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New Trends in Organizational Psychology—2nd Edition

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 9206

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Psychology, West University of Timisoara, 300223 Timisoara, Romania
Interests: well-being at work; personal resources; proactive behavior; interventions in organizations
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recently, technological developments (i.e., virtual work) and changes in the nature of work (i.e., remote work) have raised the issue that employees need to take more responsibility for their work outcomes and progress (Op den Kamp et al., 2018). This perspective of work has placed the employee at center stage, creating a need for research that highlights the ways in which employees are active and proactive in changing the work and themselves each day to perform their job (Bakker, 2015; Bakker & Demerouti, 2018). This direction is concurrent with positive organizational behavior (POB) as a research avenue. POB supposes “the study and application of positively oriented human resource strengths and psychological capacities that can be measured, developed, and effectively managed for performance improvement in today’s workplace” (Luthans, 2002, p. 59).

Thus, in future, research may focus on creativity, flow, work engagement, and humor to develop a positive organizational model of employee well-being which adapts to changing environments. POB studies also need to extensively examine the roles of factors like psychological capital and other personal resources in coping with job demands and improving performance. To develop new research in positive organizational psychology, it is necessary to investigate employee-initiated, proactive behavioral strategies in the form of proactive vitality management, job crafting, and strengths use, which are beneficial on their own. They yield the most gains when combined and used in a complementary manner. Thus, in this dynamic organizational context, researchers should discover new predictors of work-related well-being, which can be a step forward in integrating positive organizational psychology in emerging domains (i.e., positive artificial intelligence). However, aligning new technological innovations (like VR, AR, or machine learning) with positive psychological intervention in organizations could add more value for HR specialists.

Prof. Dr. Delia Vîrgă
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • personal resources
  • strengths use
  • job crafting
  • proactive vitality management
  • well-being
  • innovative behavior
  • psychological capital
  • work engagement
  • engaging leadership, growth (mindset)
  • gratitude
  • technology and well-being
  • creativity
  • self-leadership

