Are all happy groups productive? Interaction between group positive affect and group job performance: exploratory study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21615/cesp.7130Keywords:
group positive affect, group performance, happy-productive group, organization managementAbstract
Understanding the relationship between positive emotions (such as job satisfaction) and job performance has generated great interest, a wide variety of studies and even a popularly accepted term: the happy-productive worker thesis. However, over the years, some limitations on its study have been confirmed, as well as the existence of a multilevel perspective, in which we can find happy and productive groups in organizations. Following the concept of sustainable wellbeing-productive synergy (SBPS), the main objective of this work is to analyze the relationship between group positive affect (enthusiasm, optimism, satisfaction, comfort, relaxation) and group performance (intra-role, extra-role), proposing the existence of 4 different types of interaction: 1) Happy-productive group, 2) Unhappy-unproductive group, 3) Happy-unproductive group, and 4) Unhappy-productive group. The sample is composed of 584 workers (63.6% women) aggregated in 91 work teams belonging to 14 Spanish Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Through cluster analysis, the results determined the existence of 4 types of interaction or patterns between group positive affect and group performance: Happy-productive (41.8%), Unhappy-unproductive (20.9%), Happy-unproductive (29.7%), and Unhappy-productive (7.7%). The results could help organizations to take actions regarding psychosocial risk assessment, performance management and group redesign.
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