A Systematic Review and Critiques on Positive Organizational Behavior Studies: Quo Vadis?

Abstract

This study aims to compile scientific evidence in the field of positive organizational behavior and present an overview of the field through Turkish-published articles. To achieve this goal, a systematic literature review was conducted based on the PRISMA method by compiling academic articles published in refereed journals that fall under the category of positive organizational behaviour research. Ulakbim TR Dizin archive and Google Scholar were used for the search, using keywords such as "positive organizational behavior," "positive organizational scholarship," "positive organizational studies/literature," "positive organizational theory," "positive behavior in organizations," "positive work attitudes," "psychological capital in organizations," "psychological resilience," "psychological well-being in organizations," and "positive psychology in organizations." A total of 121 articles were analyzed through content analysis. The research provides an overview of the development of positive organizational behavior studies from 2000 to the present and draws critical implications for the field. The identified problems can be categorized as follows: 1) Insufficient theoretical foundation and conceptualization issues, 2) Methodological problems, 3) Lack of evidence and replication weakness, 4) Low level of originality, 5) Service to neoliberal ideology, and 6) Lack of translation into practice and policy.

Keywords

• Positive organizational behavior
• positive organizational scholarship
• positive behavior
• psychological capital
• PRISMA

Pozitif Örgütsel Davranış Çalışmaları Üzerine Sistemli Bir İnceleme ve Eleştiriler: Quo Vadis?

Abstract

Bu çalışma, pozitif örgütsel davranış alanında yer alan bilimsel kanıtların derlenmesini ve Türkçe yayınlanmış makaleler üzerinden pozitif örgütsel davranış alanının panoramasının ortaya konmasını amaçlamaktadır. Bu amaçla, pozitif örgütsel davranış araştırmaları kategorisine giren, hakemli dergilerde yayınlanmış akademik makale türünden yayınlar derlenmek suretiyle PRISMA yöntemi esas alınarak sistematik bir literatür taraması yapılmıştır. Ulakbim TR Dizin arşivi ve Google Akademik kullanılarak ve "pozitif örgütsel davranış," "pozitif örgüt yazını," "pozitif örgüt araştırması," "pozitif örgüt kuramı," "örgütlerde pozitif davranış," "pozitif iş tutumları," "örgütlerde psikolojik sermaye," "psikolojik güçlülük," "psikolojik dayanıklılık," "örgütlerde pozitif psikoloji" anahtar sözcükleri ile yapılan tarama sonucunda toplamda 121 makale üzerinden içerik analizi yapılmıştır. Pozitif örgütsel davranış çalışmalarının 2000 yılından bugüne bir dökümünü ortaya koyan araştırma sonucunda alanın seyrine dair birtakım eleştirel çıkarımlar yapılmıştır. Buna göre tespit edilen sorunlar, 1) Yeterli kuramsal temel yoksunluğu ve kavramsallaştırma sorunları, 2) Metodik problemler, 3) Kanıt yetersizliği ve replikasyon zaafiyeti, 4) Düşük özgünlük seviyesi, 5) Neoliberal ideolojiye hizmet etme ve 6) Uygulamaya ve politikaya tercüme olmama şeklinde kategorize edilmiştir.

Keywords

• Pozitif örgütsel davranış
• pozitif örgüt yazını
• pozitif davranış
• psikolojik sermaye
• PRISMA

References

1. Adams, J. S. (1965). Inequity in social exchange. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 267–299). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60108-2.
2. Ağlargöz, O. (2016). Sormak ya da sormamak: Yönetı̇m ve organı̇zasyon alanında ilgı̇nç kuramsal katkı arayışı ve araştırma sorusunun rolü. Ankara Üniversitesi SBF Dergisi, 71(2), 517–541.
3. Bakker, A. B., ve Schaufeli, W. B. (2008). Positive organizational behavior: Engaged employees in flourishing organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29(2), 147–154.
4. Bandura, A. (1986). Social Foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. prentice hall. https://www.amazon.com/Social-Foundations-Thought-Action-Cognitive/dp/013815614X
5. Bhattacharjee, Y. (2013). The mind of a con man. The new york times magazine. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/magazine/diederik-stapels-audacious-academic-fraud.html
6. Bright, D. S., Winn, B. A., ve Kanov, J. (2014). Reconsidering virtue: differences of perspective in virtue ethics and the positive social sciences. Journal of Business Ethics, 119(4), 445–460. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1832-x
7. Burr, V., ve Dick, P. (2021). A social consructionist critique of positive psychology. In Routledge International Handbook of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, Eds. (B. Slife, S. Yanchar, and F. Richardson (pp. 151–169). Routledge.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358305926_A_social_consructionist_critique_of_positive_psychology
8. Cabanas, E. (2018). Positive Psychology and the legitimation of individualism. Theory ve Psychology, 28(1), 3–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354317747988

