applied positive potential
TRANSCRIPT
Applied Positive Potential
Positive Psychology Development Program to drive Creativity, Productivity, Motivation and Eudemonia
By: Dustin RaymerMBA 592
Dr. Edmonds
Agenda• Positive Psychology Overview• Company Culture and Employee Relationship• Are we a product of our thoughts?• Psychological Capital (PsyCap)• Critical Thinking• Self-Affirmation• PsyCap, Critical Thinking and Self-Affirmation: Basis for Improvement• Let’s Try It!
Positive Psychology
Traits, Constructs,
and Interventions
Inputs
Happiness
Output
• Hope• Self-efficacy• Luck• Gratitude• Grit• Positive Affect• Savouring• Resilience• Optimism• Motivation
• Positive Emotion
• Engagement
• Relationships
• Meaningfulness
• Achievement
-Martin Seligman
How does Positive Psychology Study this?
Current Perception
If I work hard I will be successful, If I am successful I will be happy
New Perception
If I am Happy, I will work harder, then I will be successful
Organizational Culture & Happiness
• Human Capital (employees) are incredibly expensive
• Factors effecting employees:• Stress• Emotion• Motivation• Skill• Etc.
• People spend a substantial amount of time working, yet 69% are dissatisfied at work
Dissatisfaction
Stress
Decreased Performan
ce
Problem!!!
Satisfaction
Engagement
Achievement
Remember Seligman? (i.e. PERMA)
Organizations Effects on Employees
Leadership
Focus on
Employees
Organizational Virtues
Employee Performa
nce & Happines
s
• Sunil Ramlall (2008)• Strong correlation between Positive
Organizational Behavior and Employee Performance• Tangible Financial Implications!
• Toor & Ofiri (2010)• Leadership with high levels of
Positivity energize their teams• More creative and effective solutions• Less absenteeism• Increased Engagement
A Change in Perspective
• Money et al. (2009)• Elevated positivity correlates
with Organizational Commitment
• Organizational commitment has major implications on employee motivation
• A simple shift in perception leads to drastic changes in engagement, meaning, and motivation
• Shawn Achor (2010)• Perception is everything!• We are a product of our
perception, not our environment
• Better yet, we have the ability to change our lens
• Daniel Gilbert, Harvard Psychologist (2009) likewise shares this view
Happiness and Perception are not Fixed!
• What makes some people:• Happier• More Successful• Resilient• Lucky• Better at coping with Stress90% of our happiness is based on our perception! (Achor, S., 2010)
• We have the ability to alter our perception (Neuroplasticity)
• Functions of positivity:• Increased synapses firing• Attention• Engagement• Retention• Productivity
Broaden and Build
Positive Percepti
on
Openness to
Experience
Increased
Exposure
New Skills
Validation &
Expansion
Barbara Fredrickson (2001)
• Similar to Daniel Gilbert and Shawn Achor:• Happiness is not a product of our
success, but a byproduct• We synthesize our own happiness,
and in turn success
• Furthermore, All agree we can change our perception regardless of age and current state
Individuals & Organizational Development
• Positive Organizational Scholarship• Jane Dutton and Mary Glynn (2007) – PsyCap leads to Collective
Improvement• Individual Flourishing leads to Organizational Resilience, Innovation
and Growth• Alignment of individual virtues with organizational virtues• Build capabilities, life focus, capacity building through cultivating
strengths
• How to do so? Psychological Capital Development• Creates an atmosphere conducive to learning and continuous
improvement
Psychological Capital (PsyCap)
• Luthans et al. (2007)• Composite Construct (HERO)
• Hope• Self-Efficacy• Resilience• Optimism
• Synergistic Effect“Whole is better than the sum of its parts”
• PsyCap development has a ROI• Tangible benefits• Soft Benefits
• In particular, Organizational Resilience which strongly correlates with Bottom Line Performance
• Dutton and Glynn – Realignment top down and bottom up
Cross Cultural PsyCap
• Organizations are becoming more and more diverse• Maren Dollwet and Rebecca
Reichard (2014) – Across the world and cultures, PsyCap is a valid predictor and effective!
• Better yet, cross culturally High PsyCap with Diversity leads to improved problem solving and innovation
• Cox & Blake (1991) PsyCap correlates with Metacognition
• Metacognition leads to reduced:• Ethnocentrism• Sociocentricism• Reduced Biases
• Correlates with Hope and Psychological Wellbeing (Kiaei & Reio, 2014)
Critical Thinking (Metacognition)
What purpose does it serve in Organizations?
