Organizational Psychology

Cyclic phenomena take place in a biological systems and social life, as well as the economic system and the mental life of a person. Purpose. The article presents the results of a study of cyclical changes in the system of value orientations of small business owners. We used the in-depth interview “value orientations of entrepreneurs in family and business” to test the hypothesis about the difference in value orientations of small business owners for different age groups of their business. Study design. The sample size was 131 people — small business owners, assigned to one of four comparison groups according to the lifetime of their enterprises: less than five years, 6–10 years, 11–20 years, over 20 years. Data analysis was performed using the R programming language in R-Studio. The Chi-square test was used for evaluation of the difference of 213 categorical variables, and the Mann — Whitney test (indicating the median and interquartile range) was used for quantitative variables, since the distribution according to the Shapiro — Wilk test was abnormal. In our study, some value orientations were stable for different groups (the differences are insignificant). In total, five value orientations were identified that are typical of all age periods: in the business domain — “Responsibility”, “Conflict Avoidance”, “Independence”; in the family domain — “No leader, parity” and “Financial responsibility on the husband”. On the contrary, some value orientations were specific for certain groups (the differences are statistically significant). In total, we discovered several trends in value orientations changes: 1) Professionalism is always important, but especially for at the stage of Youth and Maturity of the business, 2) The formation of an ethical position of the business occurs during the period of Wisdom, 3) The energy of a business owner is non-uniform distributed across the stages of his business development. 4) In the family relations domain, entrepreneurs after 50 years invest more attention and meaning in raising their own children. Findings. As a result of the study, a model of cyclical changes in the owners’ value orientation was proposed. The model includes 4 business stages depending on the age of the business and significantly different value orientations for the comparison groups: Childhood (less than five years old) — acquiring professional skills; Youth (6–10 years old) — persistence and determination; Maturity (11–20 years old) — stability; Wisdom (over 20 years) — recovery of energy and serving people. The proposed value orientation dynamics model can be used to predict cyclical changes, to develop value foundations at different business age, as well as to resolve crises emerging with growth.

The relevance of personal readiness for change is due to the radical transformation of the model of economic behavior of entrepreneurs in the context of restrictive measures by the state associated with the coronavirus pandemic. Purpose. The aim of the study is to understand the possibilities of small business entrepreneurs in a situation of subjective uncertainty that has arisen in connection with the coronavirus pandemic. The article describes the evolution of approaches to the study of psychological readiness. The appeal to the concept of “uncertainty” is associated with increased attention to the problems of social changes, which are subjectively experienced by small business entrepreneurs as a stream of situations. Method. The sample consisted of 229 small business entrepreneurs of Irkutsk and Irkutsk Region. Standardized methods were used to measure a person’s readiness for change, propensity to take risks and novelty. Correlation-regression analysis of the collected empirical data was applied and a model of personal readiness of small business entrepreneurs for changes was built, which uses such factors as: Passion; Resourcefulness; Optimism; Enterprise; Adaptability; Confidence; Tolerance for ambiguity. Findings. With the help of correlation-regression analysis, the strength of the connection between the factors of personal readiness for change and predictors of the propensity to novelty and readiness to take risks was established, and the contribution of predictors to the formation of the personal readiness of entrepreneurs to change in general was determined. The level of personal readiness for changes among regional male entrepreneurs is significantly higher than among women. Personal readiness of regional small business entrepreneurs for changes in conditions of uncertainty, not related to restrictive measures of restrictive measures by the state due to the coronavirus pandemic, combining with other personality traits that act as its predictors. Each of the predictors has private connections with specific parameters of readiness for change (Passion, Resourcefulness, Optimism, Enterprise, Adaptability, Confidence, Tolerance to ambiguity). At the same time, Personal readiness for change is negative with such indicators of the desire for novelty as the Ability to disinhibit and Sensitivity to routine. The value of the results. The regression model of personal readiness for change is characterized by a positive contribution of the predictor “Orientation to acquire new experience” and a negative contributor of the predictor “Manner of disinhibition”. That is, in conditions of subjective uncertainty, regional entrepreneurs confirm the acquisition of new experience, the introduction of innovations while weakening psychological barriers that limit hidden feelings and needs.

