Invited articles / Invited articles
Fostering Healthy Organisations: From Life Designing to Life Meaning as primary prevention for well-being construction. Theoretical innovation and empirical evidence
Fostering Healthy Organisations: From Life Designing to Life Meaning as primary prevention for well-being construction. Theoretical innovation and empirical evidence
Mirko Duradoni
International Research and Intervention Laboratory of Cross-Cultural Positive Psychology, Prevention, and Sustainability (ICCPPsychP&SLab) and International Research and Intervention Laboratory of Cross-Cultural Positive Psychology, Prevention, and Sustainability (ICCPPsychP&SLab), Department of Education, Languages, Intercultures, Literatures and Psychology, University of Florence, Italy Direttore del Laboratorio internazionale di ricerca e intervento in Psicologia Positiva Cross-Culturale, Prevenzione e Sostenibilità (ICCPPsychP&SLab) e del Laboratorio internazionale di ricerca e intervento in Psicologia del Lavoro e delle Organizzazioni per l’orientamento professionale, il career counseling, i talenti e organizzazioni sane (WOPLabOProCCareerT&HO) Dipartimento di Formazione, Lingue, Intercultura, Letteratura e Psicologia, Università degli Studi di Firenze, https://www.forlilpsi.unifi.it/vp-30-laboratori.html
Annamaria Di Fabio
Director of the International Research and Intervention Laboratory of Cross-Cultural Positive Psychology, Prevention, and Sustainability (ICCPPsychP&SLab) and International Research and Intervention Laboratory of Cross-Cultural Positive Psychology, Prevention, and Sustainability (ICCPPsychP&SLab), Department of Education, Languages, Intercultures, Literatures and Psychology, University of Florence, Italy Direttore del Laboratorio internazionale di ricerca e intervento in Psicologia Positiva Cross-Culturale, Prevenzione e Sostenibilità (ICCPPsychP&SLab) e del Laboratorio internazionale di ricerca e intervento in Psicologia del Lavoro e delle Organizzazioni per l’orientamento professionale, il career counseling, i talenti e organizzazioni sane (WOPLabOProCCareerT&HO) Dipartimento di Formazione, Lingue, Intercultura, Letteratura e Psicologia, Università degli Studi di Firenze, https://www.forlilpsi.unifi.it/vp-30-laboratori.html
Sommario
Dopo aver delineato il quadro teorico delle healthy organisations, il presente contributo traccia lo sviluppo del career counseling e l’evoluzione storica e concentrandosi in particolare sul passaggio dal Life Designing al Life Meaning come cornice teorica in prevenzione primaria per la costruzione del benessere rispondendo alle sfide del XXI secolo. Vengono presentate ricerche empiriche sul Life Meaning e nuovi costrutti nella cornice delle healthy organisations. Vengono offerte inoltre future prospettive per gli interventi di career counseling in relazione al life meaning per healthy organisations e costruzione di benessere, inclusa l’attenzione al decent work e alla nuova area di ricerca della Psicologia della sostenibilità e dello sviluppo sostenibile.
Parole chiave
Life Designing; Life Meaning, Healthy Organisations, costruzione di benessere; innovazione teorica; evidenze empiriche.
Abstract
After outlining the theoretical framework of healthy organisations, this contribution traces the development of career counseling and its historical evolution, focusing in particular on the transition from Life Designing to Life Meaning as the theoretical framework in a primary prevention perspective for well-being construction in order to answer the challenges of the 21st century. Empirical research on Life Meaning and new constructs in the healthy organisations framework are presented. Furthermore, future perspectives are offered for career counseling interventions in relation to life meaning for healthy organisations and well-being construction, including attention to decent work and the new research area of Psychology of sustainability and sustainable development.
Keywords
Life Designing; Life Meaning; Healthy Organisations; well-being construction; primary prevention; theoretical innovation; empirical evidences.
The world of work in the 21st century presents multiple complexities and is characterised by uncertainty, instability and incessant change (Blustein, Kenny, Di Fabio, & Guichard, 2019). In this framework, it appears necessary to focus on the wellbeing of workers and organisations in order to promote healthy workers and healthy organisations (Di Fabio, 2017a).
Work has a key role in the health and wellbeing of workers and it is thus essential that we continue to reflect on the potential negative impact of the current structure of the job market, characterised by instability and incessant change (Blustein et al., 2019) and on the preventive resources which need to be developed. The insecurity of the current work context highlights the importance of promoting healthy organisations (Di Fabio, 2017a) and healthy business (De Smet, Loch, & Schaninger, 2007; Grawitch & Ballard, 2016) within a framework of primary prevention (Di Fabio & Kenny, 2015, 2016; Hage et al., 2007).
In healthy organisations, culture, atmosphere and best practices generate an environment which promotes health and safety as much as organisational efficiency (Lowe, 2010). Healthy organisations lead to a successful healthy business (De Smet et al., 2017; Grawitch & Ballard, 2016), maintaining the importance of the connection between profits for the organisation and workers’ health (Raya & Panneerselvam, 2013). A healthy organisation is not therefore simply a productive organisation that generates high profits but an organisation that also promotes healthy business, giving utmost priority to the wellbeing of workers (Di Fabio, 2017a; Grawitch & Ballard, 2016) as a critical element of its construction.
