Can Positive Employees Help Postive Organizational Change? Impact of Psychological Capital and Emotions on Relevant Attitudes and Behaviors

Although much attention has been devoted to understanding employee resistance to change, relatively little research examines the impact that positive employees can have on organizational change. To help fill this need, the authors investigate whether a process of employees' positivity will have an impact on relevant attitudes and behaviors. Specifically, this study surveyed 132 employees from a broad cross-section of organizations and jobs and found: (a) Their psychological capital (a core factor consisting of hope, efficacy, optimism, and resilience) was related to their positive emotions that in turn were related to their attitudes (engagement and cynicism) and behaviors (organizational citizenship and deviance) relevant to organizational change; (b) mindfulness (i.e., heightened awareness) interacted with psychological capital in predicting positive emotions; and (c) positive emotions generally mediated the relationship between psychological capital and the attitudes and behaviors. The implications these findings have for positive organizational change conclude the article.

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	Luthans, Fred University Professor and George Holmes Distinguished Professor of Management Expertise: Organizational Behavior International Management Leadership Management CBA 271 P.O. Box 880491 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE 68588-0491, USA Phone: (402) 472-2324 Fax: (402) 472-5855 fluthans1@unl.edu	Luthans, Fred	Management