Structural empowerment, personal initiative, and job satisfaction in service employees: Exploring the mediating role of psychological empowerment.

INTRODUCTION: This study explores how empowering human resource management (HRM) practices based on structural empowerment (access to opportunities, resources, support, and information) affect both personal initiative and job satisfaction of service employees through individual-level factors (psychological empowerment). METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey study and collected 439 valid responses from service employees in Spain. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) with confidence intervals based on 10,000 resamples (i.e., bootstrapping technique). RESULTS: Our results showed that psychological empowerment partially mediated the relationship between structural empowerment and job satisfaction. It also fully mediated the relationship between structural empowerment and personal initiative at work. CONCLUSION: These findings emphasize the importance of HRM practices that can empower employees as key determinants of job satisfaction and personal initiative at service companies. Furthermore, a structural empowerment approach is a valid theoretical framework for studying and understanding employees' affective evaluations of work and, more specifically, their personal initiative.

Harmonious Passion at Work: Personal Resource for Coping with the Negative Relationship between Burnout and Intrinsic Job Satisfaction in Service Employees.

Research about harmonious passion as a personal resource that can have a protective effect in situations of stress and burnout is scarce but growing. Considering the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, the present study aims to address the above gaps by exploring the moderating role of harmonious passion at work in the relationship between burnout (physical fatigue, cognitive weariness, and emotional exhaustion) and intrinsic job satisfaction. The study sample consisted of 748 workers from service organizations (front-line employees) in southern Spain (Mage = 35.51, SD = 10.06, 52% women). Using statistical program R (R Core Team, 2022), the results of the regression models showed the moderating role of harmonious passion on the negative relationships between physical fatigue and intrinsic job satisfaction. In particular, at high levels of physical fatigue, employees with high scores on harmonious passion at work presented higher levels of intrinsic satisfaction compared with employees with low passion at work. That is, although service employees have high levels of physical fatigue, when they are passionate, they still possess satisfaction with their work. Therefore, our findings extend the JD-R theory by considering harmonious passion as a motivational resource that reduce feelings of burnout in service employees. Hence, it shows the importance of promoting the autonomous internalization of work, (through, i.e., job enrichment), which allows the development of harmonious passion at work and, therefore, increasing intrinsic job satisfaction.

Effectiveness of a Humor-Based Training for Reducing Employees' Distress.

An increasing number of studies have demonstrated that humor can impact interpersonal relationships in organizations and employee well-being. However, there is little evidence coming from intervention studies in organizational settings. In response, we developed a training following the principles of positive psychology that aims at improving employees' adaptive use of humor as a successful mechanism to deal with stress. In this study, we assess the effectiveness of such training and its impact on employee well-being. Results from this one-group intervention study in an emergency ambulance service (N = 58) revealed that the participants reported higher levels of cheerfulness (Z = -3.93; p < 0.001) and lower levels of seriousness (Z = -3.32; p < 0.001) after being exposed to the training. Indeed, the participants reported lower scores on psychological distress after the training (Z = -3.35; p < 0.001). The effect size of the training was medium (r = 0.31 to 0.36), suggesting that interventions to improve adaptive humor at work can be a useful resource to deal with workplace stress and foster employee well-being. These results may have interesting implications for designing and implementing positive interventions as well as for developing healthy organizations.

Resilience, Coping Strategies and Posttraumatic Growth in the Workplace Following COVID-19: A Narrative Review on the Positive Aspects of Trauma.

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a traumatic event that has profoundly changed working conditions with detrimental consequences for workers' health, in particular for the healthcare population directly involved in addressing the emergency. Nevertheless, previous research has demonstrated that traumatic experiences can also lead to positive reactions, stimulating resilience and feelings of growth. The aim of this narrative review is to investigate the positive aspects associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and the possible health prevention and promotion strategies by analyzing the available scientific evidence. In particular, we focus on the constructs of resilience, coping strategies and posttraumatic growth (PTG). A literature search was performed on the PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and Psycinfo databases. Forty-six articles were included in the literature synthesis. Psychological resilience is a fundamental variable for reducing and preventing the negative psychological effects of the pandemic and is associated with lower levels of depression, anxiety and burnout. At the individual and organizational level, resilience plays a crucial role in enhancing wellbeing in healthcare and non-healthcare workers. Connected to resilience, adaptive coping strategies are essential for managing the emergency and work-related stress. Several positive factors influencing resilience have been highlighted in the development of PTG. At the same time, high levels of resilience and positive coping strategies can enhance personal growth. Considering the possible long-term coexistence and consequences of COVID-19, organizational interventions should aim to improve workers' adaptive coping skills, resilience and PTG in order to promote wellbeing.