Positive organisational health psychology (Di Fabio, 2017a) emphasises a positive primary prevention approach (Di Fabio & Kenny, 2016; Hage et al., 2007; Di Fabio & Saklofske, 2014) with the aim of developing workers’ resources in organisational contexts. In a primary prevention framework, which highlights the importance of preventing the development of problems before they start (Caplan, 1964), the focus is on encouraging the strengths of people who work in organisations (Di Fabio, 2017a, 2017b). Positive organisational health psychology (Di Fabio, 2017a), which is based upon a perspective of positive primary prevention (Di Fabio & Kenny, 2016; Hage et al., 2007), aims to develop workers’ resources through preventive interventions conducted at different levels: individual, group, organisational and inter-organisational (Tetrick & Peiró, 2012). This perspective of positive organisational health psychology (Di Fabio, 2017a) aims to respond to the current challenge of promoting a healthier society by building healthy organisations, centred on the wellbeing of workers as a key factor and intrinsically opening up to a cross-cultural perspective.
In a positive organisational health psychology framework, the importance of developing positive preventive resources in order to promote healthy organisations in the fluid and ever-changing scenario of the 21st century is highlighted. In this framework, which is being progressively defined in an ever more cross-cultural scope, the potential highly preventive role of career counseling can be seen. Career counseling as an adaptive way of steering through the turbulent and fluid scenarios of the 21st century on the basis of constructed and empowered profound meanings. Working in career and life construction means engaging primary prevention. Traditionally, prevention can be divided into three levels of action: primary prevention, secondary prevention and tertiary prevention (Caplan, 1964). Primary prevention focuses both on preventing a problem from surfacing and on encouraging psychological wellbeing. Secondary prevention concerns early intervention at the emergence of initial symptoms. Tertiary prevention is designed to reduce symptoms and support the functional recovery of the individual. Primary prevention proves to be more effective when the efforts to reduce risks are combined with efforts to increase resources (Di Fabio & Kenny, 2016; Hage et al., 2007), focusing on building individuals’ strengths (Di Fabio & Kenny, 2016; Di Fabio & Saklofske, 2014, 2019).
In the 20th century, workers pursued their careers within stable organisations whilst in the 21st century, professional paths appear more and more unpredictable and workers are called upon not only to make decisions regarding their own careers but also to deal with transitions which are much more common now than they were in the past (Savickas, 2011). Career counseling interventions aim to increase the self-awareness of a person in order to adaptively strengthen their professional and personal growth (Di Fabio, 2019; Di Fabio & Bernaud, 2014, 2018; Di Fabio & Maree, 2013; Guichard, 2009, 2016a, 2016b; Maree & Di Fabio, 2018; Savickas, 2011, 2016). Guichard (2013) offered quite a useful taxonomy by differentiating between three kinds of main intervention in the field of guidance: informative interventions which aim to provide the individual with the capacity and ability to gather meaningful, trustworthy information regarding the job market; guidance interventions which develop the vocational self-concept in relation to one’s ever changing work and life context; and dialogue based interventions in order to make it easier for people to authentically construct their own personal meanings at work and in life.
The historical evolution of career counseling
The three phases of the historical development of career counselling which have traditionally appeared in literature are the following (Guichard & Huteau, 2001): the first phase is distinguished by the person-environment fit model, where one looks for the correspondence between job demands and individual characteristics; the second phase emphasises guidance choices in terms of professional values and interests; finally the third phase is centred on the self, what is emphasised is the expression of the most authentic aspects of self in order to construct one’s own personal and professional identity. Going into more detail, we can trace six phases of the psychology of guidance and career counseling (Di Fabio, 2009, 2015): the diagnostic attitudinal phase, the character affective phase, the clinical dynamic phase, the vocational development phase, the phase centring on the person or the maturative personal phase and finally the current phase which can be defined as a post-modern dialogic phase. In the current phase which characterises the 21st century, the reference paradigm is Life designing (Savickas et al., 2009), which developed around the evolution of the following three theories. The theory of career construction (Savickas, 2005), characterised by Self as story, by the co-construction between individual and community and fundamentally based upon preventive resources like career adaptability; the theory of self-construction (Guichard, 2005) which considers people as plural identities and highlights the value of narratability, biographicability and reflexivity. The theory of life construction (Guichard, 2013), characterised by the connections between different moments experienced by plural individuals who reflexively identify the SIF or aspired Subjective Identity Form through the narration of future events, capable of developing a plan in order to give absolute meaningfulness to one’s life.
In this reference framework, adaptability (Savickas, 2001; Savickas & Porfeli, 2012) for career construction refers to the individual’s ability to foresee changes and their own future in a context that is subject to incessant transformation. The four main dimensions of this construct are the following: interest, control, curiosity and trust. Individuals are called upon to maintain their employability and actively manage their careers using adaptability, intentionality, lifelong learning, autobiographical reasoning and meaning through the construction of Self as a project (Savickas, 2011). In the theory of self-construction and that of life construction people are considered bearers of plural selves, which refer to an individual’s identity as a dynamic system of subjective identity forms, seeing as people interact in different contexts, experiencing different things through which they develop various images of themselves, assuming different roles from one context to another and by doing so thus implementing their own self (Guichard, 2005, 2013) in order to create through reflexive processes (Di Fabio, Maree & Kenny, 2018) a metamorphosis between actor and author of their own identity construction (Guichard, 2013; Savickas, 2011).
