Organizational Behaviour

Abstract: Following the logic of the “happy-productive worker” hypothesis, organizations have been increasingly interested in new ways to elicit employee wellbeing. Consequently, research on mindfulness in work contexts has been burgeoning in recent years, as both conceptual and empirical reviews substantiated its importance as a cost-effective approach to promoting employee wellbeing. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether employee happiness extends or transcends the conventional notions of employee wellbeing. More specifically, we invoke the positive psychology literature to argue that (a) employee happiness is related but distinct from employee wellbeing and (b) that initial levels of employee wellbeing might moderate the effect of mindfulness-based interventions. We conducted a secondary analysis of a publicly available dataset to test our predictions: focusing on 35 healthcare professionals from a healthcare organization in Barcelona, Spain. More precisely, employing a multivariate hierarchical regression, we compared if the incremental effect of an eight-week mindfulness-based strength intervention (MBSI) over a Mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) might be moderated by employees' initial levels before the intervention starts. Our results supported a moderating effect of employees' initial psychological wellbeing on a MBSI versus MBI. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Abstract: Evidence suggests that Latin Americans display elevated levels of emotional expressivity and positivity. Here, we tested whether Latin Americans possess a unique form of interdependence called expressive interdependence, characterized by the open expression of positive emotions related to social engagement (e.g., feelings of closeness to others). In Study 1, we compared Latin Americans from Chile and Mexico with European Americans in the United States, a group known to be highly independent. Latin Americans expressed positive socially engaging emotions, particularly in response to negative events affecting others, whereas European Americans favored positive socially disengaging emotions, such as pride, especially in response to personally favorable circumstances. Study 2 replicated these findings with another group of Latin Americans from Colombia and European Americans in the United States. Study 2 also included Japanese in Japan, who expressed positive emotions less than Latin and European Americans. However, Japanese displayed a higher tendency to express negative socially engaging emotions, such as guilt and shame, compared to both groups. Our data demonstrate that emotional expression patterns align with overarching ethos of interdependence in Latin America and Japan and independence among European Americans. However, Latin Americans and Japanese exhibited different styles of interdependence. Latin Americans were expressive of positive socially engaging emotions, whereas Japanese were less expressive overall. Moreover, when Japanese expressed emotions, they emphasized negative socially engaging emotions. Implications for theories of culture and emotion are discussed

Abstract: We applied the social evaluation framework to investigate the traits desired in an "ideal" follower, which were compared to the traits desired in an "ideal" leader. Across three studies and five samples, both differences and similarities in role-specific preferences mapped onto the Vertical-Horizontal dimensions of the social evaluation framework in ways that aligned with the demands of each role. Traits higher on the Horizontal-Morality facet (e.g., cooperative, dutiful) and lower on the Vertical-Assertiveness facet (e.g., confident, ambitious) differentiated ideal follower preferences from ideal leader preferences. Focusing on the traits most strongly desired in relation to each role, traits that supported social coordination and collective goal attainment (i.e., work ethic, cooperativeness) were prioritized in relation to ideal followers, whereas intelligence was prioritized for ideal leaders. Trustworthiness was equally valued across both roles. Moreover, we differentiated between necessary and luxury traits by adjusting the budget individuals could allocate toward the desired traits. Investments in necessary versus luxury traits further supported the social evaluation framework and highlighted the need to account for the facet-level distinctions within the Vertical (assertiveness, ability) and Horizontal (morality, friendliness) dimensions. Further, these findings were found to be robust across manipulations (e.g., the target's gender and hierarchical level).