9. Cameron, K. (2003). Organizational virtuousness and performance. in positive organizational scholarship (pp. 48–65). Berrett-Koehler.
10. Cameron, K. S., Dutton, J. E., ve Quinn, R. E. (2003). An introduction to positive otganizational scholarship. In Positive Organizational Scholarship (pp. 3–13). Berrett-Koehler. https://webuser.bus.umich.edu/cameronk/PDFs/POS/POS%20-%20CHAPTER%201-FINAL.pdf
11. Caza, A., ve Cameron, K. S. (2008). Positive organizational scholarship: What does it achieve? In SAGE Handbook of Organizational Behavior: Vol. II (pp. 99–116). Sage. https://positiveorgs.bus.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/CazaCameron.pdf
12. Coyne, J. C., ve Tennen, H. (2010). Positive psychology in cancer care: Bad science, exaggerated claims, and unproven medicine. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 39(1), 16–26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-009-9154-z
13. Deci, E. L., ve Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Springer. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4899-2271-7
14. Diener, E. (2012). Positive psychology: Past, present, and future. In S. J. Lopez & C. R. Snyder (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology (2nd ed., pp. 6-12). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195187243.013.0002
15. Donaldson, S. I., Dollwet, M., ve Rao, M. A. (2015). Happiness, excellence, and optimal human functioning revisited: Examining the peer-reviewed literature linked to positive psychology. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 10(3), 185–195. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2014.943801
16. Donaldson, S. I., ve Ko, I. (2010). Positive organizational psychology, behavior, and scholarship: A review of the emerging literature and evidence base. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 5, 177–191. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439761003790930
17. Donaldson, S. I., Lee, J. Y., ve Donaldson, S. I. (2019). Evaluating positive psychology interventions at work: a systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 4, 113–134.
18. Fernández-Ríos, L., ve Vilariño, M. (2016). Myths of positive psychology: deceptive manoeuvres and pseudoscience. Papeles Del Psicologo, 37, 134–142.
19. Fredrickson, B. L. (1998). What good are positive emotions? Review of General Psychology, 2(3), 300-319. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.300
20. Friedman, H. L., ve Brown, N. J. L. (2018). Implications of debunking the “critical positivity ratio” for humanistic psychology: introduction to special issue. Jour nal of Humanistic Psychology, 58(3), 239–261. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167818762227
21. Goals of Positive Psychology – IPPA. International Positive Psychology Association. Retrieved Ocak 5, 2024, from https://ippanetwork.org/what-is-positive-psychology/goals-of-positive-psychology/
22. Hackman, J. R., ve Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16(2), 250–279. https://doi.org/10.1016/0030-5073(76)90016-7
23. Hendriks, T., Warren, M. A., Schotanus-Dijkstra, M., Hassankhan, A., Graafsma, T., Bohlmeijer, E., ve de Jong, J. (2019). How WEIRD are positive psychology interventions? A bibliometric analysis of randomized controlled trials on the science of well-being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 14(4), 489-501. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2018.1484941
24. Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., ve B.B. (2010). The Motivation to work (12th ed.). Transaction Publishers. https://www.google.com.tr/search?hl=trvetbo=pvetbm=bksveq=inauthor:%22Bernard+Mausner%22
25. Homans, G. C. (1958). Social behavior as exchange. American Journal of Sociology, 63(6), 597–606. https://doi.org/10.1086/222355
26. Kristof, A. L. (1996). Person-organization fit: An Integrative review of its conceptualizations, measurement, and implications. Personnel Psychology, 49(1), 1–49.
27. Lerner, R. M., ve Steinberg, L. (2009). Handbook of adolescent psychology, volume 1 (3rd ed.). Wiley. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Handbook+of+Adolescent+Psychology%2C+Volume+1%3A+Individual+Bases+of+Adolescent+Development%2C+3rd+Edition-p-9780470149218
28. Lomas, T., ve Ivtzan, I. (2016). Second wave positive psychology: Exploring the positive–negative dialectics of wellbeing. journal of happiness studies: an interdisciplinary forum on subjective well-being, 17, 1753–1768. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-015-9668-y
