Psychological Capital in Indian Industries: A Demographic Assessment

What is it about?

Positive organisational behaviour remained one of the most sought areas of research for organisational behaviour researchers during the last two decades. Luthans along with his colleagues highlighted the significance of psychological capital as a measure of positive organisational behaviour (POB) in industries. Although the field witnessed valuable research effort across many countries and cultures, there are few instances of investigation of psychological capital in the Indian organizations. The present study involved the assessment of psychological capital of employees serving in Indian industries. The findings and conclusion of the study are given towards the end.

Featured Image

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The onset of 21st century visualizes the emphasised confluence of empirical and theoretical research work conducted by eminent researchers in tapping competitive advantage through PsyCap, a state-like capacity of employees (Luthans et. al. 2004; Luthans, Avolio, Walumbwa, & Li, 2005; Luthans, Avey, Avolio, Norman, & Combs, 2006; and Luthans, Avey, & Avolio, 2007; Sweetman, Luthans, Avey, & Luthans, 2011). The outcomes of the present study are unique in the sense that they did not align with the global or Indian outcome of the similar studies. Thus, this study suggests that the issue of validity of scale is still live and needs further examination. Perhaps a cross-cultural reworking of the scale (Beaton, Bombardier, Guillemin, & Ferraz, 2000) may help to eke out better information from the respondents. Additionally, a study of a more diverse sample may help in further validating the present outcome. In addition to the above directions, the present study can be extended to connect an employee’s PsyCap to her/his in-role and extra-role performance/s. More specifically, using the existing demographic variables as covariates, the relationship of PsyCap can be explored with innovative work behaviour, corporate citizenship behaviour, performance at work, among others.