From Life Designing to Life Meaning
Whilst the industrialisation of the 20th century determined the creation of numerous, diverse occupations with a job market that was characterised by stability and well-defined hierarchical relationships, with a worker often called upon to carry out the same job in the same company their whole life, the 21st century, which is characterised by globalisation and technological development, has brought about a substantial and pervasive change in the characteristics of the job market. The scenario has changed drastically. In the new current context changes have become more frequent and more incessant and workers are being continuously asked to undergo training and develop new competences, flexibility, employability and often resilience, together with preventive resources. This new framework has led not only to focusing on career development but also on career management (Di Fabio, 2014a) and a related condition of career construction, which is becoming more and more individual and less connected to the organisation (Duarte, 2004).
Since the world of work is undergoing constant change (Weiten, Dunn, & Hammer, 2014), people need a sense of connection and meaning (Blustein, 2006, 2011; Di Fabio & Blustein, 2016) in order to face the incessant transitioning in a world characterised by the attributes of liquidity (Bauman, 2000) and acceleration (Rosa, 2015).
Following the presentation of the theoretical paradigm of Life Designing, we witnessed the introduction of a new theoretical framework, which built upon the most important aspects, emphasising the value of meaning and sense of life in the 21st century with the transition from the motivation paradigm to the meaning paradigm (Di Fabio & Blustein, 2016). Whilst the motivation paradigm can traditionally be divided into intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and lack of motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2000; Tremblay, Blanchard, Taylor, Pelletier, & Villeneuve, 2009), the new meaning paradigm (Di Fabio & Blustein, 2016) values the processes through which people are able to establish meaningful work experiences and go on to build a life which is meaningful to them. The sustainability of work and life projects (Maree & Di Fabio, 2018) proves to be firmly anchored to the construction of meanings (Di Fabio & Blustein, 2016) and the details of meaning (Di Fabio, 2017a).
The author who contributed most to promoting applied psychology on the meaning of life in the fields of guidance and career counseling is Jean-Luc Bernaud (2013). In the evolution of applied psychology, Bernaud, Lhotellier, Sovet, Arnoux-Nicolas & Pelayo (2015) present aspects of the meaning of life both as a product and as a process in their manual. As a product, it is the result of an existential reflection (in terms of level of meaning and search for meaning) and of a dynamic vision of an individual facing the matter of construction of meaning. As a process, it is based upon a complex analysis, which may concern past, present and future (in terms of meaning, direction and sensation) and on a reflective path that the individual takes in order to successfully deal with and manage the matter of meaning.
Delving further, the components of meaning as a product concern the degree to which a person attributes meaning to their life (level of meaning) and the possibility of meeting the need to give more meaning to their life; the energy a person uses to search for a meaning in their actions (search for meaning).
Meaning as a process has three dimensions. Specifically, the first dimension translates analysis and interpretation of life through the narration of experiences and values of one’s own life and that of others, based on the past, the present and the future (meaning). The second dimension, which looks to the future, concerns reflection on one’s own life, on the creation of a life project, analysing what has been done and what one would like to do through the interpretation of one’s personal and professional values (direction). Finally, the third dimension concerns the recording of past and present, characterised by how we experience and perceive the aspects of the world using our senses and connecting them to positive or negative emotions (sensation) (Bernaud, Lhotellier, Sovet, Arnoux-Nicolas & Pelayo, 2015).
Meaning, in relation to meaning of life, allows individuals to adaptively develop their own identity and their own self (Bernaud, 2013). Meaning of life involves various aspects related to self-construction, which interact with cultural, spiritual, economic and social factors (Bernaud, 2013). Furthermore, each individual develops, on different levels, an implicit theory of the meaning of life which then allows them to question, doubt and be committed to (Bernaud, 2013) fully participating in the building of their project.
Within the Life Designing framework, an applicative theoretical evolution constitutes the practice of psychological accompaniment focused on the development of meaning of life.
The Life Meaning intervention tool developed by Bernaud, Lhotellier, Sovet, Arnoux-Nicolas & Pelayo (2015) is a career counseling intervention focused on the construction of meaning of life, which is structured into seven modules with variable durations and is available both in an individual accompaniment format and in a group accompaniment format (8-12 people). In more detail, the intervention works as follows: after an informative welcome interview (30-60 minutes), which aims to illustrate the tool to clients at the same time as analysing their needs and then to verify correspondence between the intervention potential and the needs arising, seven modules follow, which are structured thus: Implicit theory of meaning, Analysis of values, Analysis of models and life paths, Relationship with work, Autobiography of future personal and professional life scenarios, Developing the art of living, and A 360 degree view of the meaning of life and of work. A potential eighth module is envisaged in order to develop the discussion should any particularly challenging decisions emerge that the client needs to face.