29. Lomas, T., Waters, L., Williams, P., Oades, L. G., ve Kern, M. L. (2021). Third wave positive psychology: Broadening towards complexity. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 16(5), 660–674. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2020.1805501
30. Luthans, F. (2002a). Positive Organizational behavior: developing and managing psychological strengths [and Executive Commentary]. The Academy of Management Executive (1993-2005), 16(1), 57–75.
31. Luthans, F. (2002b). The need for and meaning of positive organizational behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23(6), 695–706. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.165
32. Luthans, F., ve Avolio, B. J. (2009). The “point” of positive organizational behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 30, 291–307. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.589
33. Luthans, F., Youssef, C. M., ve Avolio, B. J. (2006). Psychological Capital: Developing the Human Competitive Edge. Oxford University Press.
34. Marecek, J., ve Cristopher, J. C. C. (2018). Is positive psychology an indigenous psychology. In N. J. L. Brown, T. Lomas, & F. J. Eiroa-Orosa (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Positive Psychology (1st ed., pp. 84-98). Routledge.
35. Ozen S (2002). Türkiye'deki örgütler/yönetim araştırmalarında törensel görgülcülük sorunu. Yönetim Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2(2), 187 - 213.
36. Qureshi, A., ve Evangelidou, S. (2018). Toward a culturally competent positive psychology. In The Routledge international handbook of critical positive psychology (pp. 263–280). Routledge/Taylor ve Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315659794-20
37. Ramlall, S. J. (2008). Enhancing employee performance through positive organizational behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 38(6), 1580–1600. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00360.x
38. Robbins, B. D., ve Friedman, H. L. (2018). The unavoidable role of values in positive psychology: Reflections in light of psychology’s replicability crisis. In The Routledge international handbook of critical positive psychology (pp. 15–25). Routledge/Taylor ve Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315659794-4
39. Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069–1081.
40. Schneider, B., ve Barbera, K. M. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Climate and Culture. Oxford University Press.
41. Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being (pp. xii, 349). Free Press.
42. Seligman, M. E. P. (2018). PERMA and the building blocks of well-being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 13(4), 333–335. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2018.1437466
43. Thompson, S. (2018). Positive psychology, mental health, and the false promise of the medical model. In N. J. Brown, T. Lomas, & F. J. Eiroa-Orosa (Eds.), The Routledge international handbook of critical positive psychology (1st ed., pp. 71-83). Routledge.
44. Vallerand, R. J., Houlfort, N., ve Forest, J. (2014). Passion for work: Determinants and outcomes. Oxford University Press. https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/87wv6/passion-for-work-determinants-and-outcomes
45. van Zyl, L. E., Gaffaney, J., van der Vaart, L., Dik, B. J., ve Donaldson, S. I. (2023). The critiques and criticisms of positive psychology: A systematic review. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 19(2), 206–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2023.2178956
46. van Zyl, L. E., ve Rothmann, S. (2022). Grand challenges for positive psychology: future perspectives and opportunities. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.833057
47. Wissing, M. P. (2021). Beyond the “third wave of positive psychology”: Challenges and opportunities for future research. Frontiers in Psychology, 12,795-867. https://doi.org/ 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.795067
48. Warren, S., Donaldson, S. I., ve Lee, J. Y. (2017). Applying positive psychology to advance relationship science. In Toward a positive psychology of relationships: New directions in theory and research. ABC-CLIO Publishers.
49. Wong, P. T. P. (2011). Positive psychology 2.0: Towards a balanced interactive model of the good life. Canadian Psychology / Psychologie Canadienne, 52, 69–81. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022511
50. Youssef, C. M., ve Luthans, F. (2007). Positive organizational behavior in the workplace: The impact of hope, optimism, and resilience. Journal of Management, 33, 774–800. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206307305562