34 research outputs found

    Psychological capital and the role of perceived organizational support in determining psychological wellbeing among the UK & the India Bank employees

    Get PDF
    Background: Over the last couple of decades, psychological wellbeing at work has increasingly received research attention, particularly in light of a rise in the prevalence of mental health issues in work sectors that present with high job demand levels. High levels of stress, anxiety and depression have been documented in the banking workforce too and have been associated with personal and organizational factors that can be detrimental to psychological wellbeing at work in various Western and Eastern countries. Within a positive psychology framework, the construct of Psychological Capital (PsyCap) has become pertinent to the study and reinforcement of mental wellbeing in the workplace in terms of its focus on the development of the four dimensions it comprises of, i.e., hope, optimism, resilience, and self-efficacy. While PsyCap as a personal resource has been found to improve psychological wellbeing at work, Perceived Organizational Support (POS) has also been shown to contribute to wellbeing at work as well as to work satisfaction and performance; however, the relationship among PsyCap, POS and psychological wellbeing in the banking sector in either Western or Eastern countries has been under-researched. Aim: This is the first study aimed to investigate the role of psychological wellbeing in the banking workforce in relation to a PsyCap framework that also considers the contributing role of POS in the relationship between PsyCap and psychological wellbeing. The study will also adopt a comparative approach, aiming to explore any cultural and/or gender differences in the nature of the relationship among PsyCap, psychological wellbeing and POS in bank employees at a Western, i.e., U.K. and an eastern, i.e., India, organization site. Method: Following a systematic narrative review into the literature on PsyCap, studied along with aspects of psychological wellbeing and POS in the occupational sector (inclusive of students) that informed the aims of the current investigation, a mixed methods approach was adopted to explore the nature of the relationship among PsyCap, psychological wellbeing and POS in the U.K. and the India banking sector. In the quantitative part, validated self-report scales were distributed through an online survey or manually for completion, i.e. psychological capital (PsyCap; Luthans, Avolio, Avey, & Norman, 2007), perceived organizational support (POS; Eisenberger, 1986) and psychological wellbeing (DASS; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995); the qualitative exploration employed semi-structured interviews with a subsample of those who participated in the quantitative part to enquire in more depth into factors associated with PsyCap, wellbeing and POS as well as the nature of stressors at work and the coping strategies adopted to deal with these stressors. Results: Quantitative data findings showed PsyCap -and its dimensions to be negatively correlated with (poor) psychological wellbeing. POS was negatively correlated with (poor) psychological wellbeing and positively correlated to PsyCap & its dimensions. POS moderated the relationship between PsyCap and psychological wellbeing in the total combined sample of U.K and India based bank employees (n=475) and in the U.K. bank employee sample (n=230) per se but did not serve as a moderator in this relationship for the India bank employee sample (n=245). Further, significant gender differences were seen on the domains of hope and optimism of PsyCap as well as on POS and on the domains of stress and anxiety of psychological wellbeing, among the banking cohort at both sites. Qualitatively, emerged themes derived from thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke,2006) were common and/or site-specific and reflected: the importance of POS (e.g., support from colleagues/managers, recognition of work and well-defined work parameters) in effective work performance; the link between PsyCap (e.g., optimism) and work performance; the link between POS (e.g., recognition of work) and PsyCap (e.g., self-efficacy) in effective work performance; the link between POS (e.g., provision of wellbeing programs) and work performance as well as psychological wellbeing; the link between stressors and various coping strategies with psychological wellbeing; and the importance of positive psychology approaches in stress reduction and improved work performance. Notably, managerial support and wellbeing program provision were found lacking at the India bank site. Conclusion: The combined pattern of findings suggests that PsyCap can be a vital personal resource for improving wellbeing at work as well as work performance that can be further developed, along with take-up of organizational support. Future research needs to further investigate the synergistic contribution of PsyCap and POS as personal and organizational sources for improving psychological wellbeing at work while Western practice can potentially inform India bank sites on the implementation of beneficial organizational support sources at work