Implicit theories of meaning allows the client to improve their reflection on meaning of life. Analysis of values allows the client’s life priorities to be defined, the client’s identity to be built and for the client to be nurtured. Analysis of models and life paths allows individuals to decentre from their own situation and consider that of others and thus obtain a vision of their own situation which is less emotionally charged. Relationship with work allows the client’s relationship with their job to be clarified. Autobiography of future personal and professional life scenarios allows the client to project themselves into the future, develop a project strategy and enrich their own time perspectives. Developing the art of living allows the client to be helped and supported in their own realisation. Finally, a 360 degree view of the meaning of life and of work allows the client to be helped in taking control of their life and analysing the past, present and future, identifying the client’s priorities, strategies and resources.
Empirical research on Life Meaning
From an analysis of literature, several studies which have examined the role of life meaning, as a dependent variable in relation to other constructs, emerge. We will present a short review of the output from the Florentine research scene. One of the first studies was conducted by Di Fabio and Palazzeschi in 2015. The aim of the study was to examine the role of resilience in relation both to hedonic wellbeing and eudaemonic wellbeing, in terms of life meaning in pupils at upper secondary school. Focusing on eudaemonic wellbeing, the specific hypothesis formulated in relation to life meaning is the following: resilience adds a percentage of incremental variance, compared to the variance explained by fluid intelligence and personality traits, in relation to eudaemonic wellbeing (life meaning). The instruments administered were: Advanced Progressives Matrices (APM) in its Italian version edited by Di Fabio and Clarotti (2007); the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ; Caprara, Barbaranelli, Borgogni, 1993); the Connor-Devidson Resilience Scale (SD-RISC; Campbell-Sills & Stein, 2007) in its Italian version edited by Di Fabio and Palazzeschi (2012); and the Meaningful Life Measure (MLM; Morgan & Farsides, 2009) in its Italian version edited by Di Fabio (2014c). The hypothesis formulated was confirmed: resilience adds a percentage of incremental variance, compared to the variance explained by fluid intelligence and personality traits, in relation to eudaemonic wellbeing in terms of life meaning.
A second study, conducted from a primary prevention perspective by Di Fabio and Kenny (2016), examined the relationship between the construct of emotional intelligence and both hedonic wellbeing and eudaemonic wellbeing, controlling for the effects of personality traits, in upper secondary school pupils. The following instruments were administered: Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM; Raven, 1962) in its Italian version edited by Di Fabio and Clarotti (2007); the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ; Caprara et al., 1993); the Mayer–Salovey–Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT; Mayer et al., 2002) in its Italian version edited by D’Amico and Curci (2010); the Bar-On Emotional Intelligence Inventory (Bar-OnEQ-i; Bar-On, 1997) in its Italian version edited by Franco and Tappatà, (2009); and the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TeiQue; Petrides and Furnham, 2004) in its Italian version edited by Di Fabio (2013). Focusing on eudaemonic wellbeing, the Meaningful Life Measure (MLM; Morgan & Farsides, 2009) in its Italian version edited by Di Fabio (2014c) was administered. Specifically in relation to life meaning the results of the study show how emotional intelligence, measured by the TeiQue (Petrides and Furnham, 2000, 2001) and the EQ-i (Bar-On, 1997), explains a significant incremental percentage of variance in addition to personality traits.
A third study conducted by Di Fabio et al., in 2016, focused on the life meaning of workers with the aim of examining the construct of Workplace relational civility in relation to life meaning, controlling for the effects of personality traits. The study was conducted on Italian workers who were administered the following instruments: 10 items of the Personality Traits Inventory (TIPI, Gosling et al., 2003), in its Italian version edited by Di Fabio et al. (2016); the Workplace Relational Civility Scale (WRCS, Di Fabio & Gori, 2016a); and the Meaningful Life Measure (MLM; Morgan & Farsides, 2009) in its Italian version edited by Di Fabio (2014c). The results of this study support the positive relationship between workplace relational civility and life meaning, highlighting the potential contribution of workplace relational civility to life meaning, allowing individuals to pursue and reach meaningful objectives that correspond to authentic aspects of self.
Again with a focus on the work context, a fourth study conducted by Arnoux-Nicolas, Sovet, Lhotellier, Di Fabio and Bernaud (2016) examined the role of the psychological resource meaning of work, as mediator in the relationship between the perceived working conditions and turnover intentions in French workers from different working backgrounds. The following instruments were administered to the participants: Adverse Work Conditions Experience (Bertrand et al., 2010), Turnover Intentions (Bertrand et al., 2010), and the Meaning of Work Inventory (Arnoux-Nicolas et al., 2016). The results show a negative relationship between meaning of work, perceived working conditions and turnover intentions. Analysis of mediation conducted shows an indirect effect of meaning of work on various adverse working conditions and turnover intentions. The study highlights how meaning of work is a psychological resource for workers with important implications both in research and in practice in different working environments. These results support evidence brought to light in the meta-analysis of Humphrey et al. (2007), where it emerged that meaningful work is one of the most important psychological resources that can help to prevent negative outcomes in workers.