Purpose. The present study aims to analyze the relationship between perceived levels of emotional labor and organizational commitment among women heads of profile department at pedagogical universities in Ukraine. Study design. The research population consisted of 80 women department heads in 31 teacher-training universities, 15 of which are pedagogical universities in Ukraine in the first quarter of 2020. A 16-item “Emotional Labor Scale” and an 18-item “Organizational Commitment Scale” were applied to the participants for data collection. SPSS 17.0 package program was used to analyze frequency and percentage values of demographic features and arithmetic means and standard deviations of scale scores. While Independent T-test was used for the analysis of marital status and job satisfaction variables, One-way ANOVA test was used to analyze age, length of service and the number of department academics. Findings. Women academics’ genuine acting behaviors were lowly and negatively correlated with deep acting behavior (r = .17), lowly and positively correlated with emotional commitment (r = .13), highly and positively correlated with continuance commitment (r = .71, p < .01), and lowly and positively correlated with normative commitment (r = .01). Women academics’ deep acting behaviors were lowly and positively correlated with emotional commitment (r = .29, p < .05), lowly and negatively commitment with continuance commitment (r = .05), and moderately and positively correlated with normative commitment (r = .42, p < .01). Women academics’ emotional commitment behaviors were lowly and positively correlated with continuance commitment (r = .21) and normative commitment (r = .24). Their continuance commitment behaviors were lowly and negatively correlated with normative commitment (r = .09). Values of results. The findings of the present study suggested a moderate positive correlation between women academics’ levels of emotional labor and organizational commitment. While significant differences were observed in terms of marital status and age, no statistically significant differences were found in terms of length of service, number of department academics and job satisfaction.

Purpose. The purpose of this study is to investigate the interrelationship between emotional intelligence and trust in the workplace. Emotional intelligence implies a set of skills and competencies that predetermine perception, evaluating, understanding and managing emotions. The constructive emotional activity of employees promotes the formation of a sequence of the actions, truthfulness, effective communication, mutual assistance and overall acceptance of organizational norms and strategies. Study design. The article is based on a study conducted among the staff of a government agency located in the administrative center of the province of Kastamonu (Turkey). Emotional intelligence is represented by ‘self-emotion appraisal’, ‘others’ emotion appraisal’, ‘use of emotion’ and ‘regulation of emotion’. ‘Self-emotion appraisal’ is characterized by the ability to understand personal emotions and express them naturally. ‘Others’ emotion appraisal’ creates sensitivity to the emotions of others and helps to draw conclusions about their intentions. ‘Use of emotion’ refers to the capability to channel them into constructive activities. ‘Regulation of emotion’ involves controlling emotions in order to cope with a crisis. Trust in the workplace embodies the confidence of employees in mutual good faith, the conviction that each of them will fulfill their function to the fullest and will make a voluntary contribution to total labor productivity. Findings. The findings of the study revealed a positive correlation between emotional intelligence and trust in the workplace; meaningful and constructive use of emotions determines the growth of trust in the workplace. Value of the results. The results of this study state the importance of emotional competence in the context of uniting employees around the corporate mission and optimizing production synergy in organizations.

