Does Team Psychological Capital Predict Team Outcomes at Work?
How the Team’s Psychology Affects Outcomes at Work

This study considers how psychological capital spreads throughout work teams to impact teach outcomes such as performance, innovation, and organizational citizenship behavior. It also looked at both the relationship between team psychological capital and leader psychological capital in relation to team outcomes. Findings highlight the importance of psychological capital for optimal team functioning while also suggesting that workplaces cannot expect leaders to create team-level psychological capital through their own psychological capital alone.

Does Team Psychological Capital Predict Team Outcomes at Work?

This study is situated in the paradigms of positive organizational scholarship (POS) and positive organizational behaviour (POB). It draws upon the theoretical mechanisms of social learning and emotional contagion to suggest that psychological capital may spread through work teams to impact team outcomes such as performance, innovation, and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The degree to which team psychological capital (TPsyCap) mediated the relationship between leader psychological capital (LPsyCap) and team outcomes was also tested (n = 94 teams; n = 94 leaders; n = 550 employees). Using structural equation modelling, LPsyCap and TPsyCap were both related to team-level organizational citizenship behavior, team performance, and team innovation. However, the relationship between LPsyCap and TPsyCap was not significant. These findings support the positioning of psychological capital as an important resource for optimal team functioning but also suggest that workplaces cannot expect that leaders, through their own psychological capital alone, can create team-level psychological capital. Instead, the current research suggests that other organizational initiatives and experiences are needed to enhance LPsyCap. The results contribute to a better understanding of POS and POB in general and, specifically, to the recently emerging construct of team psychological capital.

Waters, L., Strauss, G., Somech, A., Haslam, N., & Dussert, D. (2020). Does team psychological capital predict team outcomes at work? International Journal of Wellbeing, 10(1), 1-25. doi:10.5502/ijw.v10i1.923