New Trends in Organizational Psychology—2nd Edition

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

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