Positive Psychological Capacity and ItsImpacts on Success

Assistant Professor Phd. Gökben BayramoğluHittite University / Business and Economics Faculty / Çorum / Turkey

gokbenbayramoglu@hotmail.com

Phd. Menekşe ŞahinHittite University / Vocational High School / Çorum /Turkey

meneksesahin@hitit.edu.trAbstract

Healing has become considerablysignificant in psychology since WorldWar II. In this period, the focus ofthe psychology was to repair thedamages with the use of a diseasemodel of human psychology. However,this almost exclusive approach topathology disregarded the concept of afulfilled individual and a flourishingcommunity. It also ignored thepossibility that the most potentweapon in the arsenal of therapy isbuilding strength. Positive psychology aims to pave the

way for a change in psychology from apreoccupation only with repairing theworst things in life to building thebest qualities in life. The buildingof strength must be brought to theforefront in the treatment andprevention of mental illness in orderto correct the previous imbalance. Infact, what positive psychologyhighlights are strengths rather thanweaknesses, health and vitality ratherthan illness and pathology.Confidence, hope, optimism, and

resilience-four positive psychologicalcapacities- are measurable and theycan be improved and managed for betterwork performance. Consisting of two parts, positive

social capital concept will be

explained in the first part of thisarticle. The second part will focus onthe relationship between the successof college students in HittiteUniversity in Çorum/Turkey and theirpositive capital.

Keywords: Positive Psychology Positiveorganizational behavior, SocialCapital

I. INTRODUCTION “If you work hard, you will become

successful, and once you becomesuccessful, then you’ll be happy”. Thisapproach explains what generallymotivates us in life in that we becometend to think as follows: “If I justget that raise, or hit that next salestarget, I’ll be happy. If I can justget that next good grade, I’ll behappy. If I lose five pounds, I’ll behappy.” The examples can be increased.

According to this idea, successprecedes happiness. However, there isa problem as this formula is broken inthat if success brings happiness, thenevery positive outcome should comewith satisfaction. For instance, everyemployee who gets a promotion, every

student who receives an acceptanceletter, anyone who accomplishes a goalof any kind would be happy. Yet, thisis not the case. Our goalposts ofsuccess keep getting pushed furtherand further out along with eachvictory, therefore happiness getspushed over the horizon. What is more,this formula is broken, for it isbackward. Innovative research carried out in

positive psychology and neurosciencein the period of more than ten yearshas suggested that the relationshipbetween success and happiness occursreversely. This revolutionary findinghas enlightened us in that happinessis not only the result of success butactually the initiator of it.Moreover, making us competitive, thishappiness and optimism foster ourperformance and achievement [1].

II) POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY ANDPOSITIVE ORGANIZATIONAL

SCHOLARSHIP Healing has gained significant

improvement in psychology since WorldWar II, when the aim of psychology wasrepairing damage with the use of adisease model of human psychology.This strong focus was based on theidea of a fulfilled individual and athriving community, but it ignored thepossibility that the most potentweapon in the center of therapy isbuilding strength. What positivepsychology aims is to foster a changein psychology from a preoccupationonly with repairing the worst thingsin life to also building the bestqualities in life [2]. Rather thanweaknesses and dysfunctions, Positivepsychology is concerned with people’sstrengths and the way how they cangrow and thrive (rather than be fixedor maintained). Positive psychology isnot the first highlight the power ofpositive thinking. Rather it balancesfocus of understanding and process

developing the right people and theirthrive [3].Positive organizational behavior,

namely POB, is the use of positivepsychology in the workplace [4]. POB-oriented studies mostly addressesindividual traits such asconscientiousness and trait-likestates such as optimism, self-efficacyand resilience and their outcomes, ororganizational practices such asstrong organizational cultures andhuman resource practices [5]. POS doesnot depend on a single theory, but itincludes elements such as excellence,thriving, flourishing, abundance,resilience, or virtuousness [6].People would realize the weakness ofothers when they first meet. It’susually easy to notice the differencesamong people and depict theirdeficiency. To illustrate, someonewho is highly organized can easilycatch on a disorganized person andthen will not realize his/her othertalents. We are eager to find themistakes of others. To solve thisproblem in the short term people tryto give up search weakness of otherpeople. Alternatively, we can try tounderstand the differences amongpeople and position people so thatthey can make use of their potentials[7].

III) POSITIVE EMOTIONS AND HUMANSIt is not that easy to define the

term ‘emotion’. According to Fehr andRussell, everyone believes that theyknow what emotion is, but they cannotgive a definition [8]. The widevariety of definition proposed onemotion is the most important problemabout it. Kleinginna and Kleinginnaevaluated 92 definitions and 9skeptical statements complied from avariety of sources in the literatureof emotion to clarify theterminological confusion. After theirstudy, they proposed the following

definition of emotion: “emotion is acomplex set of interactions ofsubjective and objective factors,mediated by neural/hormonal systems,which can (a) give rise to affectiveexperiences such as feelings ofarousal, pleasure/displeasure; (b)generate cognitive processes such asemotionally relevant perceptualeffects, appraisals, labelingprocesses; (c) activate widespreadphysiological adjustment to thearousing conditions; and (d) lead tobehavior that is often expressive,goal-directed and adaptive. [9]Psychology put emphasis on negative

emotions such as depression andanxiety rather than on positiveemotions such as happiness andsatisfaction during its first century.Actually, texts are mostly aboutsuffering but not about joy eventoday. However, this has started tochange. In fact, the number ofPsychological Abstract citations of"well-being," "happiness," and "lifesatisfaction" quintupled, reaching 780articles annually during the 1980s[10].

