Akash Dubey

Social connections and experiences of loneliness are fundamental human needs. Despite the well-established effects of social connections and loneliness on employee outcomes and well-being, very little research has focused on these phenomena in the Indian workforce. Using the Job-demands and Resources (JD-R) model as a theoretical underpinning, the current study investigated how social connectedness and loneliness affect employee well-being with perceived organizational support (POS) as a mediator. A total of N=289 employees from Indian pharmaceutical sector participated in the study. Results from EFA and CFA revealed a one-factor solution for social connectedness and two-factor solution for loneliness. The data was then subjected to Structural equation modelling to check values for further interpretation. The findings showed that social connectedness and social disconnectedness were both significant positive and negative predictors of employees’ well-being respectively, where employees’ Perceived Organizational Support (POS) acted as a partial mediator. Importantly, only social loneliness was found to be significantly and positively related to employees’ well-being. Besides, emotional loneliness was found to be fully mediated by POS. The results of the study suggest that organizations should consider adopting policies, programs and values which encourage employees to develop meaningful connections in order to support employee well-being through quality workplace relationships. This study follows up on recent research that investigates the role of POS on employee’s well-being and uniquely distinguishes between social and emotional loneliness as a job and personal demand respectively within the JD-R framework.

Environmental exigencies like deforestation and pollution are prominent threats to human existence. However, promoting Sustainable Attitudes and Behaviors (SABs) can effectively curb the adverse effects of these issues to an extent. Understanding the factors that encourage sustainability is the key to promoting environmentally conscious behaviours. While assuming that personality traits and positive psychological attributes are related to SABs, this research explores how interpersonal mindfulness and dark traits might influence it. Using young adult respondents from India, we found that interpersonal mindfulness and dark traits differentially predict SABs, with personality factors playing a crucial role. We provide theoretical and practical implications from an environmental psychology perspective and further deduce implications to promote pro-planet citizenship behaviors. Moreover, we recommend replication attempts and also suggest conducting extensive experimental, longitudinal and qualitative investigations contextually, to help unearth the dynamic determinants of sustainable attitudes and behaviors.

College students worldwide are encountering significant mental health challenges and positive psychological approaches are effective in addressing these issues. Psychological capital as a construct having origin from organizational psychology plays an important role in young people’s education and mental health. The dimensions of psychological capital and spiritual well-being play an important role in manifesting emotional experiences, both positive and negative, among young individuals. In the contemporary scenario, where social and economic factors act as deciding factors in deciphering and influencing emotions, there is a dire need to focus on the positive developmental aspects of human behavior. We, thus, explore the interconnection between psychological capital and spiritual well-being and quantitatively investigate how both of them influence the emotional experiences of college students (N = 214). Results from the regression analysis suggest that psychological capital predicts positive emotions, whereas spiritual well-being mediates this relationship. One of the practical implications of our results suggest that these three variables have good interventional potential for well-being promotion studies.