Investigating the role of harnessing the psychological capital of leader in developing the psychological capital of employees: The moderating role of employees’ perception of transformational leadership

Document Type : Research/Original/Regular

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Faculty of Economic, Management & Administrative Sciences, University of Semnan, Iran

2 Ph.D. Student of Public Administration, Farabi Campus, University of Tehran, Iran

3 Ph.D. Student of Business Management, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, IranIran

Abstract

How psychological capital (PsyCap) can be developed in organizations, is the left side of PsyCap studies. A conceptual model of developing PsyCap of employees by harnessing the PsyCap of leader has been developed in this article that Employees’ Perception of Transformational Leadership (EPTL) plays a moderator role in this model. Because of key role of EPTL in this model, 33 start-ups or changing organizations in Tehran, Alborz, Isfahan, and Azerbayjan Gharbi were studied, and questionnaires have distributed among 142 managers and 573 employees. The results of structural equations modeling (SEM) verified the relation of EPTL and developing the PsyCap of themselves. Considering to the results of this study, some implications and practical guides to the managers who want to develop PsyCap in their organizations will be offered.

Keywords

Main Subjects


  1. Avey, J. B. (2014). The left side of psychological capital: new evidence on the antecedents of psycap. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 21(2), 141-149.
  2. Avey, J. B., Reichard, R., Luthans, F., & Mhatre, K. (2011). Meta-analysis of the impact of positive psychological capital on employee attitudes, behaviors and performance. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 22, 127-152.
  3. Avolio, B. J. (1999). Full leadership development: Building the vital forces in organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  4. Bandura, A. (2000). Cultivate self-efficacy for personal and organizational effectiveness. In E. A. Locke (Ed.), The Blackwell handbook of principles of organizational behavior (pp. 120- 136). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
  5. Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Free Press.
  6. Bass, B. M. (1990). Handbook of leadership (3rd ed.). New York: Free Press.
  7. Bass, B. M. (1998). Transformational leadership: Industry, military, and education impact. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  8. Bass, B. M.,Avolio, B. J., Jung, D. I., & Berson,Y. (2003). Predicting unit performance by assessing transformational and transactional leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88: 207-218.
  9. Brissette, I., Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (2002). The role of optimism in social network development, coping, and psychological adjustment during a life transition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82: 102-111.
  10. Carver, C., & Scheier, M. (2002). Optimism. In C. R. Snyder & S. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology: 231-243. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
  11. Conger, J. A., & Kanungo, R. (1987). Toward a behavioral theory of charismatic leadership in organizational settings. Academy of Management Review, 12: 637-647.
  12. Eisenbach, R., Watson, K., & Pillai, R. (1999). Transformational Leadership in the context of organizational change. Journal of Organizational Change, 12(2), 80-88.
  13. Feldman, B. L., & Gross, J. (2001). Emotional intelligence: A process model of emotion representation and regulation. In T. J. Mayne & G. A. Bonnano (Eds.), Emotions: Current issues and future directions: 286-310. New York: Guilford.
  14. Fitzgerald, T. E., Tennen, H., Affleck, G., & Pransky, G. S. (1993). The relative importance of dispositional optimism and control appraisals in quality of life after coronary artery bypass surgery. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 16: 25-43.
  15. Gooty, J., Galvin, M., Johnson, P., Frazier, M., & Snow, D. (2009). In the eyes of the beholder: transformational leadership, positive psychological capital, and performance. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 15, 353-367.
  16. Helland, M., & Winston, B. (2005). Towards a deeper understanding of hope and leadership. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 12(2), 42-54.
  17. Law, K. S., Wong, C., & Mobley, W. H. (1998). Toward a taxonomy of multidimensional constructs. Academy of Management Review, 23, 741-755.
  18. Luthans, F. (2002). Positive organizational behavior: Developing and managing psychological strengths. Academy of Management Executive, 16, 57-72.
  19. Luthans, F., Avolio, B., Avey, J. B., & Norman, S. M. (2007). Psychological capital: Measurement and relationship with performance and job satisfaction. Personnel Psychology, 60, 541–572.
  20. Luthans, F., Vogelgesang, G., & Lester, P. (2006). Developing the psychological capital of resiliency. Human Resource Development Review, 5(1), 25-44.
  21. Luthans, F., & Youssef, C. M. (2004). Human, social and now positive psychological capital management: Investing in people for competitive advantage. Organizational Dynamics33(2), 143–160.
  22. Luthans, F., & Youssef, C. M. (2007). Emerging positive organizational behavior. Journal of Management, 33: 321-349.
  23. Luthans, F., Youssef, C. M., & Avolio, B. J. (2007). Psychologicalcapital. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
  24. Masten, A. S. (2001). Ordinary magic: Resilience processes in development. American Psychologist, 56: 227-239.
  25. Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, D. F. (1995). An integrative view of organizational trust. Academy of Management Review, 20: 709-734.
  26. Norman, S., Luthans, B., & Luthans, K. (2005). The proposed contagion effect of hopeful leaders on the resiliency of employees and organizations. Journal of Leadership and Organization Studies, 12(2), 55-64.
  27. Peterson, S., Walumbwa, F., Byron, K., & Myrowitz, J. (2009). CEO positive traits, transformational leadership, and firm performance in high-technology start-up and established firms. Journal of Management, 35 (2), 348-368.
  28. Peterson, S. J., & Byron, K. (2007). Exploring the role of hope in job performance: Results from four studies. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 28, 785–803.
  29. Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1985). Optimism, coping, and health: Assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies. Health Psychology, 4: 219-247.
  30. Segerstrom, S. C., Taylor, S. E., Kemeny, M. E., & Fahey, J. L. (1998). Optimism is associated with mood, coping, and immune change in response to stress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74: 1646-1655.
  31. Seligman, M. E. P. (1998). Learned optimism. New York, NY: Pocket Books.
  32. Snyder, C. R. (2000). Handbook of hope: Theory, measures and applications. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
  33. Snyder, C. R., Harris, C., Anderson, J. R., Holleran, S. A., Irving. L. M., Sigmon, S. T., Yoshinobu, L., Gibb, J., Langelle, C., & Harney, P. (1991). The will and the ways: Development and validation of an individual differences measure of hope. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 570-585.
  34. Snyder, C. R., & Shorey, H. (2003). Hope and leadership. In K. Christensen (Ed.), Encyclopedia of leadership. Harrison, NY: Berkshire.
  35. Stajkovic, A., & Luthans, F. (1998). Self-efficacy and workrelated performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 240-261.
  36. Waldman, D. A., Ramirez, G. G., House, R. J., & Puranam, P. (2001). Does leadership matter? CEO leadership attributes and profitability under conditions of perceived environmental uncertainty. Academy of Management Journal, 44: 134-143.
  37. Wenglert, L., & Rosen, A. (1995). Optimism, self-esteem, mood and subjective health. Personality and Individual Differences, 18: 653-661.
  38. Werner, E., & Smith, R. S. (1992). Overcoming the odds: High risk children from birth to adulthood. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University.
  39. Youssef-Morgan, C. (2014). Advancing OB research: an illustration using psychological capital. Journal of Leadership and Organization Studies, 21(2), 130-140.