    Understanding consumer adoption of mobile payment in India: Extending Meta-UTAUT model with personal innovativeness, anxiety, trust, and grievance redressal

    Get PDF
    YesMobile payments are the future as we move towards a cashless society. In some markets, cash is already being replaced by digital transactions, but consumers of many developing countries are slower in transition towards digital payments. This study aims to identify major determinants of consumer mobile payment adoption in India the country with second largest mobile subscribers in the world. Existing mobile payments adoption studies have predominantly utilised Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which was primarily developed in organisational context and criticised for having deterministic approach without much consideration for users’ individual characteristics. Therefore, this study adapted meta-UTAUT model with individual difference variable attitude as core construct and extended the model with consumer related constructs such as personal innovativeness, anxiety, trust, and grievance redressal. Empirical examination of the model among 491 Indian consumers revealed performance expectancy, intention to use, and grievance redressal as significant positive predictor of consumer use behaviour towards mobile payment. Moreover, intention to use was significantly influenced by attitude, social influence, and facilitating conditions. The major contribution of this study includes re-affirming the central role of attitude in consumer adoption studies and examining usage behaviour in contrast to most existing studies, which examine only behavioural intention

    Antecedents to the Adoption of Mobile Payment in China and Italy: an Integration of UTAUT2 and Innovation Resistance Theory

    Get PDF
    Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.This research aims to investigate the adoption gap in mobile payment systems between Italy and China, focusing on users’ intention to adopt mobile payment. The theoretical framing considers both drivers and barriers when combines the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology 2 (UTAUT2) with innovation resistance theory (IRT). To empirically verify the proposed model, this study gathers primary data through a web-based, self-administered survey. To analyze the data, we use structural equation modeling, and to test for significant differences between the two groups we run multi-group analysis. The respondents in Italy and China present different behaviors. Social influence plays a significant role in cultures with high uncertainty avoidance, such as Italy. The tradition barrier is the only significant barrier to the adoption of mobile payment.Projekt DEA

    Politics of waiting on hope: exploring embodied experiences of Tibetans living in India as guests and citizens

    Get PDF
    This PhD Thesis explores a critical understanding of the embodied experiences of Tibetans living in exile in India, between guests, migrants, and temporary residents with quests for Indian citizenship. The aim of this PhD research is to explore the meanings and experiences associated with being a Tibetan in India in contemporary times. The research questions interrogate how Tibetans make sense of their current political status and identities in India in current times, the practices and possibilities of Indian citizenship for Tibetans, and the localised and individualised narratives of Tibetans living in India. In this PhD Thesis I borrow methods, strategies, and techniques transdisciplinary and I use them creatively, applying ethnographic and theatre approaches, self-reflexivity, and embodied and collaborative methods. I employ disruptions and the blurring of boundaries between traditional categories of literature, methods, data, theory, and dissemination. The key findings of this PhD research show how Tibetans in India share similar experiences of waiting for better governance with groups such as Indian youth. This PhD Thesis demonstrates that the Identity Paperwork for Tibetans constitutes an act of citizenship and a common experience with populations in India, such as internal migrants, and other people who hold documents and those who do not. The PhD Thesis shows that, by using theatre approaches and collaborative enactments of performances, new possibilities for hope and transformation emerge, where Hope means a plethora of intersecting assertions about identity, agency, impermanence, empathy, solidarity and kindness and the symbolism of a suitcase. This PhD Thesis contributes to contemporary stories with, about, and by Tibetans, collaborative and participative stories enacted as performances, in which Tibetans became political subjects and coauthors of the stories. This study makes a unique contribution to the power of writing against narratives of exclusion, silencing, and othering and advocates for collaborative stories about hope

    Circles of Value : A Study of Working Lives of Informal Sector Traders in Delhi, India

