ARTICLE INFO

Article Type

Descriptive & Survey Study

Authors

Gharibi   M. (*)
Jamali Ghomi   A. (1 )
Izadi   B. (2 )






(*) Public Administration Department , Management & Accounting Faculty, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
(1 ) Public Administration Department, Management & Accounting Faculty, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
(2 ) Public Administration Department, Management Faculty, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran

Correspondence

Article History

Received:  October  30, 2016
Accepted:  January 31, 2017
ePublished:  April 24, 2017

BRIEF TEXT


… [1-6].The level of psychological well-being of an individual determines the extent to which he achieves his success in life and work [7]. … [8]. Many factors affect the psychological well-being of individuals. Some of these factors, such as job burnout [9], addiction to work [10], job insecurity [11], occupational stress [12], high labor demand [13], and complexity and job independence [14] have negative impact on psychological well-being of a person, and some factors such as organizational commitment [15], job engagement [10], psychological capital [7], transformational leadership, trust and self-efficacy [16] have a positive effect on psychological well-being.

Luthanz believes that psychological well-being is primarily influenced by individual factors, which in turn emphasizes the positive role of psychological capital in improving psychological well-being. In his view, psychological capital is a hybrid instrument that integrates four cognitive-perceptive components, namely, hope, optimism, self-efficacy and resilience [17]. These components, in an interactive and evaluate process, have given meaning to one's life [18], keep the person's effort to change the stressful situations, prepare him to enter the stage of action [19], and guarantee his resistance and hardiness to fulfill the goals. Corrid et al., therefore, acknowledge that these four sources in one system mutually reinforce each other and form a pressure-resistant shield. Hence, they have emphasized the impact of these resources in tense situations [20]. … [21]. Anderson defines organizational cynicism as a general and specific attitude that consists of disappointment, frustration, negative emotions and unreliability toward the organization [22].

The purpose of this study was to determine the role of mediators of job burnout and organizational cynicism in the relation between psychological capital and psychological well-being of the veterans.

This descriptive correlational study is applied in terms of purpose.

In 2016, this study was conducted among all the veterans who were working in governmental offices of Tehran.

The sample size was estimated 384. Sampling method was also non-probable and convenience method.

Data was collected using following scales: A) Luthans et al. Psychological Capital Scale: Luthans et al., in the confirmatory factor analysis performed on this scale, reported chi-square to degree of freedom ratio, CFI (Comparative Fit Index), and RMSEA (Root Mean Square Error Approximation) indices in this model 46.2, 0.97 and 0.08 respectively which indicates the appropriate fitness of their model and its constructive validity. … [23-24]. B) Ryff Psychological Well-being Scale: Lindfors et al. have reported the range of internal consistency coefficient for various dimensions of the ryff scale between 0.65 and 0.70 [5]. Cronbach's alpha coefficients obtained for this scale in a research conducted by Ryff were 0.93, 0.91, 0.86, 0.90, 0.90 and 0.87 for the subscales of self-acceptance, positive relationship with others, autonomy, environmental domination, purposefulness in life, and personal growth respectively [25]. … [26]. C) Maslach Job Burnout Inventory: This is the most commonly used tool for measuring occupational burnout among people with different occupational and professional backgrounds. In Badri’s research, the obtained alpha coefficients for the subscales of emotional fatigue, personality depletion, and individual inefficiency have been 0.84, 0.75, and 0.74 respectively [27]. Also, akbari et al. confirmed the validity of this scale [28]. D) Dean et al. Organizational Cynicism Scale: This questionnaire has been used in internal and foreign research. Dean et al. calculated the factor loads for the questionnaire from 0.63 to 0.81. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the above dimensions were reported to be 0.86, 0.80, and 0.78 respectively [29]. Data was analyzed using LISREL8.8 software.

Most of the respondents were married, had bachelor degree and job experience between 11 and 20 years (Table 1). Psychological capital (2.89±0.35) had positive and meaningful correlation with psychological well-being (2.81±0.61), and it had negative and meaningful correlation with job burnout (3.29±1.01) and organizational cynicism (3.35±0.93). Also, organizational cynicism and occupational burnout had negative and meaningful relationship with psychological well-being (p<0.01; Table 2). Based on the results of path analysis, the direct effect of psychological capital on psychological well-being was 0.87 and the indirect effect with the mediating role of burnout and organizational cynicism was equal to 0.5. Also, psychological capital had negative and meaningful effect on the occupational burnout and organizational cynicism. Therefore, it can be concluded that psychological capital has positive effect on psychological well-being through its negative impact on job burnout and organizational cynicism (Figure 1).

Psychological capital, in addition to direct impact on reducing burnout, can reduce job burnout as well by increasing job satisfaction and empowering employees. The feeling of self-efficacy helps individuals to use their skills to deal with problems appropriately and to create or increase their individual success. The results of the research show that employees with higher job satisfaction are in a good condition in terms of physical fitness and mental ability. The results obtained in this study are consistent with the results of the Scalwick and Scalwick [30] and Asghari [31] studies.

Based on the results, it is suggested that, if possible, the physical or psychological conditions be changed, and employees be encouraged to refrain from accepting responsibilities beyond their power. Also, various programs should be used to improve physical condition of the staff.

Among the research limitations is the lack of control of other variables that affect the burnout, and psychological well-being of individuals. Also, the use of tools such as questionnaire to measure the psychological well-being of employees, despite the correct use of it, does not provide accurate results on the psychological well-being of individuals.

Psychological capital, through reducing occupational burnout and organizational cynicism, leads to an increase in the psychological well-being of veterans.

We appreciate all the respectful veterans who helped us with this research.

Non-declared

Participants were assured that the information gathered from them would be remained confidential and participation in this study would not have any potential harm to them.

Funding for this research has been provided by the authors.

TABLES and CHARTS

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