Measuring the Resource of Psychological Capital
Fred Luthans, Bruce J. Avolio, & James B. Avey
Multirater SurveySelf-form only Survey
- Web Based Services for Research
- For Research
- Example Items
- References
- PsyCap for Assessment & Development
Psychological Capital (PsyCap) is a positive state-like capacity that has undergone extensive theory-building and research. Psychological Capital is defined as "an individual's positive psychological state of development and is characterized by:
- having confidence (self efficacy) to take on and put in the necessary effort to succeed at challenging tasks;
- making a positive attribution (optimism) about succeeding now and in the future;
- persevering toward goals and, when necessary, redirecting paths to goals (hope) in order to succeed; and
- when beset by problems and adversity, sustaining
and bouncing back and even beyond (resilience) to attain success."
--Luthans, Youssef & Avolio, Psychological Capital (Oxford University Press, 2007)
Thus, the PsyCap consists of efficacy, optimism, hope and resilience and when combined has been shown to represent a second-order, core factor that predicts performance and satisfaction better than each of the four factors that make it up (Luthans, Avolio, et al., 2007).
Published research on PsyCap has found that it is related to multiple performance outcomes in the workplace, lower employee absenteeism, less employee cynicism and intentions to quit, and higher job satisfaction, commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviors. Research has also found PsyCap can be enhanced by a supportive work climate. In terms of being state-like, PsyCap has been developed by short training sessions in both classroom and field settings and electronically through the internet.
The PCQ, a measure of PsyCap with 24 items, has undergone extensive psychometric analyses and support from samples representing service, manufacturing, education, high-tech, military and cross cultural sectors. Each of the four components in PsyCap are measured by six items. The resulting score represents an individual's level of positive PsyCap.
If you are looking for the PCQ-12, the 12 item PCQ, you can use the PCQ-24 available from this website but extract the following items:
Efficacy: items 2, 3, 6
Hope: items 7, 10, 11, 12
Resilience: items 15, 16, 17
Optimism: items 21, 22
Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ) for Research -- Online Survey
Rather than reports, the researcher receives the PCQ raw data + SCALE SCORES in a csv file. Please note that this service is priced per participant with unlimited raters and is FOR RESEARCH USE ONLY.
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Multirater Online Survey
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| The PsyCap page for Assessment and Development includes a full developmental multirater report for PsyCap as measured by the PCQ. | ||
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For Research
The PCQ is available for research use to grow the information database associated with it and to provide further evidence of validity and reliability. The PCQ can only be used by researchers who have submitted the Agreement for Permission to use the PCQ including the description of their research.
To obtain the PCQ (for research purposes only), we will ask you to:
1. agree to our research use conditions and
2. complete an abstract of your research project using our online form.
The Abstract of Research Project contains the following questions:
- Main Focus of the Research
- Key Hypotheses Related to the PsyCap and the PCQ
- Sample Characteristics/Number of Participants
- Rater Sources/Methods of Data Collection
- Organizational Characteristics
- Country or Countries
- Language or languages if not English
Click
here when you are ready to complete these questions and
receive the PCQ for research
Example Items & Scale for the Rater Form
Instructions
Below are statements that describe how you may think about the person listed above right now. Use the following scale to indicate your level of agreement or disagreement with each statement.
| Strongly Disagree | Somewhat Disagree | Disagree | Agree | Somewhat Agree | Strongly Agree |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 1. | This person feels confident analyzing a long-term problem to find a solution. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 7. | If this person should find him/herself in a jam at work, he/she could think of many ways to get out of it. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 13. | When this person has a setback at work, he/she has trouble recovering from it, moving on. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
Copyright © 2007 Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PsyCap) by Fred L. Luthans, Ph.D., Bruce J. Avolio, Ph.D., & James A. Avey, Ph.D.. All rights reserved in all medium. Distributed by Mind Garden, Inc.
Translations of this instrument are available. Please follow the instructions on this page - look for the dropdown menu on a following page where you describe your Research Abstract. Click here when you are ready.
References/Resources
Books:
Luthans, F., Avolio, B.J., & Youseff, C. (2007). Psychological Capital: Developing the Human Competitive Edge. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Avolio, B.J., & Luthans, F. (2006). High impact leader: Moments matter in authentic leadership development. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Articles:
Avey, J.B., Reichard, R.J., Luthans, F., & Mhatre, K.H. (2011). Meta-analysis of the impact of positive psychological capital on employee attitudes, behaviors, and performance. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 22 (2), 127-152.
"The present meta-analysis included 51 independent samples (representing a total of N = 12,567 employees) that met the inclusion criteria. The results indicated the expected significant positive relationships between PsyCap and desirable employee attitudes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, psychological well-being), desirable employee behaviors (citizenship), and multiple measures of performance (self, supervisor evaluations, and objective). There was also a significant negative relationship between PsyCap and undesirable employee attitudes (cynicism, turnover intentions, job stress, and anxiety) and undesirable employee behaviors (deviance)."
Luthans, F., Avey, J.B., & Patera, J.L. (2008). Experimental analysis of a web-based training intervention to develop positive psychological capital. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 7, 209-221.
Luthans, F., Avolio, B.J., Avey, J.B., & Norman, S.M. (2007). Positive psychological capital: Measurement and relationship with performance and satisfaction. Personnel Psychology 60, 541-572.
Luthans, F., & Youssef, (2007). Emerging positive organizational behavior. Journal of Management, 33, 321-349.
Luthans, F., Avey, J.B., Avolio, B.J., Norman, S., & Combs, G.M. (2006). Psychological capital development: A micro intervention. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 27, 387-393.
Luthans, F., Avey, J.B., Avolio, B.J., Peterson, S.J.. (2010). The development and resulting performance impact of psychological capital. Human Resource Development Quarterly. 21, 41-67.
Luthans, F., Avolio, B.J., Walumbwa, F.O., & Li, W. (2005). The psychological capital of Chinese workers: Exploring the relationship with performance. Management and Organization Review, 1, 249-271.
Parker, S. (1998). Enhancing role-breadth self-efficacy: The roles of job enrichment and other organizational interventions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 835-852.
Scheier, M.F., & Carver, C.S. (1985). Optimism, coping, and health: Assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectanncies. health Psychology, 4, 219-247.
Snyder, C.R. Sympson, S., Ybasco, F., Borders, T., Babyak, M, & Higgens, R. (1996). Development and validatin of the state hope scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 321-335.
Wagnild, G.M., & Young, H.M. (1993). Development and psychometric evaluation of the resiliency scale. Journal of Nursing management. 1(2), 165-178.
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