A recent study conducted by Di Fabio and Kenny (2018a) again focuses on life meaning in university students with the aim of examining the construct of Academic relational civility in relation to wellbeing, controlling for the effects of personality traits. The following instruments were administered: the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ; Caprara et al., 1993), the Academic Relational Civility Scale (ARCS; Di Fabio, 2018), and the Meaning in Life Measure (MLM; Morgan & Farsides, 2009) in its Italian version edited by Di Fabio (2014c). The hypothesis of this study was confirmed in so much as the results show how academic relational civility is in relation to eudaemonic wellbeing, supporting evidence emerging in the work context (Di Fabio et al., 2016). The perception of ARC is associated with the level of meaning that students attribute to their lives and with their ability to identify their own authentic meaning and pursue meaningful life goals (Di Fabio & Kenny, 2018a).
A further study was conducted by Di Fabio and Kenny in 2018b, examining the importance of Intrapreneurial Self-Capital, a new core of entrepreneurial resources for the 21st century (Di Fabio, 2014b), in relation to wellbeing, controlling for the effects of personality traits, in university students. The following instruments were administered: the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ; Caprara et al., 1993); the Intrapreneurial Self-Capital Scale (ISCS; Di Fabio, 2014); and the Meaningful Life Measure (MLMc; Morgan & Farsides, 2009) in its Italian version edited by Di Fabio (2014). Results highlighted a positive relationship between Intrapreneurial Self-Capital and life meaning, controlling for the effects of personality traits. Individuals with a high level of Intrapreneurial Self-Capital appear to have a greater predisposition for identifying and achieving meaningful goals for their lives (Di Fabio & Kenny, 2018b).
A final recent study from the Florentine research scene was conducted by Di Fabio and Kenny (in press) and analysed the contribution both of emotional intelligence and positive relational management (Di Fabio, 2016), in relation to wellbeing, controlling for the effects of personality traits, in university students. The following instruments were administered: the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ; Caprara et al., 1993); the Positive Relational Management Scale (PRMS; Di Fabio, 2016); and the Meaningful Life Measure (MLM; Morgan & Farsides, 2009) in its Italian version edited by Di Fabio (2014c). Results highlighted a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and positive relational management with life meaning, in addition to the variance explained by personality traits, thus emphasising the importance of both aspects of emotional intelligence and positive relationships on life meaning.
New constructs in the framework of healthy organisations
Within the framework of healthy organisations and Positive organisational health psychology (Di Fabio, 2017a), we are witnessing a transition from a focus on the dark side to the positive side in organisations. In this regard, in literature we are moving from the study of traditional constructs like resistance to change and workplace incivility to the introduction of new promising positive constructs like acceptance of change (Di Fabio & Gori, 2016b) and workplace relational civility (Di Fabio & Gori, 2016a).
Acceptance of change represents a key individual resource, which can be defined as the tendency to welcome change instead of rejecting it (Di Fabio & Gori, 2016b). Individuals who accept change think that it can have a positive effect on their lives and believe that they will be able to learn from the change. This construct has five dimensions (Di Fabio & Gori, 2016b): predisposition to change, the perceived ability of individuals to learn from change and to employ change to enhance their quality of life; support for change, perceived social support from other people when facing change; change seeking, the propensity to search for change, the ability to obtain information and to express a necessity for new stimuli; positive reaction to change, the perception of positive emotional reactions to change seen as positive and considering to have benefits from it; cognitive flexibility, the mental ability to swing between different concepts adapting cognitive processing strategies. In order to measure the new construct of acceptance of change, a specific scale has been developed, the Acceptance of Change Scale, comprising 20 items, which assess the 5 dimensions of the construct.
Workplace relational civility (Di Fabio & Gori, 2016a) is defined as a relational style: “a form of relational style characterised by respect and concern for self and others, interpersonal sensitivity, personal education and kindness toward others. It includes civil behaviours such as treating others with dignity and following social norms to promote peaceful and productive sharing” (Di Fabio & Gori, 2016a, p. 2). The construct of workplace relational civility includes three dimensions: Relational decency: relationships founded on decency and characterised by respect for self and others, being able to freely express beliefs and opinions, assertiveness and being tactful; Relational culture: in terms of courtesy, politeness, and good manners; Relational readiness: in terms of speed of understanding the feelings of others and demonstrating proactive sensitivity, the ability to understand others’ emotions, tact, empathy and compassion. Workplace relational civility employs a mirror modality of measuring with two scales (me with others and others with me), allowing a deeper assessment of interpersonal interactions, considering both one’s own contribution and that of others in relationships. In order to measure the new construct of workplace relational civility, a specific mirror scale has been developed, the Workplace Relational Civility Scale (Di Fabio & Gori, 2016a), comprising 26 items capable of assessing the 3 dimensions of the construct according to the double mirror perspective.
These constructs can be placed in a positive preventive framework which highlights the importance of strengthening resources in order to promote healthy organisations within the current complex scenario of the 21st century.
