance. Autonomous goals mediated the effects of hope on turnover intentions. These results support the importance of hope to employee well-being and organizational outcomes.