Psychological capital and individual work performance of public high school teachers in the Free State Province : The role of happiness

Abstract

Teachers are without a doubt the most critical members of our society. They play a significant role in the country's economic growth and the reason people succeed in the world. The profession requires commitment, dedication, and passion. Therefore, positive emotions are crucial in their field of work. Not many studies focused on positive behaviour and its impact on individual work performance of teachers. Most of the studies focused on the negative factors experienced by teachers. It appears that research on positive behaviour, specifically the relationship between psychological capital happiness and individual work performance from a cross sectional perspective is needed. The study conceptualised psychological capital, happiness and individual work performance from a theoretical perspective and the review established that, limited research has been done on the relationship between psychological capital, happiness, and individual work performance in public high schools in South Africa. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between psychological capital, happiness, and individual work performance amongst public high school teachers in the Free State province of South Africa. A cross sectional survey design was used with the sample (N-260) public high school teachers. Psychological capital questionnaire (i.e., self- efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience), orientation to happiness questionnaire (i.e., pleasure, meaning and engagement) and individual work performance (i.e., task performance, contextual performance and counterproductive behaviour) were used to measure the constructs. The specific objectives of the study were. • To understand the relationship between psychological capital and happiness amongst public high school teachers in the Free State Province • To understand the relationship between happiness and individual work performance amongst public high school teachers in the Free State province • To understand the relationship between psychological capital and individual work performance amongst public high school teachers in the Free State Province and • To investigate whether psychological capital indirectly affects individual work performance through happiness amongst public high school teachers in the Free State Province The results indicated that psychological capital had a significant relationship with happiness. There was a relationship between happiness and individual work performance. Psychological capital had a positive relationship with individual work performance. Inverse to what was expected, psychological capital had no indirect association with individual work performance through happiness. The results contribute to literature on the importance of psychological capital and happiness in the education sector.