Well Being and Job Satisfaction - Research Paper Example

Assignment One: Developing Ideas Name: Due Date: Student Number: Submission Date: Title: DECLARATION: I hold a copy of this assignment that I can produce if the original is lost or damaged. I hereby certify that no part of this assignment or product has been copied from any other student’s work or from any other source except where due acknowledgement is made in the assignment. No part of this assignment/product has been written/produced for me by any other person except where such collaboration has been authorised by the subject lecturer/tutor concerned.   .........................................   Note: An examiner or lecturer/tutor has the right not to mark this assignment if the above declaration has not been filled in.   Research appraisal Question: Do happy people display superior professional performance at workplace? Hypothesis – if appropriate: There exists no relationship between happiness and workplace success. Rationale: Various research studies have suggested that individuals who are happy and content are comparatively more successful in their professional life. For an instance relationship between state of happiness has been evaluated vis-à-vis earning (Diener & Biswas-Diener, 2002), complimentary appraisal by seniors (Cropanzano & Wright, 1999) and supportive gesture from colleagues (George, 1991). Most of these studies have indicated that achievement of these pointers of accomplishment in the professional life makes anyone contented. A person can be said to be happy if he or she frequently experiences the positive emotions like enjoyment, fulfillment, gratification, passion and curiosity etc. Research has suggested that experiencing frequent positive emotions having low to moderate intensity can be attributed as the indicator of state of happiness (Diener, Sandvik, & Pavot, 1991). Further, studies have indicated that experience of positive emotions by any individual is associated with his or her approach-oriented behavior (Elliot & Thrash, 2002). This means that individual in a state of happiness is more likely to get into benefitial situations, constructively network with others and is more determined to set new goals (Carver, 2003). Being happy while experiencing positive emotions also indicates that the individual does not perceive any threat (Carver & Scheier, 1998). In such situations, where not apparent thereat exists, the secure and relaxed ambience allows the individual to put up and widen academic, collective, and corporal resources. These accrued resources can be called at appropriate time whenever needed (Fredrickson, 2001). Equipped with these obtained resources and determined to chase new goals, individuals who experience positive emotions are also well equipped to achieve professional success. In a nutshell, it can be inferred that happy individuals are well placed to enjoy professional success at the workplace as compared to those individuals who rarely experience positive emotions and are not happy. Studies have also suggested that the link between being happy and better job performance is evident across various professional environment (Wright & Cropanzano, 2000). Better professional performance by happy individuals is not restricted to jobs prescribed by hierarchy position. The experience of positive emotions supports conduct that stretch beyond ones job description and in turn benefits colleagues or the business itself (Lee & Allen, 2002). Aims and Objectives: Aim: 1. To determine whether happy people display superior professional performance at workplace Objectives: 1. To define state of happiness for any individual 2. To define professional success at workplace 3. To establish relationship between being happy and being professionally successful at workplace. References: Carver, C. S. 2003, Pleasure as a sign you can attend to something else: Placing positive feelings within a general model of affect, Cognition and Emotion, 17, 241-261. Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. 1998, On the self-regulation of behavior, New York Cambridge University Press. Cropanzano, R., & Wright, T. A. 1999, A 5-year study of change in the relationship between wellbeing and job performance, Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 51, 252-265. Diener, E., & Biswas-Diener, R. 2002, Will money increase subjective well-being? A literature review and guide to needed research, Social Indicators Research, 57, 119-169. Diener, E., Sandvik, E., & Pavot, W. 1991, Happiness is the frequency, not the intensity, of positive versus negative effect, In F. Strack, M. Argyle, & N. Schwartz (Eds.), Subjective well-being: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 119-139). Oxford, UK: Pergamon. Elliot, A. J., & Thrash, T. M. 2002, Approach-avoidance motivation in personality: Approach and avoidance temperaments and goals, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 804-818. Fredrickson, B. L. 2001, The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and build theory of positive emotions, American Psychologist, 56, 218-226. George, J. M. 1991, State or trait: Effects of positive mood on prosocial behaviors at work, Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 299-307. Lee, K., & Allen, N. J. 2002, Organizational citizenship behavior and workplace deviance: The role of affect and cognitions, Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 131-142. Wright, T. A., & Cropanzano, R. 2000, Psychological well-being and job satisfaction as predictors of job performance, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5, 84-94. Annotated Resource #1 Full Harvard Reference: Carver, C. S. 2003, Pleasure as a sign you can attend to something else: Placing positive feelings within a general model of affect, Cognition and Emotion, 17, 241-261. Brief comment on Author’s background/ bias/ credibility: Charles S Carver