The defenders of broaden-and-buildtheory suggest that positive emotionscan momentarily broaden one’s scopesof thought and allow for flexibleattention, which can improve one’swell-being [11]An individual’s positive

psychological state of developmentthat is characterized by: (1) havingconfidence (self-efficacy) to take onand put in the necessary effort tosucceed at challenging tasks; (2)making a positive attribution (beingoptimistic) about succeeding now andin the future; (3) persevering towardgoals, and when necessary, redirectingpaths to goals (being hopeful) inorder to succeed; and (4) when besetby problems and adversity, sustainingand bouncing back and even beyond(resiliency) to attain success [12].

Four specific positive psychologicalcapital elements were found to havemeasurable, open to develop andrelated to work performance anddesirable outcomes. Thesepsychological resources are [13]:

A. Self-Efficacy/ConfidenceSelf-efficacy is to do with people’s

convictions about their own capacityin carrying out a set of actionssuccessfully that leads to a desiredoutcome. Self-confident people selectchallenging tasks and aspire toauspiciously accomplish their goals[14]. According to Luthans, self-confident people are those who havethe following five important features[15]:

They set high goals forthemselves and volunteer fordifficult tasks.

They welcome and thrive onchallenge.

They are exceptionally self-motivated.

They make the necessary effortto accomplish their ambitions.

They do not give up when theyencounter obstacles.

People are not adequately motivated to take action if they do not believe that they can produce desired effects and

hinder inappropriate ones by their actions. Whatever other factors may motivate people, they are based on the

main belief that one has the power to produce desired results. The fact that

self-efficacy belief is a vital personal resource is sufficiently documented by

meta-analysis of the findings from diverse spheres of functioning under

laboratory and naturalistic conditions[16].

B. Hope: Hope is defined as “the process of

thinking about one’s goals, along withthe motivation to move toward thosegoals (agency), and the ways toachieve those (pathways)” [17]. Thefindings of many studies on hopesuggest that hope did not affect

reports on how painful the experiencewas, but it did foster the ability totolerate [18]

C. Optimism:While optimism is defined as a

general expectation for future goodoutcomes, hope is described as a setof cognitive processes that aims atattaining specific goals [19].Optimistic people expect to experiencegood things whereas pessimistic peopleassume to encounter bad things in life[20]. Optimism - reacting to setbacks from

a presumption of personal power [21] Bad events are not permanent

setbacks Isolated to particular

circumstances Can be overcome by my effort and

abilities

D. ResilienceBeing and adaptive system,

resilience enables people to rapidlyovercome or rejuvenate after a setbackor failure [22]. It refers to aprocess of good adaptation underextenuating circumstances [23].Research on resilience has focused onthe following three distinctsituations: a) functioning well duringa time of distinguished hardship(“stress resistance”); b) recoveryfrom a traumatic or extremelydisturbing experience (“bouncingback”); or c) attaining positive ornormal adaptation as the seriouslyadverse conditions improve(“normalization”) [24].Above all, people who are resilient

in their traits experience positiveemotions even when they are in themiddle of stressful events, which mayillustrate their capacity to reboundsuccessfully in spite of difficulties[25]. Resilient people have threetraits in common: acceptance ofreality; a strong belief that life ismeaningful; and a remarkable talent toimprovise [26].

What directed psychology toward “thebest things in life” has come at aninteresting time respecting thechanging nature of work and the rolepsychology can play in helping usunderstand it [27]. In essence, POS isbased on the idea that understandingthe causes of positive behavior in theworkplace would help organizationsreach new levels of achievement [28].It has been found that psychologicalwell-being is not only related to workbut also personal life outcomes. Forinstance, sufficient research has beenmade on the relationship betweenpsychological well-being andperformance at work and successfulrelationships. Moreover, it has beenfound that superior mental andphysical health and longevity covarywith happiness and positivity levels[29].

IV) METHOD This study aim to determine whether

people who are hopeful, self-confident, optimistic and resilientcalled as psychological capital aremore successful in school life.The study consists of two parts.