• Improved Creativity• Metacognition• Reception to Training• Improved Retention• Reduced Biases• Improved Decision Making
Critical thinking is that mode of thinking — about any subject, content, or problem — in which the thinker improves the quality of his
or her thinking by skillfully analyzing, assessing, and reconstructing it. Critical
thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. It
presupposes assent to rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use.
It entails effective communication and problem-solving abilities, as well as a commitment to overcome our native
egocentrism and sociocentrism
Critical Thinking and Six Sigma• Critical Thinking
• Objective Evaluation of Information• Improving thought through empirical
validation and fact checking• Reduced Biased Thinking• Constant Reconstruction of thoughts
based on new information• Effective in Human Resource
Development
• Six Sigma• Objective Evaluation of Problems• Metric Based Improvement Process
(DMAIC)• Reduced Biased Thinking• Kaizen – Continuous Improvement• Statistical Business Tool to drive
Organizational Development• Originally manufacturing, but is
being adopted to processes and HR
Self-Affirmation• According to Steele (1988) Self-
affirmation Theory states that people respond to situations in a way that protects their sense of self through affirming their own self-worth, integrity and image.
• Essentially, when people are faced with challenges they reflect on strengths and values to overcome barriers
Challenge
Stress
Decreased
Performance
Failure
Decreased
Confidence
Workplace implications of a lack of self-affirmation skills
Positive Self-Affirmation• Kost-smith et al. (2010) had
participants write about strengths• 15 minute writing exercise lead to
improved Self-worth and Self-Efficacy
• Cresewell et al. (2013) showed improved positivity and creative problem solving through self-affirming positive traits
Challenge
Stress
Self-Affirm
Positive Traits
Overcome Challenge
Increased Confidenc
e
Workplace implications of a positive self-affirmation skills
Self-Affirmation of PsyCap
Study 1• Establish that Self-Affirmation could
increase levels of PsyCap• Mixed Factorial Design:
• IV: Self-Affirmation vs. Non Self-Affirmation• DV: Number of Questions correctly answered
on RAT
• Outcomes: • Increased PsyCap • Increased Creative Problem Solving• Motivational Reponses• Increased Attempts
Study 2• Similar Design, Less Control• A targeted Self-Affirmation intervention
was successful in increasing overall levels of PsyCap and Motivation
• Lead to increased attempts on RAT• Strongly correlates between:
• Hope and Motivation• Self-Efficacy with Hope and Resilience• Hope and Resilience• PsyCap and Motivation and all components
of PsyCap
See for Yourself!
Version 1 Version 20
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Self-affirmation
Non Self-affirmation
Remote Associates Test Version
Num
ber
of C
orre
ct A
nsw
ers
Non Se
lf-affirm
ation
Female
Non
Self-A
ffirmati
on
Male N
on Se
lf-Affirm
ation
Self-a
ffirmati
on
Female
Self-A
ffirmati
on
Male Self
-Affirm
ation
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Avg # Attempt
See for Yourself! Cont.
GroupsN
Avg # Attemp
t
Average
PsyCap
Average Motivatio
nNon Self-affirmation 6 16.17 39.33 2.83
Female 3 16.33 42.33 3.33
Male 3 16.00 36.33 2.33
Self-affirmation 15 27.20 47.73 4.33
Female 7 33.00 47.57 4.43
Male 8 22.13 47.88 4.25
Grand Total 21 24.05 45.33 3.90
The average number of questions answered correctly on the RAT as a function of Group and Version
Remote Associates TestVersion 1 Version 2
Group M SE M SESelf-affirmation (n = 12) 10.92 1.32 17.17 1.78Non Self-affirmation (n =
10) 9.09 1.38 12.64 1.86
* Study 1 & Study 2 showed statistically significant differences between groups
PsyCap ImprovementANOVA
Sum of Squares df
Mean Square F Sig.