is a Distinguished Professor in the department of Psychology in the College of Arts & Science at the University of Miami. Most of his work has been related to the area of ‘Self Regulation’. He has done extensive research for examining the personality dimension of optimism versus pessimism. Brief comment on the nature of the intended audience: This book is aimed at researchers and graduate students, primarily in personality-social psychology, but with  application in health, clinical-counseling, organizational, and motivational psychology Brief summary: This study deals with positive feelings which represent a sign that things are going better than necessary and are presumed to induce coasting. A tendency to coast is seen as facilitating the shift of attention and effort to other behavioral domains, where they may be needed more or where unforeseen opportunities have arisen. The author, here has made comparisons to other recently developed ideas concerning the functions of positive feelings. Critical evaluation: Author has adopted an objective approach towards the issue dealt in this issue. He has proposed a model which treats ‘affect’ as reflecting the error signal of a feedback loop managing rate of incentive-seeking (and threat-avoidant) behavior. The article is clear and well written. Notes on relevance to your study: This article provided a sound basis and background for understanding the signs of being happy. It also helps in understanding recent research done in the area concerned with the proposed study. Annotated Resource # 2 Full Harvard Reference: Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. 1998, On the self-regulation of behavior, New York Cambridge University Press. Brief comment on Author’s background/ bias/ credibility: Charles S Carver is a Distinguished Professor in the department of Psychology in the College of Arts & Science at the University of Miami. Most of his work has been related to the area of ‘Self Regulation’. He has done extensive research for examining the personality dimension of optimism versus pessimism. Michael E Scheier is Professor and Head of the department of Psychology at the Carnegie Mellon University. Being a Social and personality psychologists have always had an interest in understanding human motivation. He has tended to approach the research domain from the perspective of personality psychology Brief comment on the nature of the intended audience: This book is aimed at researchers and graduate students, primarily in personality-social psychology, but with  application in health, clinical-counseling, organizational, and motivational psychology Brief summary: This book is a well written description of a viewpoint on human behavior. It sees all human behavior as aimed towards attaining goals. A wide variety of topics are treated—ranging from goals, to emotion, to persistence and giving up, to living and dying.  Both adaptive behavior and problems in behavior are examined in this book. Critical evaluation: The book starts with very basic concepts and comes up to speed in several different domains very quickly, as it assumes no prior technical knowledge or even knowledge of the research areas it addresses.  It does, however, also incorporate information and discussions that will feel new and different even to people who have had extensive background in these areas. The book is well articulated. Notes on relevance to your study: The overview of the model of human functioning which is regulated by feedback control processes would help understanding the impact of state of happiness on the performance at workplace. Annotated Resource #3 Full Harvard Reference: Cropanzano, R., & Wright, T. A. 1999, A 5-year study of change in the relationship between wellbeing and job performance, Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 51, 252-265. Brief comment on Author’s background/ bias/ credibility: Russell S. Cropanzano is a member of faculty in department of Management and Policy at University of Arizona and is also a fellow member of Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. His forte of research has been Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Thomas A. Wright is a Professor of Organizational Behaviour in the department of Social Psychology at the University of Nevada. His research has focused on business ethics, employee commitment in organizations, turnover, job burnout, affect and emotion, creativity, whistle-blowing and the role of time in organizational research. Brief comment on the nature of the intended audience: This article is mainly intended for reading by academic community but with application in field of Organisational Behaviour. Brief summary: This cross sectional research has established a link between psychological well-being and job performance ratings. This link was investigated through a 5-year longitudinal study. It was found that the well-being–performance relationship is influenced by the interval between assessment of well-being and assessment of performance. Critical evaluation: The investigation done by this research suggests that organizations can improve their overall effectiveness by increasing worker well-being, but it provide little guidance as how these increases can be achieved. Notes on relevance to your study: It will help to understand the ways to carry out longitudinal study to establish the cause and effect relationship between being happy and performance at the workplace. Annotated Resource #4 Full Harvard Reference: Diener, E., & Biswas-Diener, R. 2002, Will money increase subjective well-being? A literature review and guide to needed research, Social Indicators Research, 57, 119-169. Brief comment on Author’s background/ bias/ credibility: The authors of this article are a father son duo. Both of them are a positive psychologist. Their research focus on income and happiness, culture and happiness, positive