Original Research

Psychological capital, a requisite for organisational performance in South Africa

Yvonne Du Plessis, Nicolene Barkhuizen
South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences | Vol 15, No 1 | a122 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v15i1.122 | © 2012 Yvonne Du Plessis, Nicolene Barkhuizen | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 14 October 2010 | Published: 16 March 2012

About the author(s)

Yvonne Du Plessis, Univeristy of Pretoria, South Africa
Nicolene Barkhuizen, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Full Text:

PDF (1MB)

Abstract

Scholars argue that to address the social, economic and political challenges facing South Africa since 1994, organisational managers/leaders should adopt a positive approach, based on sound organisational behaviour. This study administered the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ) to determine whether human resources practitioners (N=131) as custodians of change and positive behaviour in organisations in South Africa embrace core elements of Positive Organisational Behaviour (POB). Exploratory factor analysis resulted in a three-factor model for the PCQ, renamed the Potential South African PsyCap (PSA-PsyCap) instrument. All dimensions displayed acceptable reliabilities. Statistically significant differences exist in the POB of demographic groups, relating to age, marital status, home language, seniority and qualifications. This research reveals that South African HR practitioners and managers should fully embrace psychological capital to effectively create caring workplaces taking cognizance of the broader economic and social issues affecting employees and their performance.

 


Keywords

No related keywords in the metadata.

Metrics

Total abstract views: 6935
Total article views: 4299

 

Crossref Citations

1. Workplace democracy and psychological capital: a paradigm shift in workplace
Ki-Soon Han, Pooja Garg
Management Research Review  vol: 41  issue: 9  first page: 1088  year: 2018  
doi: 10.1108/MRR-11-2016-0267

2. Examining organizational politics as the cause of the crisis in energy generation in developing countries
Emmanuel Mutambara
International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147- 4478)  vol: 12  issue: 4  first page: 01  year: 2023  
doi: 10.20525/ijrbs.v12i4.2432

3. Impact of psychological capital on organizational citizenship behavior: Moderating role of emotional intelligence
Rabindra Kumar Pradhan, Lalatendu Kesari Jena, Pratishtha Bhattacharya, Tahir Nisar
Cogent Business & Management  vol: 3  issue: 1  first page: 1194174  year: 2016  
doi: 10.1080/23311975.2016.1194174

4. Adversity in Aviation: Understanding Resilience in the Workplace for Female Pilots
Stephanie Douglas, Linda M. Pittenger
The International Journal of Aerospace Psychology  vol: 30  issue: 3-4  first page: 89  year: 2020  
doi: 10.1080/24721840.2020.1763175

5. Assessing the antecedents and outcomes of salesperson’s psychological capital
Bindu Gupta, Rakesh Singh, Sandeep Puri, Pankaj Singh Rawat
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing  vol: 37  issue: 12  first page: 2544  year: 2022  
doi: 10.1108/JBIM-08-2021-0374

6. A review of accounting research in internationalising journals in the South African region
Charl J. De Villiers, Pei-Chi K. Hsiao
South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences  vol: 20  issue: 1  year: 2017  
doi: 10.4102/sajems.v20i1.1729

7. Exploring the current application of professional competencies in human resource management in the South African context
Nico Schutte, Nicolene Barkhuizen, Lidewey Van der Sluis
SA Journal of Human Resource Management  vol: 13  issue: 1  year: 2015  
doi: 10.4102/sajhrm.v13i1.724

8. Validation of a Modified Version of the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ12) in Spain
Nia Djourova, Isabel Rodriguez, Laura Lorente-Prieto
Revista Interamericana de Psicología Ocupacional  vol: 37  issue: 2  first page: 96  year: 2018  
doi: 10.21772/ripo.v37n2a02

9. Reliability and Construct Validity of the Portuguese Version of the Psychological Capital Questionnaire
Ana Cristina Antunes, António Caetano, Miguel Pina e Cunha
Psychological Reports  vol: 120  issue: 3  first page: 520  year: 2017  
doi: 10.1177/0033294116686742

10. Authentic leadership, psychological capital, job satisfaction and intention to leave in state-owned enterprises
Simeon Amunkete, Sebastiaan Rothmann
Journal of Psychology in Africa  vol: 25  issue: 4  first page: 271  year: 2015  
doi: 10.1080/14330237.2015.1078082

11. Impact of workplace adversity on well-being of Ghanaian bankers: Do resilience and psychological safety matter?
Justice Mensah, Kwesi Amponsah-Tawiah, Eric Nanteer-Oteng
Journal of Psychology in Africa  vol: 34  issue: 6  first page: 661  year: 2025  
doi: 10.1080/14330237.2024.2425388

12. Revisiting and Expanding Psychological Capital: Implications for Counterproductive Work Behaviour
Anam Amin, Mohammad Ghazi Shahnawaz, Mohammad Imran, Usama Rehman, Akshita Kamra, Meena Osmany
Trends in Psychology  vol: 32  issue: 2  first page: 267  year: 2022  
doi: 10.1007/s43076-022-00205-3

13. The influence of self-leadership strategies, psychological resources, and job embeddedness on work engagement in the banking industry
Martha Harunavamwe, Petrus Nel, Ebben Van Zyl
South African Journal of Psychology  vol: 50  issue: 4  first page: 507  year: 2020  
doi: 10.1177/0081246320922465