Attempted Between Groups 521.719 1 521.719 2.487 .031Within Groups 3985.233 19 209.749 Total 4506.952 20
PsyCap Between Groups 302.400 1 302.400 6.137 .023Within Groups 936.267 19 49.277 Total 1238.667 20
Motivation Between Groups 9.643 1 9.643 7.002 .016Within Groups 26.167 19 1.377 Total 35.810 20
GroupsAverage PsyCap
Average Motivati
onNon Self-affirmation 39.33 2.83
Female 42.33 3.33
Male 36.33 2.33Self-affirmation 47.73 4.33
Female 47.57 4.43
Male 47.88 4.25Grand Total 45.33 3.90
Putting it all Together
Problems:• Often taught in silos, not in
combinations with one another
• Hedonic Adaptation (Sheldon & Lyubomirsky, 2012)
• Changing Peoples Thought Process
Solution:• Teaching each component and
how they link together• Critical thinking improves ability
to learn and reduce biases which makes people more receptive to PsyCap improvements to gain positive benefits, then when faced with challenges, individuals self-affirm maintaining elevated positivity
Is Learning it Easy?, and Why Learn it?
Well first it is a conscious thought (metacognition)
Once you know your thoughts, write them down, then identify bias and
finally think of how you could respond more positively by self-affirming
(PsyCap & Self-Affirmation)Repeated practice will rewire the
brain to scan for the positive (Remember Neuroplasticity?)
Specific Tangible Benefits:• Creativity Thinking & Innovative
Behavior• Employee Productivity• Motivation• Financial Improvement & Growth
Soft Benefits:• Well-being & Satisfaction• Organizational Commitment• Attention• Stress Reduction
Program Proposal
Baseline•Applied Potential Survey
•VIA Survey
Critical Thinking
Psychological
Capital
Self-Affirmatio
n
Applying &
Sustaining
Measure Results
Establish Framewo
rk for Continuo
us Measure
ment
Implement
Programs to
Maintain
Conclusion
• Things you can do to improve your well-being:• Meditation• Yoga• Gratitude Journaling• Thought Log• And much more! Email me:
ReferencesSeligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychology, 60, 410-421. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.60.5.410Luthans, F., Youssef, C. M., & Avolio, B. J. (2007). Psychological capital: Developing the human competitive edge. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University PressLin, C., Chen, S., & Wang, R. (2011). Savouring and perceived job performance in positive psychology: Moderating role of positive affectivity. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 14, 165-175. doi:10.1111/j.1476-839X.2010.01340.xAchor, S. (2010). The happiness advantage. The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work, Crown Business, New York.Toor, S., & Ofori, G. (2010). Positive Psychological Capital as a Source of Sustainable Competitive Advantage for Organizations. Journal Of Construction Engineering & Management, 136, 341-352. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000135Ramlall, S. J. (2008). Enhancing employee performance through positive organizational behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 38, 1580-1600.Money, K., Hillenbrand, C., & da Camara, N. (2009). Putting positive psychology to work in organisations. Journal Of General Management, 34, 21-36.Gilbert, D. (2009). Stumbling on happiness. Vintage Canada.Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American psychologist, 56, 218.Dutton, J. E., Glynn, M. A., & Spreitzer, G. (2007). Positive organizational scholarship. Encyclopedia of Positive Psychology. BlacNwell Publishing. Available on the Internet: http://webuser. bupp. umich. edu/janedut/POS/Dutton&Sonenshein. Pdf.
ReferencesDollwet, M., & Reichard, R. (2014). Assessing cross-cultural skills: validation of a new measure of cross-cultural psychological capital. International Journal Of Human Resource Management, 25, 1669-1696. doi:10.1080/09585192.2013.845239Cox, T. H., & Blake, S. (1991). Managing cultural diversity: Implications for organizational competitiveness. The Executive, 45-56.Kiaei, Y. A., & Reio Jr, T. G. (2014). Goal pursuit and eudaimonic well-being among university students: Metacognition as the mediator. Behavioral Development Bulletin, 19, 91.Halpern, D. F. (1998). Teaching critical thinking for transfer across domains: Disposition, skills, structure training, and metacognitive monitoring. American Psychologist, 53, 449.Steele, C. M. (1988). The psychology of Self-affirmation: Sustaining the integrity of the self. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 2, 261-302.Kost-Smith, L. E., Pollock, S. J., Finkelstein, N. D., Cohen, G. L., Ito, T. A., & Miyake, A. (2010). Gender differences in Physics 1: The impact of a self-affirmation intervention. Physics Education Research Conference, 1289, 197-200. doi:10.1063/1.3515197Creswell, J. D., Dutcher, J. M., Klein, W. M. P., Harris, P. R., & Levine, J. M. (2013). Self-affirmation improves problem solving under stress. PLos ONE, 8, 1-7. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0062593Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2012). The challenge of staying happier testing the hedonic adaptation prevention model. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 670-680.