While the first part is theoretical;the second part contains an empiricalstudy. In the theoretical part of theresearch includes the literaturereview on the concept of psychologicalcapital Empirical study involves aquestionnaire study which entailsPsychological Capital Scale which wasdeveloped by Luthans et al [27] andwas translated into Turkish by Çetinand Basım [28]. Reliability wasassessed using Cronbach's α; it was0.812. Data from the questionnaireswas coded and analyzed bothdescriptively and analytically. At thelevel of descriptive statistic,frequency, mean and percentage werecalculated and at the level of theanalyze ANOVA was used to assess the

relationship between PsychologicalCapital and academic achievement. A. ParticipantsThis research was carried out at

Hitit University in Corum, Turkey. Twohundred twenty nine (229) students whostudy in the departments of economicsand administrative sciences andvocational school participated in thesurvey. 53.7% of participants werefemale and 46.3% were male.Participant were aged between15-35,but most of the participants were agesbetween 20- 24 (86%). 50.7 % of theparticipants are studyingundergraduate and 49.3% ofparticipants are studying graduate.Table-1 shows academic achievements ofstudents. Academic achievements ofstudents ranged from to 1-4 points.

TABLE-1: ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS

B. Results In this study relationship between

business students’ positivepsychological capital and academicachievement was analyzed. ANOVAresults show that the relationshipstudents' self-efficacy (F = 2.445, p= 0.035)/ hope (F = 4.311, p = 0.001)and students’ academic achievement issignificant difference. However,relationship optimism (F = 1.170, p =0.133)/ endurance (F = 996, p = 0.001)and students’ academic achievementvariables are not a significantdifference. These results refer thestudents' level of hope and self-confidence is effective on academicachievement. Table-2 shows the resultsof ANOVA test.

TABLE-2: THE RELATIONSHIP OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL SCALEVARIABLE BETWEEN ACADEMIC SUCCESSES

Group N Mean SD F P

Opt 1,50 and

below 13 3,4744 ,70987 1,71

0,133

1,51-2,00 51 3,3922

,61718

imis

m

2,01-2,50 91 3,4542 ,59476

2,51-3,00 47 3,3759 ,55000

3,01-3,50 21 3,6587 ,55896

3,51-4,00 6 3,9722 ,32347

Self

-eff

icac

y

1,50 andbelow 13 3,674

4 ,87625

2,445

,035

1,51-2,00 51 3,7778 ,76932

2,01-2,50 91 3,7802 ,76047

2,51-3,00 47 3,9433 ,77106

3,01-3,50 21 4,0556 ,61764

3,51-4,00 6 4,7500 ,31180

Resi

lien

ce

1,50 andbelow 13 3,769

2 ,96354

,996 ,421

1,51-2,00 51 3,7124 ,70481

2,01-2,50 91 3,6978 ,65259

2,51-3,00 47 3,6950 ,66150

3,01-3,50 21 3,8651 ,35205

3,51-4,00 6 4,2500 ,46845

Hope

1,50 andbelow 3 3,479

5 ,80064

4,311

,001

1,51-2,00 1 3,5588 ,77160

2,01-2,50 1 3,7344 ,65545

2,51-3,00 47 4,0177 ,64384

3,01-3,50 21 4,0397 ,57952

3,51-4,00 6 4,5000 ,38006

. V. CONCULUSION

This paper outlined the importanceof having positive psychologicalcapital. As stated in the theoretical part,

self-confidence is essential inpsychological resource. The findingsof the research support thatstatement. The relationship betweenstudents’ academic achievement andself-confidence belief is significant.Furthermore, there is significantrelationship about students’ academic

Frequenc

y

Percen

t

Valid

Percent

Cumulative

Percent

Between 1,01-

1,50

13 5,7 5,7 5,7

1,51-2,00 51 22,3 22,3 27,9

2,01-2,50 91 39,7 39,7 67,7

2,51-3,00 47 20,5 20,5 88,2

3,01-3,50 21 9,2 9,2 97,4

3,51-4,00 6 2,6 2,6 100,0

Total 229 100,0 100,0

achievements and hope. However, wedid not find any significantrelationship between optimism/resilience and students’ academicachievement. Unemployment is a major problem in

Turkey. Therefore students arepessimistic to find a job in thefuture. The result of research isnatural in terms of the resiliencefactor, because, individuals canunderstand own psychological andmental capacity only once.Furthermore, there is not asignificant correlation betweenstudents’ psychological capital andthe level of education. These resultsindicate that the most importing thingis being seen himself/herself as asuccessful in the school life ratherthan what the graduate level ofstudents'

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Assistant Professor Gökben Bayramoğlu32. Gökben Bayramoğlu was born in

Malatya/Turkey in 1975. She had Phddegree Management and BusinessOrganization from Anatolia University inTurkey in 2007. She is assistantprofessor in the Hittites University inÇorum/Turkey. Her research interests aremanagement and business administration,strategic management and human resourcemanagement.

Ph.D. Menekşe Şahin Menekşe ŞAHİN was born in

Kayseri/Turkey in 1975. Shehas graduated from GaziUniversity, Faculty ofEconomic and AdministrativeSciences in 1997. Shecompleted her postgraduatedegree in 2002 at GaziUniversity Social SciencesInstitute on Labor Economicsand Industrial Relations. Sheobtained her PhD title onlabor Economics with the studyof “A Field Research for theDecent Work in the Context ofSocial Policy and in Terms OfEvaluation

Of Decent Work Performance In Turkey: Example OfÇorum” She has currently been working as alecturer at Hittites University. Her major fieldof study is Social Policy and Employment.