Purpose. This article is devoted to the study of the psychological characteristics of age cohorts of civil service employees. Design. The study involved 596 employees (448 men and 148 women) in the civil service, aged 20 to 50, performing five types of activities: communication and information; sensory-motor; information-analytical and analytical-legal; control and audit. The sample was divided into six age cohorts: the first cohort (20–25 years old, M = 23.9); the second cohort (26–30 years old, M = 27.8); the third cohort (31–35 years old, M = 32.7); the fourth cohort (36–40 years old, M = 37.5); the fifth cohort (41–45 years old, M = 42); the sixth cohort (46–50 years old, M = 46.9). Behavioral characteristics were diagnosed using the “Rice-Night Frustration Technique” by S. Rosenzweig. Characterological features were studied using the clinical questionnaire “Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, MMPI” by S. Hathaway and J. McKinley and “Test of color choices” by M. Luscher. Motivational variables were diagnosed using the “Test of humorous phrases” by A. S. Boldyreva (Babina) and A. G. Shmelev. Findings. According to the results of the study, in situations of frustration, young employees most often blame other people, while older employees see the reason for the extreme situation in the influence of circumstances and environmental factors. With age, in the structure of the character of employees, there is an increase in the traits of neurotic self-control, anxiety, pedantry, and against the background of a decrease in overall activity, the manifestation of introversive, depressive and hypomanic tendencies. In the palette of motivational variables, with growing up, material and cognitive determinants decrease with an increase in interests associated with family problems. There is a certain cyclical nature of the content of motives, which is visible in the comparison of young and aged civil servants against the background of the autonomy of motivation of 40-year-olds. The value of the results. The results obtained demonstrate the difference in values, motivation, and coping strategies in different age cohorts. This work can serve as a basis for further study of the problem of assessing life-meaning orientations, external and internal determinants necessary for successful performance.

In a series of two articles, the methodology and ideologemes of human resource management are discussed (using the example of formulating the tasks of professional selection). Trends in historical changes in the state of social objects (people, social groups, organizations, institutions), subject areas and disciplinary methodology, psychologists’ understanding of the content of social inquiry are considered. Purpose of the research: a critical analysis of the theory and practice of solving problems of human resource management (on the example of professional selection); subject: ideas about professional selection as a scientific and scientific-practical problem; methods: historical and theoretical analysis, retrospective analysis of the results of empirical research. Hypothesis: The formulation of scientific and scientific-practical tasks is determined by the interaction of a few factors (the evolution of social objects, current and latent social request, the state of the methodology and methods of the discipline, etc.). Adequate methodological reflection of the state of social objects, forms of social request, the state of methodology and methods of discipline contributes to the success of solving disciplinary scientific and scientific-practical problems, inadequate — it reduces. Findings. In conclusion of the first article, it is stated: at the end of the twentieth century. there has been a way out of the current time and space as conditions for solving the personnel tasks of companies; ideas about the required qualities of the subject are shifting from the initially biologically determined ones, which determine the effectiveness of labor actions, to the qualities, abilities, and skills that determine the interaction of people in contact work groups in a changing environment; the historical tendencies of the sequential displacement of the study of assessments and the possibility of managing individual human activity towards the cognition of the socio-psychological effects generated by the joint professional activity of people are highlighted; progress from the statement of socio-psychological and psychological effects in human development to the search and description of the patterns and mechanisms of this development with the prospect of managing them. Highlighting the main “trends” allows us to outline only the nearest states and parameters of the evolution of objects. The new tasks of the discipline should be formulated taking into account our national tasks, the key long-term goals of the country’s development, taking into account the real historical prospects’, taking into account the real historical prospects.