psychology, strengths and positive psychology coaching. Dr. Biswas Diener is often known as Indiana Jones of Positive Psychology. Brief comment on the nature of the intended audience: This paper was presented at the Workshop on “Measuring Empowerment: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives” held at the World Bank in Washington, DC on February 4 and 5, 2003.This article is mainly intended for reading by academic community and also can be of great interest to economists. Brief summary: The research has investigated and found correlation between income and subjective well-being. It has taken into consideration, the financial condition of the subject under study and also the background to which it hails. It has found varying degree of correlation in different conditions. Critical evaluation: This research has endeavoured to investigate the link between income and subjective well being across the economic strata of people and across different backgrounds. A fundamental finding is that for middle and upper-income people in economically developed nations, acquiring more income is not likely to strongly enhance subjective well being. Notes on relevance to your study: This research will help in understanding the varying degree of correlation in context of different background and will also help in avoiding the generalisation of the outcome of the proposed study. Annotated Resource #5 Full Harvard Reference: Diener, E., Sandvik, E., & Pavot, W. 1991, Happiness is the frequency, not the intensity, of positive versus negative effect, In F. Strack, M. Argyle, & N. Schwartz (Eds.), Subjective well-being: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 119-139). Oxford, UK: Pergamon. Brief comment on Author’s background/ bias/ credibility: Ed. Diener is a positive psychologist. His research focus on temperament and personality influences on well-being; theories of well-being; income and well-being; and cultural influences on well-being. Professor Diener is listed as one of the most highly cited psychologists by the Institute of Scientific Information, with over 12,000 citations to his credit. Other two authors also have published articles on other similar areas of study, but all come under the banner of physiology and psychology. Brief comment on the nature of the intended audience: This article is mainly intended for reading by academic community. Brief summary: The research has highlighted the subjective well being from the perspective of its frequency and intensity. It has come out with a finding that being happy is associated with frequency rather than the intensity. Critical evaluation: This is a very objective study carried out in a very structured way to lay down the effect of frequency and intensity on the subjective well being. It is a well articulated study. Notes on relevance to your study: This research would help in defining the state of happiness from the context of the aims set for the proposed study. Annotated Resource #6 Full Harvard Reference: Elliot, A. J., & Thrash, T. M. 2002, Approach-avoidance motivation in personality: Approach and avoidance temperaments and goals, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 804-818. Brief comment on Author’s background/ bias/ credibility: Andrew Elliot is a motivational theorist whose research is grounded in the fundamental distinction between approach and avoidance motivation. Both the authors have published articles on similar areas of study, but all come under the banner of physiology and psychology. Brief comment on the nature of the intended audience: This article is mainly intended for reading by academic community. Brief summary: This research investigated the role of approach and avoidance motivation in different models of personality. It examined the hypothesis that approach and avoidance temperaments represent the foundation of several basic dimensions advocated in the trait adjective like affective temperament, and motivational system approaches to personality. Critical evaluation: The study has taken the approach of factor analysis in order to evaluate the proposed hypothesis. The two factor structure adopted in the study was shown to be independent of response biases As an outcome both approach and avoidance temperaments were shown to be systematically linked to achievement goals. Notes on relevance to your study: Though, this is not directly related to the proposed study, however, this research will help to understand the effect of different kinds of personalities on the relationship between happiness and workplace performance. Annotated Resource #7 Full Harvard Reference: Fredrickson, B. L. 2001, The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and build theory of positive emotions, American Psychologist, 56, 218-226. Brief comment on Author’s background/ bias/ credibility: Barbara Fredrickson is a distinguished professor at the University of North Carolina. She is a leading scholar within social psychology, affective science, and positive psychology, and her research and teaching have been recognized with numerous honours, including the American Psychological Assocation's Templeton Prize in Positive Psychology. Brief comment on the nature of the intended audience: This article is mainly intended for reading by academic community. Brief summary: The broaden-and-build theory posits that experience of positive emotions broaden people's momentary thought–action repertoires, which in turn serves to build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and psychological resources. Critical evaluation: The author describes a new theoretical perspective on positive emotions and situates this in perspective within the emerging field of positive psychology. Preliminary empirical evidence supporting the broaden-and-build theory is reviewed, and open empirical questions that remain to be tested are identified. The theory and findings