What is Psychological Capital?
Psychological capital (PsyCap) is a theory in ‘positive organisational behaviour’ (POB) which focuses on developing the person for them to reach their full potential in order to increase performance and wellbeing in organisations (Luthans, Luthans, & Luthans, 2004). PsyCap is believed to be a combination of four key resources that are outlined in the HERO model (Luthans & Youssef-Morgan, 2017). These psychological resources are hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism. They are considered to be ‘state-like’, which means they can change and be developed with interventions, rather than being traits that are seen as fixed (Luthans, Avolio, & Youssef, 2007). PsyCap is a combination of having high levels of each resource and that together they are believed to have a greater impact on performance and wellbeing than each resource would alone (Luthans et al., 2007).
The first of the HERO model resources is hope and can be described as a cognitive process, linking goals, pathways (options to succeed) and agency (belief that one can control the outcome). Efficacy is often described as confidence and arises from past positive experiences and modelling others who are successful. Resilience is an internal resource allowing individuals to ‘bounce back’ or cope when they find themselves in challenging or difficult situations. The final resource in the HERO model is optimism where there is either an unwavering believe that things will work out (Carver, Scheier, & Segerstrom, 2010) or people can learn to develop realistic optimism.
Research has shown that individuals high in PsyCap are more engaged, more motivated, perform better in their jobs and have lower levels of absenteeism and mental health problems (Luthans et al., 2007). In addition, because PsyCap is considered to be ‘state-like’, extensive research has been conducted on delivering interventions to increase it and had successful results (Guangyi & Shanshan, 2016; Luthans, Avey, Avolio, Norman, & Combs, 2006). Our Wellbeing Ambassador Programme™ incorporates PsyCap as a core component of the training. Learning what PsyCap means is only the first stage, learning to develop it and support those around you to do the same is where we see real thriving in organisations.
References
Carver, C. S., Scheier, M. F., & Segerstrom, S. C. (2010). Optimism. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 879–889. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.01.006
Guangyi, L. I., & Shanshan, Y. A. N. (2016). Research on psychological capital intervention strategy of enterprise employees, 12(4), 46–50. https://doi.org/10.3968/8326
Luthans, F., Avey, J. B., Avolio, B. J., Norman, S. M., & Combs, G. M. (2006). Psychological capital development toward a micro intervention. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27, 387–393.
Luthans, F., Avolio, B. J., & Youssef, C. M. (2007). Psychological capital: Developing the human competitive edge. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195187526.001.0001
Luthans, F., Luthans, K. W., & Luthans, B. C. (2004). Positive psychological capital: Beyond human and social capital. Business Horizons, 47(1), 45–50. https://doi.org/10.1080/03091928608245897
Luthans, F., & Youssef-Morgan, C. M. (2017). Psychological capital: An evidence-based positive approach. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, (April). https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032516-113324