Search Results (7)

Previous studies indicate that the main predictors of stress-related disorders in firefighters are pre- and post-trauma factors, rather than intensity or type of traumatic event. This study aimed to identify risk and protective factors contributing to the development of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other stress-related conditions in Portuguese firefighters who battled the 2017 forest fires. To assess the prevalence of PTSD and related conditions, a set of self-report measures—including PHQ-15 (somatic symptoms), PCL-5 (PTSD), PSQI (sleep quality), and DASS-21 (depression, anxiety, stress)—was completed by 96 firefighters and 96 individuals from the general population, who served as a comparison group. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 79 firefighters, focusing on their perceptions of PTSD, exposure to duty-related traumatic events, and coping strategies employed to manage stress. Findings indicated that firefighters reported higher levels of somatic symptoms, sleep disturbance, and PTSD than the general population. Organizational support, working conditions, professional experience and training were identified as protective factors, while a sense of belongingness and peer relationship were considered resources for managing stress reactions. Firefighters also associated social and media pressures with the development or exacerbation of stress-related symptoms. Collectively, these results highlight the relevance of both subjective and contextual factors and may inform prevention, intervention, and treatment strategies for stress-related psychopathologies. Full article

To remain competitive and viable in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, organizations must strengthen their innovation capabilities. Innovative employee behavior often arises from disrupting established norms and deviating from conventional practices, making it crucial for organizations to focus on positive deviance. This study adopted organizational support theory to propose a parallel mediation model demonstrating how organizational support climate influences employees’ positive deviance. Based on a questionnaire survey distributed to 459 employees from Beijing, China, this study found that risk-taking willingness and workplace belongingness mediated the relationship between the organizational support climate and employees’ positive deviance. This study provides novel perspectives on the mechanisms of such behavior by highlighting that risk-taking willingness is a crucial factor in fostering positive deviance and that workplace belongingness plays an important role in bridging the two. Full article

Suicide is a leading cause of mortality and a recognized public health priority. In the last two decades, older adults (age 65 and older) saw the largest percentage increase in suicide rates. Despite these rising trends, geriatric suicide remains an understudied public health crisis. In this review, we summarize risk factors specific to geriatric suicide using a socioecological framework and the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide of burdensomeness and belongingness. Specifically, we categorize these risk factors into individual, interpersonal, organizational, and policy levels. For each type of risk factor, we review prevention and intervention programs that can help mitigate the risk of suicide among older adults. Some strategies we discuss include early detection, comprehensive healthcare approaches, community-based support systems, and legislative and policy solutions. The paper underscores the need for increased awareness and more targeted research to address the unique challenges faced by the aging population to provide more informed support and prevent suicide mortality. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic scenario has witnessed a rise in remote working arrangements, moving away from traditional office settings, which increasingly calls into question employees’ sense of belongingness as a top human capital issue in order to favor both workers’ productivity and well-being. Organizational belongingness refers to employees’ sense of personal connectedness with the organization, which makes them feel they are an integral part of the organizational system. This study examines the effects of organizational belongingness on workplace stressors (i.e., organizational constraints, interpersonal conflict, work–family conflict) and subsequent employee productivity (i.e., cognitive failures, performance) and well-being (i.e., mental health, exhaustion). Using a multilevel multigroup design with anonymous survey data collected from a sample of 1449 in-person and 514 flexible (i.e., remote and hybrid) workers from 205 organizations, the structural invariance analyses performed in this study suggested a similar pattern of results for in-person and flexible workers. Specifically, belongingness negatively predicted employees’ perception of organizational constraints, interpersonal conflict, and work–family conflict. Moreover, while belongingness positively predicted performance and mental health, it negatively predicted cognitive failures and exhaustion, both directly and indirectly through work stressors. Finally, organizational constraints, interpersonal conflict, and work–family conflict positively predicted cognitive failures and exhaustion, whereas organizational constraints and work–family conflict did not predict performance. Additionally, work–family conflict and interpersonal conflict negatively predicted mental health, whereas organizational constraints negatively predicted mental health. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed in light of the globally widespread use of flexible work options and costs related to workers’ productivity and well-being. Full article

Resilient agility is a novel concept that refers to the combined resilience-agility capability that allows an actor to successfully perform in rapidly changing contexts. Change dynamics, at all levels, increase uncertainties and responsibilities for employees augmenting the need to strengthen the self via resilient agility. This study examines employee resilient agility as anteceded by supervisors’ safety, coworkers’ safety, workplace belongingness, job satisfaction, willingness to embrace organizational change, and creativity. Respondents are from multiple organizations, industries, and regions of the United States. Analyses were carried out utilizing PLS-SEM software. Findings indicate that supervisors’ safety, workplace belongingness, willingness to embrace organizational change, and creativity have substantial effects on explaining and understanding employees’ resilient agility. In contrast, the effects of coworkers’ safety were insignificant. This study (a) contributes to the nomological network of resilient agility by examining a set of its key antecedents and (b) suggests that drastic organizational restructuring (e.g., significant changes in the relative proportion of remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic) may negatively impact both relational-based constructs in organizations and employees’ ability to rapidly and effectively respond to change. Theoretical and practical implications as well as limitations and future research are discussed. Full article

Drawing upon the psychology of sustainability, effective organizations can create a sense of belongingness for people, and successfully facilitate growth and development activities for both individuals as well as the organization itself. Extending the recommendations of Zappala, Toscano, and Licciardello, the current study considers a range of variables. The role of overall justice judgements and change favorableness are taken as predictors of affective commitment to change and exit-based withdrawal. The relationship is mediated by organizational identification and moderated by trust in organization. Overall, the results support the hypothesized relationships. Specifically, findings showed that both change favorableness and overall justice judgements are positively related to affective commitment to change and negatively related to exit-based withdrawal. Organizational identification mediates the relationships between overall justice judgements–affective commitment to change, change favorableness–affective commitment to change, and change favorableness–exit-based withdrawal, whilst trust in organizations moderated the direct relationship between overall justice judgements–affective commitment to change, and change favorableness–exit-based withdrawal. Furthermore, the indirect effect of trust in organizations positively moderated the relationship of overall justice judgements and change favorableness with affective commitment to change, and at the same time, it negatively moderated the relationship between change favorableness and exit-based withdrawal via organizational identification. Crucially, for practitioners, this brings trust of employees as a key factor that should be managed to ensure sustainable change. Both trust and identity appear important in improving commitment and lowering the exit-based withdrawal behavior of employees. Future recommendations, implications, and limitations are discussed. Full article

According to psychology of sustainability, healthy organizations conduct successful businesses, regenerate employees’ belongingness, and promote organizational and individual growth and change. In line with this assumption, this study investigates: a) The relation between perceived supervisor support and the affective, normative, and continuance components of commitment to change (CtC), and b) the mediating role of organizational identification on the relation between perceived supervisor support and components of CtC. Participants were 243 employees of a company that, in order to introduce a new organizational vision, was implementing multiple change initiatives. Results show the direct effect of perceived supervisor support on affective and normative CtC, the partial mediating effect of organizational identification on affective and normative CtC, and the full mediating effect on continuance CtC. Such results extend previous studies and are in line with the assumptions of the psychology of sustainability: Supervisor support can be considered as a primary preventive intervention that increases employees’ belongingness and encourages them to commit to change initiatives. Full article