A 1-year longitudinal study on experiencing workplace cyberbullying, affective well-being and work engagement of teachers: The mediating effect of cognitive reappraisal.

Research on experiencing workplace cyberbullying (WCB) and its underlying mechanisms that impact the well-being of teachers is scarce. We propose that cognitive reappraisal, which is a useful and adaptive emotion-regulation strategy for reinterpreting emotion-eliciting situations, is a mediator explaining the inverse relationships between experiencing WCB and well-being. A three-wave longitudinal survey (baseline, T1; 3 months, T2; and 1 year, T3) was conducted with a sample of 444 primary and secondary schoolteachers in Hong Kong, China. Exposure to WCB, cognitive reappraisal, affective well-being and work engagement of participants was assessed. In line with the hypotheses, results showed that cognitive reappraisal mediated the associations between WCB and well-being. WCB at T1 was negatively associated with cognitive reappraisal at T2, which in turn was positively associated with positive affect and work engagement and negatively associated with negative affect at T3. Findings suggest that the intrusive nature of WCB renders its victims emotionally exhausted and helpless, thus negatively impacting the process to reinterpret the situation in a positive light, resulting in undesirable consequences. This study has illuminated WCB's inhibitory mechanism and its long-term detrimental impact. Practical implications are discussed.

When Pandemic Interferes with Work: Psychological Capital and Mental Health of Social Workers during COVID-19.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is not only limited to physical health but also extends to various aspects of everyday life. The present study proposes that the prolonged pandemic can lead to pandemic-work conflict (PWC). The article examines how the pandemic interferes with work, the association between PWC and mental health, and the underlying mechanism of this process. A total of 303 full-time social workers in Hong Kong responded to measures on PWC, psychological capital (PsyCap), and anxiety and depressive symptoms. Data were collected between February and April 2020, when the COVID-19 outbreak was beginning to worsen; 15.8 percent and 14.9 percent of the participants reported mild to severe anxiety and depression, respectively. Time-based PWC was positively associated and strain-based PWC was negatively associated with PsyCap, which was in turn negatively associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms. PsyCap was a significant mediator of these relationships. The findings suggest that the relationship between strain-based PWC and psychological distress can be explained by PsyCap, whereby the depletion of psychological resources may contribute to anxiety and depressive symptoms. Positive psychological resources may be an intervening point for promoting mental health among the social services workforce.

The Impact of Psychological Capital on Well-Being of Social Workers: A Mixed-Methods Investigation.

Social workers are often faced with long working hours, high job demands, and poor work-life balance, which can have detrimental effects on their well-being. It is therefore important to identify the protective factors that enable social workers to flourish and thrive. Psychological capital (PsyCap) is conceptualized as a higher-order core construct that encompasses hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism. This study aims to investigate the impact of PsyCap on social workers' well-being and explore the underlying mechanisms of this relationship. It expands the literature by adopting a multifaceted model of well-being, accounting for the temporal order of variables, including a qualitative component, and examining the effects of PsyCap in an at-risk occupation. A two-wave prospective survey with a three-month interval was conducted with a sample of 400 full-time social workers in Hong Kong, followed by individual in-depth interviews. The quantitative results showed that PsyCap was positively associated with job satisfaction and positive affect, and negatively associated with negative affect and psychological and physical distress. The qualitative results showed that the components of PsyCap share problem-focused processes with cognitive, conative, and affective functions. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed in relation to the social services industry.

Flourishing in the Workplace: A One-Year Prospective Study on the Effects of Perceived Organizational Support and Psychological Capital.

People working in urban areas often experience various work-related stressors, such as long working hours, high work pressure, and work-life interference, which can lead to severe mental and physical consequences. Identification of the protective factors that enable employees to flourish and thrive is especially important. The present study aims to identify the organizational and personal resources that contribute to employee flourishing. Adopting the conservation of resources theory and organizational support theory, it was hypothesized that perceived organizational support (POS) would promote employee flourishing through increasing psychological capital (PsyCap). A prospective study was conducted on a sample of 400 working adults from the social and personal services industry in Hong Kong. Data were collected at baseline, three months, and one year. Both Diener's composite model of flourishing and Seligman's PERMA model of flourishing were tested. Structural equation modeling showed that PsyCap at three months significantly mediated the effects of POS at baseline on flourishing and all dimensions of PERMA (positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, accomplishments) at one year. Findings suggest that PsyCap underlies the process through which POS influences flourishing, whereby the promotion of positive psychological resources in a nurturing and supportive organization contributes to psychosocial functioning in the long run.

Longitudinal associations between psychological capital and problem-solving among social workers: A two-wave cross-lagged study.

Social workers are tasked with the heavy responsibility of addressing societal problems and helping people in need, so the ability to solve a wide range of problems efficiently and effectively is essential for their daily responsibilities. Although recent studies have provided evidence for the salutary effects of psychological capital (PsyCap), including hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism, on job performance and well-being, the mechanism through which PsyCap operates has not been empirically examined. Adopting the social problem-solving theory, this study proposes that PsyCap is a positive psychological resource that enhances the ability to solve work problems, which provides an explanation for how PsyCap can produce work-related benefits. Due to hopeful, efficacious, resilient and optimistic attributes, social workers who possess a high level of PsyCap are expected to engage in rational problem-solving. Since social workers who possess a low level of PsyCap have less psychological resources to deal with job demands, they are expected to engage in impulsivity-carelessness and avoidance strategies. A 2-wave longitudinal study with a 3-month interval was conducted on a sample of 400 full-time social workers in Hong Kong. Cross-lagged analysis showed that PsyCap at T1 increased rational problem-solving and decreased avoidance at T2. These effects were nonreciprocal. A follow-up qualitative study was conducted to contextualise and enrich the quantitative findings. In-depth interviews revealed that social workers faced task-related, interpersonal and organisational problems. They took an active or passive approach to problems depending on their level of PsyCap. Theoretical and practical implications for the social service sector are discussed.

Lay awake with a racing mind: The associations between sexual objectification, insomnia, and affective symptoms.

BACKGROUND: Sexual objectification is a form of interpersonal maltreatment that women may experience in daily life. Research has focused on testing how it leads to various psychological distresses. However, little research has examined its influences on women's sleep quality, the underlying psychological mechanisms, and the potential implications for affective symptoms. We addressed this research gap by testing whether sexual objectification predicted perceived stress and insomnia, thereby predicting affective symptoms (i.e., depression and anxiety). We further examined whether sex-is-power beliefs moderated these associations. METHODS: Participants completed validated measures of sex-is-power beliefs, sexual objectification, perceived stress, insomnia, depression, and anxiety. We conducted regression analyses, structural equation modeling, and bootstrapping analyses to test the associations between these psychological constructs. RESULTS: As predicted, the results showed that sexual objectification was positively associated with perceived stress, insomnia, and affective symptoms. Moreover, perceived stress and insomnia serially mediated the association between sexual objectification and affective symptoms. Furthermore, sex-is-power beliefs moderated the serial mediation effect, such that the effect was only observed among participants with weak sex-is-power beliefs. CONCLUSIONS: These findings advanced current theories and knowledge of sexual objectification by demonstrating that sexual objectification is associated with perceived stress and insomnia, thereby predicting affective symptoms. The findings also highlighted the role of beliefs in weakening the negative consequences of sexual objectification.