Interpersonal forgiveness and employee life satisfaction: the role of affect at work

Purpose Amidst the new realities of the modern world, a happy and satisfied workforce has become a necessary requirement for organizations to maintain their competitive edge. While most of the available literature revolves around positive organizational behaviour, there is dearth of research on the influence of interpersonal forgiveness on affect and life satisfaction in employees. Keeping this precept in mind, this study aims at bridging this gap in research by developing and testing a mediation model to examine the link between interpersonal forgiveness to affect and life satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach The sample consists of 378 employees working in different Indian manufacturing organizations. To test the hypotheses, structural equation modelling was applied. Findings The results reveal that interpersonal forgiveness significantly influences life satisfaction and affect partially mediates this relationship in employees. Practical implications The study recommends that organizational development practitioners and human resource professionals focus on forgiveness among co-workers to foster a balanced affect and enhanced life satisfaction by developing and implementing positive psychological interventions and practices. This can help organizations in regulating interpersonal transgressions and conflicts at an early stage and also make the employees happy and satisfied. Originality/value This study offers concrete insights into the complicated interplay of affect in the link between interpersonal forgiveness and life satisfaction in the yet underexplored context of Indian organizations.

THE INFLUENCE OF OCCUPATIONAL STRESS ON EMPLOYEES’ MENTAL HEALTH

The aim: To identify the features of the influence of occupational stress on occupation-specific indicators of employees’ mental health. Materials and methods: In total, 771 skilled Russian-speaking respondents (226 men, 545 women; aged 18–67 years, M = 32.32 ± 12.28 years) from different countries and representing various professions participated in a remote online survey. Occupational stress intensity was assessed using the Russian adaptations of the Organizational Constraints Scale, Quantitative Workload Inventory and Aggressive Experiences Scale. Occupation-specific indicators of employees’ mental health were assessed using the Russian adaptations of the Maslach Burnout Inventory, Withdrawal Scale and Negative Affect at Work Scale. Results: The results showed a significant negative influence of occupational stress on occupation-specific indicators of employees’ mental health. All three indicators of occupational stress showed strong significant correlations (p < .001; r = .16–.60) with all five occupation-specific indicators of negative mental health. Constraints on performance at work had the greatest negative influence on employees’ mental health, followed by aggressive experiences and workload. Constraints on performance at work caused withdrawal behaviors and workload caused emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment and withdrawal behaviors in men significantly more often than in women. Aggressive experiences caused depersonalization and negative affect at work in women significantly more often than in men. Conclusions: Occupational stress had a significant negative influence on all occupation-specific indicators of employees’ mental health. This influence had pronounced gendered characteristics. These results convincingly demonstrate the need for effective measures to prevent occupational stress.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JOB-RELATED TENSION, NEGATIVE AFFECT AT WORK AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

<p><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">This study explores relationships between job-related tension, negative affect at work and organizational culture in educational organizations. It has been found that teaching staff assess job-related tension and negative affect at work higher than educational organization managers do. It also has been shown that power culture contributes to increasing tension in educational organizations, while person culture and task culture as well as the strength of organizational culture contribute to reducing tension and negative affect at work in educational organizations</span></span></p>

Validation of the positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) among employees in Indian manufacturing and service sector organisations

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the psychometric properties of the positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) in a sample of employees working in Indian manufacturing and service sector organisations. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected through self-administered structured questionnaire from 53 employees for the pilot study and 383 employees for the final study. For the psychometric evaluation of the PANAS, item analysis, reliability, exploratory factor analysis, convergent–discriminant validity and confirmatory factor analysis were performed. Findings Results reveal that the two-factor model of affect (positive and negative affects) is valid in the Indian manufacturing and service sector organisations. Originality/value Despite being the largest skilled labour facilitator for the work economy and second largest populated country, India lags behind in studies evaluating affect at work when compared to western nations. The present study was taken up to validate an instrument to measure affect at work in Indian manufacturing and service sector organisations, which is a new contribution in the field. Validation of this instrument would help in promoting studies on affect at work in India and comparative studies across cultures.