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What is Psychological Well-Being, Really? A Grassroots Approach from the Organizational Sciences

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  • Véronique Dagenais-Desmarais
  • André Savoie

Abstract

Research on psychological well-being (PWB) in organizational settings is now facing two major challenges. First, conceptual confusion surrounds PWB (Danna and Griffin 1999 ; Diener 1994 ; Ryff 1989 ), and the debate about the superiority of concurrent hedonic, eudaimonic, and integrative approaches is still open. Second, researchers in the organizational sciences mainly study context-free PWB while measuring organizational correlates, despite contextualized non-cognitive measures having proven their incremental validity over context-free measures (e.g. English 2001 ; Hunthausen et al. 2003 ). In an attempt to address these issues from a new perspective, an inductive approach was proposed. To confer good content validity to our model of PWB at work (PWBW), a preliminary bottom-up qualitative phase was carried out. On this basis, a quantitative study was conducted. From the 80 manifestations of PWBW obtained, a new instrument was generated and administered to 1,080 workers, supplemented by measures of context-free PWB and distress, of positive and negative affect, and of life satisfaction. Exploratory factor analyses revealed that PWBW can be conceptualized through 5 dimensions, namely, Interpersonal Fit at Work, Thriving at Work, Feeling of Competency at Work, Desire for Involvement at Work, and Perceived Recognition at Work. The questionnaire showed satisfactory internal consistency. Correlational analyses support the “related but distinct” nature of PWBW with regard to context-free hedonic and eudaimonic PWB dimensions and psychological distress indicators. In sum, the study led to the development of a grounded conceptualization of PWBW based on a work frame-of-reference and tied to a reliable and valid measure. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

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  • Véronique Dagenais-Desmarais & André Savoie, 2012. "What is Psychological Well-Being, Really? A Grassroots Approach from the Organizational Sciences," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 659-684, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:13:y:2012:i:4:p:659-684
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-011-9285-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ed Diener, 1994. "Assessing subjective well-being: Progress and opportunities," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 103-157, February.
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    3. Raymond Massé & Carole Poulin & Clément Dassa & Jean Lambert & Sylvie Bélair & Alex Battaglini, 1998. "The Structure of Mental Health: Higher-Order Confirmatory Factor Analyses of Psychological Distress and Well-Being Measures," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 475-504, November.
    4. Corey Keyes, 2006. "Subjective Well-Being in Mental Health and Human Development Research Worldwide: An Introduction," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 77(1), pages 1-10, May.
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    2. Clément Desgourdes & Daniel Leroy, 2019. "Proposition d'une échelle de mesure du "sensegiving" en période de changement organisationnel," Post-Print hal-03544741, HAL.
    3. Renaud Gaucher, 2022. "The Work Day Reconstruction Method: an adaptation of the Day Reconstruction Method to the work setting," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(6), pages 4487-4509, December.
    4. Alexandre Morin & John Meyer & Dennis McInerney & Herbert Marsh & Fraide Ganotice, 2015. "Profiles of dual commitment to the occupation and organization: Relations to well-being and turnover intentions," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 32(3), pages 717-744, September.
    5. Pierre Loup & Jonathan Maurice & Florence Rodhain, 2020. "When nomadic technologies simultaneously influence well-being and stress at work [Quand les technologies nomades influencent simultanément le bien-être et le stress au travail]," Post-Print hal-03126046, HAL.
    6. Adam Nebbs & Angela Martin & Amanda Neil & Sarah Dawkins & Jessica Roydhouse, 2023. "An Integrated Approach to Workplace Mental Health: A Scoping Review of Instruments That Can Assist Organizations with Implementation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-25, January.

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