    Get PDF
    This study revolves around the working lives of pheriwale, a group of self-employed traders within India’s vast informal economy. Pheriwale have been trading in Delhi for nearly a century and are involved in the second-hand clothing trade. Among the wide variety of street vendors and traders in the city, pheriwale are one of the most visibly women-dominated. They offer a door-to-door service, collecting used clothes in exchange for new kitchen utensils through barter, to the residents of the city and its suburbs. The collected used clothes are then sold to bulk-buyers in the marketplace (mandi), who in turn sell them forward after repair or washing; the used clothes can also end up in export factories, where they are disintegrated and become part of the rag industry. In addition, the pheriwale’s marketplace offers a cheap and affordable second-hand clothing market to the city’s low-income and working-class groups. Thus, pheriwale, like workers who are involved in recycling and belong to lower-caste groups, add value to the used clothes by collecting, sorting and bringing them back onto the market.Engaging with the concept of value enables this thesis to account for the value generated by pheriwale’s labour, as well as the aspects of their everyday working lives which they value. Locating these theoretical debates and empirical concerns through an intersectional framework inspired by Dalit feminist literature provides a more nuanced approach to exploring how caste, gender and class intersect. The research questions which guide this study include: How can the working lives of pheriwale women offer ways to unfold the multiple dimensions of value and deepen a theorisation of the concept? How do the pheriwale organise their working routines, and how are they as traders embedded within local, regional and global markets? How do experiences of waiting for state-issued documents and welfare benefits shape notions of value and pheriwale women’s relation to the state institutions? How does a feeling of having control over one’s time and energy at work by being self-employed frame notions of value in everyday working lives?Qualitative research inspired by ethnographic study was conducted at the pheriwale’s mandi in West Delhi, to facilitate this study. Primary empirical material includes conversations with pheriwale, observation and fieldnotes. The theoretical frame draws upon anthropological, Marxist and feminist theorisations of value, and intersectionality provides a lens to contextualise the discussion on value specifically for this study.The findings of this doctoral thesis highlight pheriwale’s working routines, and also how their trade is linked to local, regional and transnational flows of used clothes. Formalised state-issued documents are important for the pheriwale, who are primarily lower-caste women working in informal economic conditions, in order to secure welfare benefits. The feeling of having more control over time and energy and avoiding discriminatory and alienating work environments by being self- employed are important values at and beyond work for pheriwale

    Prevention and Education: A Case Study of an Anti-Human Trafficking Nongovernmental Organization in Mumbai, India

    Get PDF
    The purpose of this qualitative case study was to gain an in-depth understanding of the role of community-based NGOs in developing and delivering prevention interventions and nonformal education programs that work to end human trafficking of at-risk women and children. Specifically, the study explored the intersection between human trafficking and education, and the critical role NGOs play in human trafficking prevention. Essential to understanding this phenomenon was giving voice to the experiences of children who are the recipients of such prevention and education interventions. An international community-based, anti-human trafficking NGO—Prerana—served as the case study setting. Direct observations and participant interviews took place in Mumbai, India, where Prerana is located. The 18 participants included the organization’s leadership, teachers, and staff, as well as children in Prerana’s care. Research questions centered on the organization’s human trafficking prevention approach; the goals and methods of its Education Support Program; the children’s experiences with the organization and its education programs; and the relationships between staff members and the children, their families, and communities. Participant narratives provided rich details on the organization’s efforts to prevent human trafficking and to infuse education throughout its prevention efforts. Findings pointed to the importance of a comprehensive human rights-based prevention approach that is child-centered, involves mothers/families, engages and educates communities, and works to shift negative societal attitudes and perceptions of marginalized women and children. Conclusions drew from the findings; recommendations address the application of the findings and the need for further research

    Responsible AI and Analytics for an Ethical and Inclusive Digitized Society

    Get PDF
    publishedVersio
    corecore