ARTICLE INFO

Article Type

Descriptive & Survey Study

Authors

Vazife   Z. (1)
Saadatyar   F.S. (*)






(*) Department of Management, Faculty of Management and Economics, Sistan and Baluchestan University, Zahedan, Iran
(1) Department of Management, Faculty of Management and Economics, Sistan and Baluchestan University, Zahedan, Iran

Correspondence

Address: Faculty of Management and Economics, Sistan and Baluchestan University, University Boulevard, Zahedan, Iran. Post Code: 98167-45845
Phone: +980 (51) 38528135
Fax: +98 (51) 33443385
saadatyarf@pgs.usb.ac.ir

Article History

Received:  October  29, 2016
Accepted:  May 24, 2017
ePublished:  June 3, 2018

BRIEF TEXT


… [1, 2]. Positive feelings can increase the understanding of employees from the meaning of work which increases their efficiency in the long term [1, 3]. … [4-14].

Seyed Javadin et al. [15] have studied the effect of happiness on the administrative health of Bank Mellat staffs in Tehran, Iran, by mediating the quality of working life. Najari et al. [16] have shown that participation in group decision-making has directly and indirectly a positive and significant effect on creating a happy organization through the mediator variable of organizational trust. Bagheri [17] studies the relationship between happiness and performance of employees in Shahrud University of Medical Sciences. The results of his study shows that happiness has a direct correlation with organizational performance. Gholipoor et al. [18] study the effect of ethics institutionalization on the happiness of employees in Saipa Gam Corporation. Rostami et al. [19] study the relationship between empowerment and job performance among the employees of North Khorasan Province Red Crescent. Peauke et al. [20] study the mental health and happiness of employees as the factor attracting the tourist. Ki Yuen and Ling Chu study the relationship between job happiness and employee efficiency in Hong Kong [21]. … [22].

The present study aimed at comparing the effect of psychological empowerment on happiness based on organizational and demographic characteristics.

This study is of descriptive-correlational type.

This study was conducted among all officers (sub-lieutenant and senior officers) of Zahedan, Iran, during the first six months of 2016.

The sample size in this study was 248 subjects by using the Morgan table for a 700-subject population. The samples were selected randomly from the personnel code list.

The Spreitzer Psychological Empowerment Questionnaire and Oxford Happiness Test were used for data collection. The content validity of the questionnaires was reviewed generally by using the opinions of university professors. The final questionnaire with the new edition was distributed among the participants. The participants were asked to help the researchers with their maximum cooperation and accuracy and the answers were kept confidential. Finally, after collecting 40 questionnaires, the reliability of psychological empowerment questionnaire was obtained by using the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.742 and happiness questionnaire of 0.911. In order to determine the correlation coefficient, the Spearman correlation coefficient was used. The effect of psychological empowerment on happiness was obtained by regression test, the effect of psychological empowerment as independent variable on happiness on dependent variable was obtained by using the stepwise regression test and the relationship between demographic characteristics and parameters was found by using the Mann-Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests. All calculations were conducted in form of SPSS 17 software.

The correlation coefficient obtained from the Spearman correlation text between psychological empowerment and happiness of police officers that was equal to 0.715 with significance level of P=0.0001, the correlation of these two parameters was confirmed. In addition, all five dimensions of psychological empowerment had a significant correlation with the happiness of police officers at P=0.0001 level. The sense of trust with correlation coefficient of 0.603 had the maximum priority in affecting the happiness of officers and then the sense of efficacy (0.585), independence (0.556), significance (0.510), and competence (0.445) had the next priorities. By performing the Regression test, the effect of independent variable (psychological empowerment) on the dependent variable (happiness) was determined (P=0.0001; β =0.707; t=16.69). in the multiple linear regression test by stepwise method and considering the components of psychological empowerment as the available variable and happiness as the criterion variable, it was found that 39.4% of the variance related to happiness was explained by trust (P=0.0001; F=159.742), 45.9% by the component of efficacy (P=0.0001; F=103.745), 49.6% by independence (P=0.0001; F=80.067), 52.1% by significance (P=0.0001; F=66.007), and 52.8% by competence (P=0.0001; F=54.230). Mann-Whitney test showed that the average rating in psychological empowerment for line and staff officers was 216.68 and 314.97 while it was 218.40 and 313.7 in happiness for line and staff officers. Thus, in this research sample, the level of empowerment and happiness was higher in staff employees (P=0.0001). By using the same test, the relationship between the job levels and these two parameters was studied and found that happiness and psychological empowerment in managers was significantly higher than non-managers. The average rating of managers in psychological empowerment and happiness was 343.22 and 331.60 and in non-managers was 252.64 and 256.22 (P=0.0001). The Kruskal–Wallis test showed no significant difference between the different classes of years of service in terms of psychological empowerment (P=0.973; χ2 =0.504) and happiness (P=0.931, χ2 =0.858). In addition, no significant difference was observed in different educational levels in terms of psychological empowerment (P=0.1; χ2 =6.246) and happiness (P=0.052; χ2 =7.727).

This study was consistent with the studies of Ki Yuen and Ling Chu indicating that except the increase of salary, the factors such as the relationship between employee and employer, awareness of promotion opportunities by the employee, and training increase the happiness in employees [21]. No similar study examines the relationship between psychological empowerment and happiness yet and this factor was the significance of the above-mentioned study. Najari and Maarefi show that the participation of employees has a direct and significant effect on creating a happy organization that is consistent with the above-mentioned study. In addition, Bagheri [17] in his study shows that justice, interest in working, and participation affects the performance and happiness of employees that is in line with the results of this study.

It is suggested to hold training workshops for managers to discuss the significance and place of psychological empowerment dimensions and happiness of employees in organizational excellence. Due to the high correlation of trust, sense of efficacy, independence, significance, and competence of employees in increasing the level of happiness, it is suggested to provide some conditions by emphasizing the role of employees in achieving the organizational goals, for employees to consider themselves as an affecting member on officers and increase their happiness. Furthermore, it is suggested to conduct a program and provide special and different welfare services to promote the psychological empowerment and happiness in line employees.

One of the limitations of this study was the security and disciplinary nature of the studied organization and despite the emphasis on keeping the personal information, the employees always answered with caution. On the other hand, the measurement tool for this study was a questionnaire that provided a limitation in deepening the data.

The five dimensions of psychological empowerment affect the happiness of police officers. Psychological empowerment and happiness in line and staff officers is observed more than other classes while psychological empowerment and happiness of individuals has no significant difference in different years of service and educational levels. Sense of trust and then sense of efficacy affect happiness more other dimensions.

The authors of this study would like to appreciate all the individuals especially the Zahedan, Iran, police personnel for their sincere cooperation in this study.

No case was reported.

No case was reported.

No case was reported.


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