Responses to COVID-19, small and medium enterprises' corporate social responsibility and psychological capital of employees: From the mediating perspective of affective commitment.

The influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on employees' positive psychological capital in stressful situations remains unexplored in the literature for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This study aims to examine how CSR could assist employees in developing psychological capital during the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to understand the aforesaid relationship, an attempt is made to study the mediation effect of affective commitment. Structural equation modelling (AMOS 21.0) was used for data analysis and hypothesis testing on a sample of 545 employees from 356 Malaysian SMEs. The results of this study showed that SMEs' CSR policies helped to improve the positive psychological capital of their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, affective commitment complementary mediates the relationship between CSR and psychological capital. During the COVID-19 pandemic, SMEs should come up with a consistent way to implement CSR policies and procedures to improve employees' psychological capital and increase their affective commitment toward the enterprise. There are two main contributions to the literature from this study, in addition to enriching previous empirical research on CSR. As a first contribution to the CSR literature, it examines how CSR impacts employees' psychological capital during a pandemic. COVID-19 is one of the recent pandemics that offers an opportunity to examine its effects on employee psychological state. Secondly, the results of the study add to the growing body of empirical research that supports affective commitment's significant relationship with CSR and enhances employees' psychological capital during a pandemic in a developing market.

COVID-19 and Pretentious Psychological Well-Being of Students: A Threat to Educational Sustainability.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, reaction quarantine, social distancing, and economic crises have posed a greater risk to physical and psychological health. Such derogatory mental health stigma is associated with adverse outcomes in the student population. The purpose of the current study is to provide a timely evaluation of the COVID-19 pandemic and its adverse effects on students' psychological well-being to sustain economic sustainability. A thorough review of the literature and current studies, significant emphasis of socio-demographic indicators, interpretation of physical symptoms, home quarantine activities, and COVID-19 unique stressors were extracted. Data were collected through electronic surveys from 640 university students at local and foreign universities. The findings revealed substantial adverse effects resulting in varying levels of stress, symptoms of depression, and specific discomfort in the case. Among COVID-19 stressors, financial instability, unpredictability toward future/career, and media exposure have been described as common factors that cause poor psychological well-being and weaken economic sustainability. COVID-19, quarantine, self-isolation, and onerous interventions primarily weaken university students' mental health. The emphasis on this vulnerable category, however, is substantially absent from the literature. This research addresses the urgent need to develop possible solutions and preventive measures to promote economic sustainability by ensuring students' psychological well-being.