Purpose. The paper is aimed to study the relationship of resources with job burnout and post-traumatic stress of nurses in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as strategies for coping with them. Method. The sample comprised of 130 respondents, 112 women and 18 men, ranging from 21 to 62 years old. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 81 respondents worked in the “red zone” and 49 respondents in the “green zone”. The questionnaire “Job burnout” by N. E. Vodopyanova and E. S. Starchenkova and the “Scale for assessing the impact of a traumatic event” were used to measure the level of post-traumatic stress and job burnout. The main constructs of personal resources were life-purpose orientations and social support. Coping strategies were described using the “COPE” questionnaire validated by E. I. Rasskazova, T. O. Gordeeva and E. N. Osin. The main methods of data analysis were Mann — Whitney U-test, Kruskal — Wallis H-test, and Spearman’s correlation ρ coefficient. Findings. It was shown that the level of job burnout and post-traumatic stress among employees of the “green zone” are at an average level, and among employees of the “red zone” — at a high level. At the same time, the level of professional success among employees of the “green zone” is lower than among those who worked in the “red zone” during the pandemic (p ≤ 0.05). Choosing coping strategies, workers in the “red zone” more often resort to both strategies aimed at actively solving an emerging problem and the strategy of mentally avoiding existing difficulties. Among coping resources, the greatest number of connections with the choice of adaptive coping strategies was shown by the parameters of social support. The feeling of “Emotional support” is associated with the choice of strategies such as positive reformulation and personal growth (ρ = 0.68, p ≤ 0.05), active coping (ρ = 0.63, p ≤ 0.05) and search for emotional social support (ρ = 0.47, p ≤ 0.05). Among the parameters of life-purpose orientations the largest number of correlations with the choice of non-adaptive coping strategies was shown by the orientation “Locus of control — Life”. Such external coping resources as marital status showed a negative correlation with the choice of strategies for active coping, search for emotional social support and planning (ρ = –0.41, ρ = –0.52 and ρ = –0.48 at p ≤ 0, 05 respectively). Parental status is negatively associated with the choice of the strategy for positive reformulation and personal growth (ρ = –0.37 at p ≤ 0.05). Value of the results. It has been shown that in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, job burnout is more pronounced among workers in the “red zone”, but at the same time they feel more job success and significance. In addition, health workers in the “red zone” are less likely to choose non-adaptive coping strategies than workers in the “green zone”. Among the internal resources of coping, the largest number of correlations with the choice of adaptive coping strategies was shown by the parameters of social support, while with the choice of non-adaptive coping strategies — the orientation “Locus of control — Life”. In conclusion, the results obtained are interpreted in accordance with previous studies, the limitations of the study are discussed, and the possibility of drawing up recommendations and training programs for medical workers to prevent and reduce the level of job burnout and post-traumatic stress is discussed.

Purpose. The study is devoted to the problem of the relations between personal resources with work motivation and occupational burnout dynamics. The sample consisted of librarians from five city public libraries (N = 266) aged from 20 to 71 years (88% women). Method. The research was conducted over a one-year period and included three occasions with approximately six months in between. Such measurement instruments as W. Schaufeli’s burnout questionnaire (BAT), dispositional optimism questionnaire (LOT), R. Schwarzer and M. Erusalem’s general self-efficacy scale, hardiness test, work motivation questionnaire based on self-determination theory were used. Findings. According to the results of the analysis, carried out with structural equation modeling, it was found out, that personal resources are related to burnout growth (β = .63, p = .03), connected with the growth of controlled motivation (β = .57, p < .01) and decrease in autonomous motivation (β = –.71, p = .03). The dynamics of burnout are not linked with the changes in work motivation. The obtained results are discussed from the conservation of resources theory and the job demands-resources model perspectives. Value of results. In our case, burnout is the result of the loss of resources, therefore, the connection between personal resources and burnout remains significant when controlling motivation. At the same time, motivation is woven into the process of saving and increasing resources. Accordingly, the process of losing resources turns out to be psychologically more significant than the process of increasing resources, which is associated with labor motivation, which is noticeable in respondents with a low level of personal resources: they have less pronounced changes in motivation and professional burnout over time.

Workspace is continuously changing from traditional environment to the office culture presupposing spatial arrangements for various nooks and crevices for concentration, relaxation, breaks, games, or team gatherings. Such changes are aimed at increasing employees’ well-being and psychological safety. The way employees perceive working environment lead to effective or ineffective adaptation to job requirements and work efficiency. This process may be mediated by cultural and individual differences that organizational and business psychologists account for in dealing with organizational change. An adjustment to further research directions and study methodologies with a proper interdisciplinary holistic approach may unlock previously unseen correlations and phenomena with the theoretical and practical design benefits, affecting not only the sphere of the workplace physical environments but many other areas of human inhabitation and well-being. Surrounding environment, physical body and personal qualities are thoroughly intertwined and cannot be considered totally independent from each other, as they all equally contribute to spatial and experiential apprehension. Accounting for such factors may help organizational psychologists improve the environment and everyday settings, enhance the potential of individuals actively cope with and shape environments.