Conclusions
The phase in which current society finds itself is characterised by criticalities and aspects of unpredictability regarding the working future of people; risks concern further unemployment, inequality and insecurity (Blustein, 2006). In this scenario, people’s individual and social wellbeing proves to be ever more potentially compromised with the ever-incumbent risk of the lack of a dignified job, capable of ensuring adequate social and economic conditions and inclusive processes. Current new perspectives highlight the value of including the psychological aspects of decent work (Blustein et al., 2019; Di Fabio & Kenny, 2019; Duffy et al., 2017), dealing with human rights in the workplace, recognising how work is essential in order to satisfy individual needs, right up to the key principles of the relational theory of working (Blustein 2001, 2006, 2011), with a new approach capable of integrating problems of health in the workplace with a kind of psychology which is inclusive to diversity (Blustein, 2006). In the field of the Psychology of working theory (PWT), Duffy et al. (2016) offered a model which analyses both the structural and individual factors of wellbeing, highlighting how decent work can satisfy needs related to survival, social connections and self-determination. Even the new theoretical framework of psychology of sustainability and sustainable development (Di Fabio, 2017a, 2017b, Di Fabio & Rosen, 2018; Maree & Di Fabio, 2018) has allowed a different, preventive attention to be placed on the resources of people and the value of meaning in the construction of wellbeing. Again, in the theoretical framework of positive healthy organisations (Di Fabio, 2017a), the focus is on the construction of strengths as a criterion for success. A positive approach is adopted at individual, group and organisation levels in a framework of primary prevention (Di Fabio & Kenny, 2015, 2016; Hage et al., 2007; Kenny & Hage, 2009). The importance of relationships (Blustein, 2006, 2011) as the central theme for healthy organisations (Di Fabio, 2017a) and new ways of conceptualising organisational relationality, which make reference to the example of the new construct of workplace relational civility (Di Fabio & Gori, 2016a), are highlighted. In the framework of healthy organisations (Di Fabio, 2015a), both the importance of hedonic wellbeing (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) and eudaemonic wellbeing (Ryan & Deci, 2001; Waterman et al., 2010) are emphasised. Hedonic wellbeing comprises both emotional assessment in terms of positive affect and negative affect (Watson et al., 1988) and cognitive assessment in terms of life satisfaction (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985). Eudaemonic wellbeing concerns optimal functioning and self-realisation (Ryan & Deci, 2001), life meaning, purposefulness (Waterman et al., 2010), and positive functioning (Ryff, 1989). Workers need to experience both hedonic and eudaemonic wellbeing in order to recognise the most profound meanings and most authentic aspects of self, which will lead them to a full and profound sense of realisation as the main form of wellbeing in the construction of both their professional and personal lives.
Therefore, it can be seen how, in the new 21st century scenario, career counseling interventions which are anchored to scientific research with the predisposition of relative differentiated services of guidance and dialogic psychological accompaniment, respecting the scientific evolution of the theory of career counseling, constitute an extremely valuable preventive investment in a perspective of primary prevention, in safeguarding and protecting the resources and talents of people to the benefit of their communities.
References
Arnoux-Nicolas, C., Sovet, L., Lhotellier, L., Di Fabio, A., & Bernaud, J.-L. (2016). Perceived work conditions and turnover intentions: The mediating role of meaning of life and meaning of work. In A. Di Fabio & D. L. Blustein (Eds.), From meaning of working to meaningful lives: The challenges of expanding decent work. Research Topic in Frontiers in Psychology. Section Organisational Psychology, 7, 704. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00704
Bauman, Z. (2000). Liquid modernity. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Bernaud, J. L. (2013). Career counseling and life meaning: A new perspective life designing for research and applications. In A. Di Fabio & K. Maree (Eds.), Psychology of Career Counseling: new challenges for a new era. New-York: Nova Science Publishers.
Bernaud, J. L., Lhotellier, L., Sovet, L., Arnoux-Nicolas, C., & Pelayo, F. (2015). Psychologie de L'accompagnement: Concepts et Outils pour Développer le Sens de la vie et du Travail. Paris: Dunod.
Bar-On, R. (1997). Bar-On emotional quotient inventory. Toronto, Canada: Multi-Health Systems.
Bertrand, F., Peters, S., Pérée, F., & Hansez, I. (2010). Facteurs d'insatisfaction incitant au départ et intention de quitter le travail: analyse comparative des groupes d'âge. Travail Humain (Le), 73(1), 215-239.
Blustein, D. L. (2001). Extending the reach of vocational psychology: Toward an inclusive and integrative psychology of working. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 59(2), 171-182.
Blustein, D. L. (2006). The Psychology of Working: A New Perspective for Counseling, Career Development, and Public Policy. Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Blustein, D. L. (2011). A relational theory of working. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79(1), 1-17.
Blustein, D.L., Kenny, M. E., Di Fabio, A., & Guichard, J. (2019). Expanding the impact of the psychology of working: Engaging psychology in the struggle for decent work and human rights. Journal of Career Assessment, 27, 3-28.
Campbell-Sills, L., & Stein, M. B. (2007). Psychometric analysis and refinement of the Connor–Davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC): validation of a 10-item measure of resilience. Journal of Traumatic Stress: Official Publication of The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, 20(6), 1019-1028.
Caplan, G. (1964). Principles of preventive psychiatry. Basic Books, Oxford, England
Caprara, G. V., Barbanelli, C., & Borgogni, L. (1993). BFQ: Big Five Questionnaire (2nd ed.). Firenze, Italia: Giunti O.S. Organizzazioni Speciali.
D'Amico, A. & Curci, A., (2010). MSCEIT-Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test. Validazione e taratura italiana. Firenze, Italia: Giunti OS Organizzazioni Speciali.