14. Female board directors' resilience against gender discrimination
Rita Goyal, Nada Kakabadse, Andrew Kakabadse, Danielle Talbot
Gender, Work & Organization  vol: 30  issue: 1  first page: 197  year: 2023  
doi: 10.1111/gwao.12669

15. The Effect of a 6-Month Coach Educational Program on Strengthening Coach-Athlete Interpersonal Relationships in Individual Youth Sport
Ausra Lisinskiene
Sports  vol: 6  issue: 3  first page: 74  year: 2018  
doi: 10.3390/sports6030074

16. Psychological Capital and Organisational Commitment: Nature, Structure and Relationship in an Indian Sample
Bharat Chandra Sahoo, Surendra Kumar Sia
Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation  vol: 11  issue: 3  first page: 230  year: 2015  
doi: 10.1177/2319510X15588386

17. Predictors of Positive Psychological Capital: An Attempt Among the Teacher Communities in Rural Jharkhand, India
Mukti Clarence, Viju P. D., Lalatendu Kesari Jena, Tony Sam George
Management and Labour Studies  vol: 46  issue: 2  first page: 139  year: 2021  
doi: 10.1177/0258042X21991013

18. Translation and Validation of Psychological Capital Questionnaire
Saadiya Abbasi, Anila Kamal, Sobia Masood
Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research  vol: 35  issue: 1  first page: 209  year: 2020  
doi: 10.33824/PJPR.2020.35.1.12

19. The relationships between authentic leadership, psychological capital, psychological climate, team commitment and intention to quit
Sharon A. Munyaka, Adré B. Boshoff, Jacques Pietersen, Robin Snelgar
SA Journal of Industrial Psychology  vol: 43  year: 2017  
doi: 10.4102/sajip.v43i0.1430

20. Examining Factor Structure and Validity of Psychological Capital and Its Relationship with Learning Orientation
Meghna Goswami, Rakesh Kumar Agrawal, Anil Kumar Goswami
South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management  vol: 11  issue: 1  first page: 89  year: 2024  
doi: 10.1177/23220937221128430

21. Psychological capital, subjective well-being, burnout and job satisfaction amongst educators in the Umlazi region in South Africa
Andrea Hansen, Johanna H. Buitendach, Herbert Kanengoni
SA Journal of Human Resource Management  vol: 13  issue: 1  year: 2015  
doi: 10.4102/sajhrm.v13i1.621

22. Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ-24): Preliminary Evidence of Psychometric Validity of the Brazilian Version
Daren Tashima Cid, Maria do Carmo Fernandes Martins, Maiango Dias, Andrea Cristina Fermiano Fidelis
Psico-USF  vol: 25  issue: 1  first page: 63  year: 2020  
doi: 10.1590/1413-82712020250106

23. Supplier relationship management and organizational performance of hospitals in an emerging economy context
Stephen Oduro, Kwamena Minta Nyarku, Rotimi A. Gbadeyan
Journal of Modelling in Management  vol: 15  issue: 4  first page: 1451  year: 2020  
doi: 10.1108/JM2-03-2019-0072

24. ‘Committed, motivated and joyful?’ Job satisfaction and organisational commitment of managers at a South African public utility
Claude-Hélène Mayer, Lynette Louw, Jeremy Baxter
Acta Commercii  vol: 15  issue: 1  year: 2015  
doi: 10.4102/ac.v15i1.291

25. The concept of psychological capital: a comprehensive review
Niklas Nolzen
Management Review Quarterly  vol: 68  issue: 3  first page: 237  year: 2018  
doi: 10.1007/s11301-018-0138-6

26. Facing organizational crises: The importance of validating psychological capital scale using Angolan sample
Rosa Lutete Geremias, Miguel Pereira Lopes, André Escórcio Soares
RAM. Revista de Administração Mackenzie  vol: 26  issue: 2  year: 2025  
doi: 10.1590/1678-6971/eramg250078

27. Psychological Capital: Convergent and discriminant validity of a reconfigured measure
Anton Grobler, Yvonne T. Joubert
South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences  vol: 21  issue: 1  year: 2018  
doi: 10.4102/sajems.v21i1.1715

28. A Critical Review of Human Resource Competency Model: Evolvement in Required Competencies for Human
Giang Thi Huong Vu
Journal of Economics, Business and Management  vol: 5  issue: 12  first page: 357  year: 2017  
doi: 10.18178/joebm.2017.5.12.539

29. Career-related self-efficacy, its antecedents and relationship to subjective career success in a cross-lagged panel study
Thomas Rigotti, Sabine Korek, Kathleen Otto
The International Journal of Human Resource Management  vol: 31  issue: 20  first page: 2645  year: 2020  
doi: 10.1080/09585192.2018.1460858

30. Psychometric Properties of Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ-24) in the Lithuanian Population
Aiste Dirzyte, Aidas Perminas, Egle Biliuniene
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health  vol: 18  issue: 5  first page: 2608  year: 2021  
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18052608

31. Psychometric properties of the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (KKaPsy)
Agnieszka Lipińska-Grobelny, Olga Zwardoń-Kuchciak
Current Issues in Personality Psychology  year: 2022  
doi: 10.5114/cipp.2021.112374

32. Psychological capital and orientation to happiness as protective factors for coping among first year university students in South Africa
Kwaku Oppong Asante, Anna Meyer-Weitz, Daniel C. Okafo
International Journal of Health Promotion and Education  vol: 60  issue: 5  first page: 298  year: 2022  
doi: 10.1080/14635240.2022.2065513