Occupational stress, workplace incivility and job satisfaction with the moderating role of psychological capital among staff in an Emergency Services Control Unit.
Date
2018
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Abstract
The present study aimed to establish the moderating role of psychological capital in the
relationship between occupational stress, uncivil workplace behaviour and job satisfaction
among Emergency Service Control Unit staff in the eThekwini region of Durban, KwaZulu-
Natal. The theoretical frameworks of The Job Stress Model (Spector & Fox, 2002) and The
Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions (Frederickson, 1998) were utilised to
understand the relationships between occupational stress, uncivil workplace behaviour, job
satisfaction and psychological capital. The research aim of the current study was to determine
the relationship between occupational stress, uncivil workplace behaviour, job satisfaction and
psychological insofar as determining whether psychological capital and occupational stress
possessed any predictive value for the outcomes of uncivil workplace behaviour and job
satisfaction as well as whether psychological capital moderated the relationship between
uncivil workplace behaviour and occupational stress. A quantitative research designed was
employed in the current study using a Positive Psychology framework. A cross-sectional
survey design was utilised and data was collected from a sample of 70 (n=70), where all
participants completed questionnaires which measured each of the constructs under
investigation. Data for the present study was collected using six questionnaires, namely; a
Biographical Questionnaire, The Job Stress Scale, The Uncivil Workplace Behaviour Scale,
Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire as well as the Psychological Capital Questionnaire. The
data analysis phase consisted of descriptive and inferential statistics, Pearson Product-Moment correlation analysis, multiple regression as well as hierarchical regression. The results of the
current study indicated that high levels of occupational stress are highly correlated with high
levels of uncivil workplace behaviour and low levels of job satisfaction. Further, findings
indicated that high levels of psychological capital were highly correlated to high levels of job
satisfaction but not correlated to uncivil workplace behaviour. In addition, findings suggested that both psychological capital and occupational stress exhibited a predictive value for job
satisfaction, whilst the hopeful-confidence subconstruct of psychological capital further
predicted job satisfaction. Lastly, it was found that psychological capital did not moderate the
relationship between occupational stress and job satisfaction. In spite of the various limitations
of the current study, it has produced significant findings which in itself, offers a valuable
contribution to academic literature, predominantly within the domain of positive psychology
and call centre research in the South African context.
Description
Master of Social Science in Industrial Psychology. University of KwaZulu-Natal. Durban, 2018.