Psychological capital in sport organizations: Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, and Optimism among Employees in Sport (HEROES)

ABSTRACT

Research question: The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive picture of positive organizational behavior in sport organizations by better understanding sport employees’ psychological capital (PsyCap) for desirable attitudes (job satisfaction and psychological well-being), behaviors (citizenship), and performance. Further, we examine antecedents of PsyCap at the employee, the leader, and organizational level.

Research methods: Through an in-depth literature review and series of panel discussions, we present a conceptual framework for sport employees working in sport teams at the professional or collegiate levels.

Results and Findings: In detailing a conceptual model of Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, and Optimism among Employees in Sport (HEROES), we expand the knowledge on PsyCap by identifying the factors that potentially affect sport employee PsyCap and the outcomes that can be expected from PsyCap enhancement.

Implications: Sport management researchers can empirically examine the proposed links in the HEROES model and look into which of the aforementioned components actively influence sport employees’ PsyCap, as well as which outcomes are most strongly affected by enhanced PsyCap.

KEYWORDS:

• Positive organizational behavior
• sport employee
• psychological capital
• employee well-being

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. A theory of the human personality identifies five distinct dimensions: Extraversion, Emotional Stability, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience (Barrick & Mount, 1993).