suggest that the capacity to experience positive emotions may be a fundamental human strength central to the study of human flourishing. Notes on relevance to your study: This study would help in understanding the immediate and long term effect of the positive emotions on the workplace performance. Annotated Resource #8 Full Harvard Reference: George, J. M. 1991, State or trait: Effects of positive mood on prosocial behaviors at work, Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 299-307. Brief comment on Author’s background/ bias/ credibility: Jennifer M. George is a professor of Psychology at Rice University. Her research focus is in the field of Complexities of People and Organizations, Organizational Behaviour, Creativity and Innovation. She is also a fellow member Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Brief comment on the nature of the intended audience: This article is mainly intended for reading by academic community. Brief summary: In this research, positive mood at work (as an affective state) was hypothesized to be significantly and positively associated with the performance of both extra role and role-prescribed prosocial organizational behaviours. Moreover, positive mood was hypothesized to have effects on prosocial behaviour above and beyond the effects of fairness cognitions. Conversely, positive mood as a trait (i.e., positive affectivity) was expected to be unrelated to either form of prosocial behaviour. Finally, the form of role-prescribed prosocial behaviour investigated, customer-service behaviour or helpful behaviour directed at customers, was hypothesized to be positively associated with sales performance. Critical evaluation: All the aforesaid hypotheses were tested with a sample of 221 salespeople. All of the hypotheses were supported. Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed. This is a well articulated and systematic research. Notes on relevance to your study: This research is in direct accordance with the alternate hypothesis of the proposed study. It will help in understanding the effect of positive mood or state of being happy on the professional performance. Annotated Resource #9 Full Harvard Reference: Lee, K., & Allen, N. J. 2002, Organizational citizenship behavior and workplace deviance: The role of affect and cognitions, Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 131-142. Brief comment on Author’s background/ bias/ credibility: Both have published articles on other similar areas of study, but all come under the banner of physiology and psychology. Brief comment on the nature of the intended audience: This article is mainly intended for reading by academic community especially for those involved in the field of Organisational Behaviour. Brief summary: This meticulous research investigates the role of affect and cognitions in predicting organizational citizenship behaviour and workplace deviance behaviour. Critical evaluation: This research needs high level of prior understanding of the background so as to appreciate the outcomes. For this study data were collected from 149 registered nurses and their co-workers. Job affect was associated more strongly than were job cognitions with organizational citizenship behaviour directed at individuals, whereas job cognitions correlated more strongly than did job affect with organizational citizenship behaviour directed at the organization. Notes on relevance to your study: This not directly related to the proposed study but would help in understanding of the other organisational factors which would have effect on the relationship of well being and workplace performance. Annotated Resource #10 Full Harvard Reference: Wright, T. A., & Cropanzano, R. 2000, Psychological well-being and job satisfaction as predictors of job performance, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5, 84-94. Brief comment on Author’s background/ bias/ credibility: Thomas A. Wright is a Professor of Organizational Behaviour in the department of Social Psychology at the University of Nevada. His research has focused on business ethics, employee commitment in organizations, turnover, job burnout, affect and emotion, creativity, whistle-blowing and the role of time in organizational research. Russell S. Cropanzano is a member of faculty in department of Management and Policy at University of Arizona and is also a fellow member of Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. His forte of research has been Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Brief comment on the nature of the intended audience: This article is mainly intended for reading by academic community but with application in field of Organisational Behaviour. Brief summary: This research has investigated the effect of both the state of well being and job satisfaction on the job performance. In fact this study has inserted one more factor which has the effect on the job performance. The happy-productive worker hypothesis has most often been examined in organizational research by correlating job satisfaction to performance. Recent research has expanded this to include measures of psychological well-being. Critical evaluation: The authors report 2 field studies that, taken together, provide an opportunity to simultaneously examine the relative contribution of psychological well-being and job satisfaction to job performance. In Study 1, psychological well-being, but not job satisfaction, was predictive of job performance for 47 human services workers. These findings were replicated in Study 2 for 37 juvenile probation officers. These findings are discussed in terms of research on the happy-productive worker hypothesis. Notes on relevance to your study: The research would help to understand the factors apart from well being, which would affect the job performance. This can then be used to ring fence the factors involved in the proposed study. Read More