Perceptions of social context and intention to quit: The mediating role of work engagement and interpersonal strain

Several studies have investigated turnover intention and its predictors underlining the role of organisational conditions and personal resources. This study focused on the role of the Perceptions of Social Context (PoSC) and Work Engagement as personal resources that can create healthy and productive organisations. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that contribute to intention to quit focusing on the PoSC, including Work Engagement and a construct that describes mental and emotional detachment from other individuals in work contexts (Interpersonal Strain). A total of 647 employees of an Italian organisation completed a self-report questionnaire. A structural equations model was tested, the findings of which show that work engagement negatively predicts intention to quit, whereas interpersonal strain positively predicts this outcome. Moreover, the PoSC of the immediate supervisor and the PoSC of colleagues have negative mediated effects on intention to quit by reinforcing work engagement and by reducing interpersonal strain, respectively. Finally, the PoSC of management also have negative effects on intention to quit, both directly and by increasing work engagement. Nevertheless, it is now possible to plan different actions and interventions, taking into account these findings to enhance workplace well-being

Favorire la pratica dell'attivit\ue0 motoria da 3 a 6 anni

Trattazione di metodologie didattiche per la scuola dell'infanzia applicate allo sviluppo delle capacit\ue0 motorie di base nella fascia d'et\ue0 4-6 ann

Immunological fingerprint of 4CMenB recombinant antigens via protein microarray reveals key immunosignatures correlating with bactericidal activity

Serogroup B meningococcus (MenB) is a leading cause of meningitis and sepsis across the world and vaccination is the most effective way to protect against this disease. 4CMenB is a multi-component vaccine against MenB, which is now licensed for use in subjects >2 months of age in several countries. In this study, we describe the development and use of an ad hoc protein microarray to study the immune response induced by the three major 4CMenB antigenic components (fHbp, NHBA and NadA) in individual sera from vaccinated infants, adolescents and adults. The resulting 4CMenB protein antigen fingerprinting allowed the identification of specific human antibody repertoire correlating with the bactericidal response elicited in each subject. This work represents an example of epitope mapping of the immune response induced by a multicomponent vaccine in different age groups with the identification of protective signatures. It shows the high flexibility of this microarray based methodology in terms of high-throughput information and minimal volume of biological samples needed

Capite psicologico e leadership autentica: uno studio empirico

INTRODUZIONE. Nell’ambito della psicologia positiva, un costrutto promettente e ormai largamente studiato nei contesti organizzativi a livello internazionale è il capitale psicologico (Luthans & Youssef, 2004), che predice positivamente la prestazione e le job attitudes e negativamente il turnover e l’assenteismo. A sua volta, la teoria della leadership autentica enfatizza le interazioni di sviluppo positive tra leader e collaboratori, e riveste particolare importanza in relazione al capitale psicologico, in quanto se questo è posseduto da un leader rappresenta un antecedente per lo sviluppo di una leadership autentica (Luthans & Avolio, 2003). OBIETTIVI E METODI. Il presente studio preliminare si pone tre obiettivi: (1) testare la validità dei due strumenti nel contesto italiano mediante CFA; (2) verificare a livello empirico la relazione tra capitale psicologico e leadership autentica mediante analisi di correlazione e di regressione; (3) studiare le correlazioni con alcune variabili sociodemografiche e organizzative. Complessivamente è stato utilizzato un campione di N = 360 capi, ampliato a 401 per la validazione del capitale psicologico. RISULTATI. (1) Gli strumenti sono risultati validi confermando le rispettive strutture fattoriali. (2) Il capitale psicologico è risultato associato alla leadership autentica e ne predice soprattutto le dimensioni inerenti allo sviluppo del leader. (3) I due costrutti sono risultati associati a diverse variabili sociodemografiche e organizzative, quali il numero dei collaboratori nel caso del capitale psicologico, e l’età e l’anzianità organizzativa nel caso delle dimensioni etiche e valoriali della leadership autentica. CONCLUSIONI. I risultati, da corroborare con ricerche future, aprono la strada per possibili applicazioni organizzative, che vanno dalla selezione dei leader alla promozione della leadership autentica attraverso interventi mirati allo sviluppo del capitale psicologico

Agentic capabilities as predictors of psychological capital, job performance, and social capital over time

The present two-wave study, conducted on 456 employees, investigates the mediating role of psychological capital (PsyCap) in the relationships between agentic capabilities (i.e., forethought, self-regulation, and self-reflection) and three outcomes, namely job performance, rated by supervisors, and two forms of social capital, namely vertical social capital (i.e., the perceptions of relationship with the supervisor), and horizontal social capital (i.e., the perceptions of positive relationships with colleagues). The results confirmed the positive prediction of PsyCap by agentic capabilities, emphasizing its agentic nature. Moreover, PsyCap fully mediated the positive effect of agentic capabilities on the three outcomes (i.e., job performance, positive perceptions of supervisors, and positive perceptions of colleagues), revealing its key role in translating basic cognitive capabilities related to human agency in job performance and both vertical and horizontal social capital. Future research directions and practical implications are discussed

Do not throw the baby out with the bathwater! Interpersonal strain at work and burnout

Interpersonal strain represents the feeling of discomfort and disengagement in the relationships with people at work resulting from exceeding social requests and pressures. This article has three aims: (1) to introduce the Interpersonal Strain at Work scale (ISW), (2) to examine its construct validity and reliability, and its relationship with the Maslach Burnout Inventory exhaustion and cynicism; and (3) to test the generalizability of the ISW across different work settings. Multilevel CFA on two samples of call centre agents (5407) and hospital professionals (753), nested in 191 and 43 units, respectively, confirmed the good psychometric properties of the ISW and its distinctiveness from established burnout dimensions. The generalizability of ISW was also supported. Interpersonal strain at work seems to be a promising construct to recapture the interpersonal nature of the burnout syndrome that was lost when the concept of burnout was extended beyond the human services. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.status: publishe