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 638 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Work–Family Facilitation on Employee Proactive Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model
by Hongyuan Zhang, Chang Liu and Shuming Zhao
Sustainability 2025, 17(4), 1390; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17041390 - 8 Feb 2025
Viewed by 1118
Abstract
Work–family relationships play a crucial role in employee performance and organizational sustainability. This study explores the mechanisms and boundary conditions of how work–family facilitation (WFF) influences employee proactive behavior (PB) by constructing a theoretical model that incorporates psychological capital (PC) as a mediator [...] Read more.
Work–family relationships play a crucial role in employee performance and organizational sustainability. This study explores the mechanisms and boundary conditions of how work–family facilitation (WFF) influences employee proactive behavior (PB) by constructing a theoretical model that incorporates psychological capital (PC) as a mediator and high-commitment work systems (HCWS) as a moderator. Based on Conservation of Resources (COR) theory and Social Exchange Theory, data were collected from 126 enterprises in Nanjing, Hefei, Nantong, and Lianyungang through stratified sampling, and the analysis was conducted using SPSS, MPLUS and HLM software. Cross-level regression analysis and path analysis revealed that WFF positively impacts PB, with PC mediating this relationship. Furthermore, HCWS significantly moderates the effect of PC on PB. The findings highlight the importance of fostering a supportive work–family balance, enhancing employees’ psychological capital, and implementing HCWS to encourage proactive behaviors and drive organizational sustainability. This study offers theoretical insights and practical recommendations for optimizing human resource management practices to unlock employee potential and enhance organizational innovation and competitiveness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Organizational Psychology—2nd Edition)
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18 pages, 628 KiB  
Article
How Does Forgone Identity Dwelling Foster Perceived Employability: A Self-Regulatory Perspective
by Wenxia Zhou, Yue Feng and Xinling Jiang
Sustainability 2024, 16(22), 9614; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16229614 - 5 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1259
Abstract
The dramatic changes in modern careers call for more knowledge about employability, a key indicator of career sustainability. In reply, this study introduces the recently developed concept of forgone identity dwelling (FID) into the employability debate and aims to explain whether and how [...] Read more.
The dramatic changes in modern careers call for more knowledge about employability, a key indicator of career sustainability. In reply, this study introduces the recently developed concept of forgone identity dwelling (FID) into the employability debate and aims to explain whether and how FID promotes employees’ perceived employability. Specifically, we draw on a self-regulatory perspective to propose that FID may serve as a meaningful way to enhance employability through a proactive career self-regulatory pathway characterized by career crafting, especially for employees high in promotion regulatory focus. To investigate this, we used the method of a three-wave survey study conducted among 435 Chinese employees and tested the hypotheses using path analysis with Mplus. The findings showed that FID motivated the employees to engage in career crafting, which in turn positively affected their perceived employability. Furthermore, promotion focus strengthened the positive effects of FID, such that the employees high in promotion focus were more likely to translate FID into employability through career crafting. These results highlight the importance of leveraging FID experiences to enhance employees’ proactive behaviors and employability. This study is the first to link FID to sustainable career outcomes, inspiring future research to explore additional mechanisms for the nuanced effects of FID on career sustainability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Organizational Psychology—2nd Edition)
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19 pages, 676 KiB  
Article
Impact of Leader’s Goal Framing on Followership Behavior: The Role of Work Meaning and Power Dependence
by Miao Xia, Wei Shi and Fulin Wang
Sustainability 2024, 16(5), 1806; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16051806 - 22 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2161
Abstract
While there is growing interest in leader–follower relationships in the leadership literature, little is known about how a leader’s framing effect triggers employees’ proactive behaviors. This research aims to extend previous knowledge about the effects of leaders’ goal framing and uncover their potential [...] Read more.
While there is growing interest in leader–follower relationships in the leadership literature, little is known about how a leader’s framing effect triggers employees’ proactive behaviors. This research aims to extend previous knowledge about the effects of leaders’ goal framing and uncover their potential impacts on followership behaviors. Drawing on social information processing theory, this study proposes that both types of goal framing (gaining and losing) indirectly influence employees’ followership behaviors by mobilizing their sense of work meaning, especially when they have a power dependence on their leaders, using the method of questionnaire measurement, CFA analysis, hierarchical regression analysis, and the bootstrap tested hypotheses. The results show that gain framing indirectly contributes to employees’ followership behaviors by enhancing work meaning. Furthermore, this positive indirect relationship is stronger for employees with high power dependence. Yet another finding reveals that loss framing negatively impacts followership behavior by reducing employees’ sense of work meaning, which is unaffected by power dependence. From the perspective of the framing effect, this study verifies the influence of goal framing on employees’ behaviors and illustrates the effect of work meaning as a mechanism of goal framing on followership behavior. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Organizational Psychology—2nd Edition)
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17 pages, 688 KiB  
Article
Building Sustainable Virtual Communities of Practice: A Study of the Antecedents of Intention to Continue Participating
by Baltasar González-Anta, Isabel Pérez de la Fuente, Ana Zornoza and Virginia Orengo
Sustainability 2023, 15(21), 15657; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152115657 - 6 Nov 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3499
Abstract
Virtual communities are essential in contemporary social and organizational domains. Their sustainability is largely propelled by members’ contributions, and yet the mechanisms for achieving significant participation remain ambiguous. Grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model, our primary objective is to identify the factors that [...] Read more.
Virtual communities are essential in contemporary social and organizational domains. Their sustainability is largely propelled by members’ contributions, and yet the mechanisms for achieving significant participation remain ambiguous. Grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model, our primary objective is to identify the factors that may predict the intention to participate in a virtual community of practice; secondly, we aim to detect the most influential predictor(s) and the best model. In this paper, we conduct a cross-sectional study with a sample of 114 virtual community participants. Our multiple and weighted regression analyses reveal that technological, personal, and motivational factors sway participation intentions. Nevertheless, a combination of specific factors, interactivity, self-efficacy, and identification, are the most closely related to participation intention. This research offers valuable insights for organizations and community promoters, enhancing member retention and interaction stimulation and thereby constructing sustainable virtual environments through effective community design and management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Organizational Psychology—2nd Edition)
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