De Smet, A., Loch, M., & Schaninger, B. (2007). Anatomy of a healthy corporation. The Mckinsey Quarterly, 2(3), 1-11.
Diener, E. D., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71-75.
Di Fabio, A. (2009). Manuale di psicologia dell’orientamento e career counseling nel XXI secolo Firenze, Italia: Giunti O.S.
Di Fabio, A. (2013). Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue): un contributo alla validazione della versione italiana. Counseling. Giornale Italiano di Ricerca e Applicazioni, 6, 351-362.
Di Fabio, A. (2014a). Career counseling and positive psychology in the 21st century: New constructs and measures for evaluating the effectiveness of intervention. Journal of Counsellogy, 1, 193-213.
Di Fabio, A. (2014b). Intrapreneurial Self-Capital: A new construct for the 21st century. Journal of Employment Counseling, 51, 98-111. doi: 10.1002/j.2161-1920.2014.00045.x
Di Fabio, A. (2014c). Meaningful Life Measure: Primo contributo alla validazione della versione italiana [Meaningful Life Measure: First contribution to the validation of the Italian Version]. Counseling Giornale Italiano di Ricerca e Applicazioni, 7, 307-315.
Di Fabio, A. (2015). Life Adaptability Qualitative Assessment (LAQuA): A narrative instrument for evaluating counseling intervention effectiveness. In J. G. Maree & A. Di Fabio, A. (Eds.), Exploring new horizons in career counselling: Turning challenges into opportunities (pp. 43-62). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
Di Fabio, A. (2016). Positive Relational Management for healthy organisations: Psychometric properties of a new scale for prevention for workers. In G. Giorgi, M. Shoss, & A. Di Fabio (Eds.), From organisational welfare to business success: Higher performance in healthy organisational environments. Research Topic in Frontiers in Psychology. Organisational Psychology, 7, 1523. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01523
Di Fabio, A. (2017a). Positive Healthy Organisations: Promoting well-being, meaningfulness, and sustainability in organisations. In G. Arcangeli, G. Giorgi, N. Mucci, J.-L. Bernaud, & A. Di Fabio (Eds.), Emerging and re-emerging organisational features, work transitions and occupational risk factors: The good, the bad, the right. An interdisciplinary perspective. Research Topic in Frontiers in Psychology. Organisational Psychology, 8, 1938. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01938
Di Fabio, A. (2017b). The psychology of sustainability and sustainable development for well-being in organisations. In G. Arcangeli, G. Giorgi, N. Mucci, J.-L. Bernaud, & A. Di Fabio (Eds.), Emerging and re-emerging organisational features, work transitions and occupational risk factors: The good, the bad, the right. An interdisciplinary perspective. Research Topic in Frontiers in Psychology. Organisational Psychology, 8, 1534. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01534
Di Fabio, A. (2018). Academic Relational Civility Scale: A multidimensional “mirror” measure. Counseling. Giornale Italiano di Ricerca e Applicazioni, 11(2). doi: 10.14605/CS1121801
Di Fabio, A. (2019). The challenge of sustainability in the construction and managing of personal project for a decent work and a decent life: Psychological contributions. In V. Cohen-Scali, J. Pouyaud, V. Drabik- Podgorna, M. Podgorni, G. Aisenson, J. Luc Bernaud, I. Moumoula, & J. Guichard, Life-and Career designing for sustainable development and decent work. Switzerland: Springer.
Di Fabio, A., & Bernaud, J.-L. (Eds.). (2014). The Construction of the Identity in 21st Century: A Festschrift for Jean Guichard. New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Di Fabio, A., & Bernaud, J.-L. (Eds.). (2018). Narrative Interventions in Post-modern Guidance and Career Counseling: Innovative Qualitative Approaches, Accountability, and Case Studies. Switzerland: Springer.
Di Fabio, A., & Blustein, D. L. (2016). Editorial. In A. Di Fabio & D. L. Blustein (Eds.), Ebook Research Topic “From Meaning of Working to Meaningful Lives: The Challenges of Expanding Decent Work” in Frontiers in Psychology. Organisational Psychology, 7, 1119. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01119
Di Fabio, A., & Clarotti, S. (2007). Matrici progressive di Raven. Adattamento Italiano. Firenze, Italia: Giunti O.S.
Di Fabio, A., Giannini, M., Loscalzo, Y., Palazzeschi, L., Bucci, O., Guazzini, A., & Gori, A. (2016). The challenge of fostering healthy organisations: An empirical study on the role of workplace relational civility in acceptance of change, and well-being. In G. Giorgi, M. Shoss, & A. Di Fabio (Eds.), From organisational welfare to business success: Higher performance in healthy organisational environments. Research Topic in Frontiers in Psychology. Organisational Psychology, 7, 1748. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01748
Di Fabio, A., & Gori, A. (2016a). Assessing Workplace Relational Civility (WRC) with a new multidimensional “mirror” measure. In A. Di Fabio & D. L. Blustein (Eds.), From meaning of working to meaningful lives: The challenges of expanding decent work. Research Topic in Frontiers in Psychology. Section Organisational Psychology, 7, 890. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00890
Di Fabio, A., & Gori, A. (2016b). Developing a new instrument for assessing Acceptance of Change. Frontiers in Psychology. Section Organisational Psychology, 7, 802. doi. 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00802
Di Fabio, A., & Maree, J. G. (2013). Career counseling: The usefulness of the Career Interest Profile (CIP). Journal of Psychology in Africa, 23, 41-49.