Presentación: Dossier temático Entrenamiento en Habilidades Sociales / Presentation: Thematic Dossier focused on Social Skills

No disponible

Tendencias actuales en el ámbito de las habilidades sociales / Current Trends in the Area of the Social Skills

En el presente trabajo se realiza una revisión de artículos sobre entrenamientos en habilidades sociales publicados en la década 2002-2012 a partir de la base de datos PsycInfo, centrando el foco de forma específica en artículos de revisión y meta-análisis. Estos artículos revisan fundamentalmente aplicaciones clínicas y educativas, y tratan poblaciones juveniles e infantiles. Se realiza una revisión crítica de la eficacia de estos entrenamientos, señalando tanto sus ventajas como sus inconvenientes. Finalmente se plantean unas recomendaciones prácticas y se señalan futuras direcciones, las cuales ponen de manifiesto la necesidad de identificar los prerrequisitos para documentar la efectividad de los entrenamientos en habilidades sociales, garantizar la generalización y mantenimiento de los logros alcanzados, adaptar lo sentrenamientos a las necesidades particulares de los participantes, formar y cualificar a las personas que realizan los entrenamientos y expandir los entrenamientos y garantizar su acceso (considerados estos como un derecho y no lujo, y por tanto que deba ser cubierto por las instituciones correspondientes) (AU)

In the present study we realized a review of articles published on the topic of social skills training during the Decade 2002-2012. PsycInfo database was employed, focusing specifically on review articles and meta-analyses. These articles mainly reviewed clinical and educational trainings, implemented on child and youth populations. We started our work with a critical review of the effectiveness of these trainings, analyzing both strengths and weaknesses. Finally, we discuss some practical recommendations and identify future directions. Specifically, we pointed out: the need to identify the prerequisites for assessing and documenting the effectiveness of training in social skills, guaranteeing the generalization and maintenance of the achievements; the need for adapting trainings to participants’ needs; the need to train and qualifying trainers; the need to expand trainings and ensure their accessibility (by considering those training as a right - and not as luxury element - that should be covered by the corresponding institutions) (AU)

Bases para el desarrollo de la autoeficacia en programas para la promoción de la actividad física / Basis for the development of self-efficacy in programs to promote physical activity

Las investigaciones muestran que reforzar la autoeficacia de las personas es una de las estrategias más eficaces para promocionar la práctica regular de actividad física. Considerando que la autoeficacia es un determinante de las conductas de salud, se pone en evidencia la necesidad de implementar planes para la promoción de la actividad física que contemplen la autoeficacia como objetivo de cambio. Estos programas persiguen no sólo la ejecución del comportamiento sino también su mantenimiento en el tiempo como hábito saludable. En este trabajo se quiere dar respuestas a tres cuestiones esenciales que plantean este tipo de intervención: cómo evaluar la autoeficacia para el ejercicio físico, cómo lograr quelas personas que se inician en un programa de actividad física ganen mayor confianza en sus propias capacidades para mantenerse bajo las contingencias del mismo, y cómo guiar a los profesionales de la salud en todo este proceso (AU)

Research shows that reinforcing self-efficacy of individuals is one of the most effective strategies to promote physical activity as a regular practice. Whereas self-efficacy is a determinant of health behaviors, the need to implement plans for the promotion of physical activity covering self-efficacy as goal of change becomes evident. These programs seek not only behavioral performance but also its maintenance over time as a healthy habit. This paper wants to give answers to three key questions posed by this type of intervention: how to assess self-efficacy for physical exercise, how to get people who start a physical activity program to gain more confidence in their own capacities to initiate and maintain physical activity, and how to guide health professionals in this process (AU)