The Relationship Between Mobbing and Psychological Capital

Abstract

The type of capital in organizations can be expressed in two groups as physical and human. In addition to the elements of physical capital, organizations achieve and sustain organizational success with the incentives of employees, belongingness to their jobs, future expectations, job satisfaction, durability and performance. Such concepts are relate to the human capital of the organization and also within the scope of the study of positive psychology. Positive psychology which emerges in response to emotional and physical negative situations such as burnout, hopelessness, helplessness, injustice, pessimism in the workplace attaches special importance to human capital and its psychological aspect. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between mobbing and psychological capital and to determine the place of mobbing and psychological capital in terms of organizational behavior.

Seeking to increase organizational effectiveness and productivity is often the subject of research in many different disciplines. Especially after the Second World War, with the emphasis on human factor in the workplaces, the concepts of human and positive psychological capital started to be focused. Negative and positive behaviors that employees experience in their workplaces are handled in different disciplines. In negative behaviors and situations that may be exposed in organizations, sub-dimensions of the concept of positive psychological capital can be used in coping strategies. Looking at what the concept of psychological capital offers to employees a strategy against mobbing.

Employees are exposed to mobbing for organizational and personal reasons, such as silence, cynicism, burnout, hopelessness. They may experience physical problems such as loss of appetite, headache and abdominal pain. In a work environment with self-sacrificing, fair and tolerant employees, the likelihood of being self-sufficient, hopeful, optimistic and psychologically resilient will increase. It is noteworthy that the concepts to eliminate and deal with negative situations that may cause mobbing take place in the sub-dimensions of the concept of positive psychological capital. This situation is in line with the aim of the positive psychology field which tries to highlight the positive aspects of the organizations. 

The concept of psychological capital that offers a new approach in the field of human resources and organizational behavior and prioritizes personal development; self-efficacy, hope, optimism and psychological resilience. Self-efficiency is a state of confidence that it can make the necessary effort to accomplish difficult tasks. They are defined by behaviors such as setting higher goals for themselves and voluntarily performing difficult tasks. It has an effect to increase business performance. 

Hope is defined as the energy that directs the individual to the purpose of achieving a sense of success. It is an indispensable part of human life. It was determined that hope level is related to job satisfaction, happiness and performance of employees. 

Optimism is to believe that all situations and conditions will improve and to have positive emotions. It is the state of being able to see positive expectations and positivity of being successful at present and in the future. Optimistic employees who receive positive feedback from their superiors will reflect this perception to their own business ethics and ways of doing business. 

Psychological resilience is defined as a positive psychological condition for the development of the individual, which can be explained by the characteristics of surviving against difficulties, difficulties and difficult situations and achieving success despite everything and includes the capacity to be flexible. Resilience, increasing difficulties, incongruity and conflict situations are expressed as upgradable capacity, which ensures self-improvement even in the face of increasing responsibilities. It has been shown in some studies that the endurance capacity of employees and leaders has a positive effect on organizational effectiveness and performance.

The concept of positive psychological capital that emerges in this field means that managers and colleagues in the workplace can work with high self-efficacy when they are self-sacrificing, optimistic and tolerant to each other, can look more hopeful and optimistic towards the current situation and future, and be more resilient against difficulties and conflicts.

As a result, mobbing behavior is only one of the negative situations in the workplace. The concepts to eliminate and deal with negative situations that may cause intimidation are present in the sub-dimensions of the concept of positive psychological capital. It is thought that the studies to be conducted with qualitative and quantitative methods will support the findings in this research by making use of different disciplines. When these concepts are considered in this context, psychological capital can be considered as a method of coping with some kind of intimidation. However, it is useful to support the findings of different science fields with an interdisciplinary approach.

Keywords

• mobbing; psychological capital; organizational behavior;

Yıldırma ve Psikolojik Sermaye İlişkisi

Öz

Bu çalışmanın amacı, yıldırma ile psikolojik sermaye arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemek, yıldırmanın ve psikolojik sermayenin örgütsel davranış açısından yerini saptamaktır.

Örgütsel etkililiğin ve verimliliğin artırılmasına yönelik arayışlar, farklı birçok disiplinin araştırmalarına sıklıkla konu olmaktadır. Özellikle İkinci Dünya Savaşından sonra işyerlerinde insan faktörünün ön plana çıkmasıyla, beşeri ve pozitif psikolojik sermaye kavramlarına odaklanılmaya başlanmıştır. Çalışanların işyerlerinde deneyimledikleri olumsuz ve olumlu davranışlar farklı disiplinlerde ele alınmaktadır. 

Çalışanlar, örgütsel ve kişisel birtakım nedenlerden dolayı yıldırmaya maruz kalarak, sessizlik, sinizm, tükenmişlik, umutsuzluk gibi duygusal; iştahsızlık, baş ve karın ağrısı gibi fiziksel sorunlar yaşayabilmektedirler. Birbirlerine karşı özverili, adaletli ve hoşgörülü çalışanların bulunduğu bir iş ortamında ise öz yeterlilikleri yüksek, umutlu, iyimser ve psikolojik dayanıklı olma ihtimalleri artacaktır. Yıldırmaya neden olabilecek olumsuz durumları ortadan kaldırmaya ve onunla baş etmeye yönelik kavramların, pozitif psikolojik sermaye kavramının alt boyutlarında yer alması dikkat çekicidir. Bu durum, örgütlerin olumlu yönlerini ön plana çıkarmaya çalışan pozitif psikoloji alanının amacı ile de uyumluluk göstermektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• yıldırma,psikolojik sermaye,örgütsel davranış

Kaynakça

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