Di Fabio, A., & Kenny, M. E. (2015). The contributions of emotional intelligence and social support for adaptive career progress among Italian youth. Journal of Career Development, 42, 48-59.
Di Fabio, A., & Kenny, M. E. (2016). Promoting well-being: The contribution of emotional intelligence. In G. Giorgi, M. Shoss, & A. Di Fabio (Eds.), From organisational welfare to business success: Higher performance in healthy organisational environments. Research Topic in Frontiers in Psychology. Organisational Psychology, 7, 1182. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01182
Di Fabio, A., & Kenny, M. E. (2018a). Academic Relational Civility as a Key Resource for Sustaining Well-Being. In A. Di Fabio (Ed.) Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development. Special Issue in Sustainability MDPI, 10(6), 1914. doi:10.3390/su10061914
Di Fabio, A., & Kenny, M. E. (2018b). Intrapreneurial Self-Capital: A Key Resource for Promoting Well-Being in a Shifting Work Landscape. In A. Di Fabio (Ed.), Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development. Special Issue in Sustainability MDPI, 10(9), 3035. doi: 10.3390/su10093035
Di Fabio, A., & Kenny, M. E. (2019). Decent work in Italy: Context, conceptualization, and assessment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 110, 131-143.
Di Fabio, A., & Kenny, M. E. (in press). Resources for enhancing employee and organisational well-being beyond personality traits: The promise of Emotional Intelligence and Positive Relational Management. Personality and Individual Differences.
Di Fabio, A., & Palazzeschi, L. (2012). The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS): Un contributo alla validazione italiana con lavoratori adulti. Counseling. Giornale Italiano di Ricerca e Applicazioni, 5, 207-215.
Di Fabio, A., & Palazzeschi, L. (2015). Hedonic and eudaimonic well-being: The role of resilience beyond fluid intelligence and personality traits. Frontiers in Psychology, Section Developmental Psychology, 6, 1367. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01367
Di Fabio, A., & Rosen, M. A. (2018). Opening the Black Box of Psychological Processes in the Science of Sustainable Development: A New Frontier. European Journal of Sustainable Development Research, 2(4), 47. https://doi.org/10.20897/ejosdr/3933
Di Fabio, A., Maree, J. G., & Kenny, M. E. (2018). Development of the Life Project Reflexivity Scale: A New Career Intervention Inventory. Journal of Career Assessment, 1-13. doi: 10.1177/1069072718758065
Di Fabio, A., & Saklofske, D. H. (2014). Promoting individual resources: The challenge of trait emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 65, 19-23. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2014.01.026
Di Fabio, A., & Saklofske, D. H. (2019). Positive Relational Management for Sustainable Development: Beyond Personality Traits - The Contribution of Emotional Intelligence. In A. Di Fabio (Ed.), Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development. Special Issue in Sustainability MDPI, 11(2), 330; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11020330
Duarte, M. E. (2004). O indivíduo e a organização: Perspectivas de desenvolvimento. [The individual and the organisation: Perspectives of development]. Psychologica (Extra-Série), 549-557.
Duffy, R. D., Allan, B. A., England, J. W., Blustein, D. L., Autin, K. L., Douglass, R. P., ... & Santos, E. J. (2017). The development and initial validation of the Decent Work Scale. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 64(2), 206-221. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cou0000191
Duffy, R. D., Blustein, D. L., Diemer, M. A., & Autin, K. L. (2016). The psychology of working theory. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63, 127-148.
Franco, M., & Tappata, L. T. (2009). BarOn EQ-i: validazione e taratura italiana. Firenze, Italia: Giunti O.S. Organizzazioni Speciali.
Guichard, J, (2016a). Reflexivity in life design interventions: Comments on life and career design dialogues. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 97, 78-83.
Guichard, J. (2016b). Une comparaison des apports des modèles de la construction de la carrière et de la construction de soi au life designing counseling [Life-designing counseling: A comparison of the career construction and self-construction approaches]. Psychologie Française, 61(1), 15-29.
Gosling, S. D., Rentfrow, P. J., & Swann Jr, W. B. (2003). A very brief measure of the Big-Five personality domains. Journal of Research in personality, 37(6), 504-528.
Grawitch, M. J., & Ballard, D. W. (2016). The psychologically healthy workplace: Building a win-win environment for organisations and employees. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Guichard, J. (2005). Life-long self-construction. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 5(2), 111-124.
Guichard, J. (2009). Self-constructing. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 75(3), 251-258.
Guichard, J. (2013). Career guidance, education, and dialogues for a fair and sustainable human development. Inaugural Conference of the UNESCO chair of Lifelong Guidance and Counselling. Poland: University of Wroclaw.
Guichard, J., & Huteau, M. (2001). Psychologie de l'orientation. Dunod.
Hage, S. M., Romano, J. L., Conyne, R. K., Kenny, M., Matthews, C., Schwartz, J. P., & Waldo, M. (2007). Best Practice Guidelines on Prevention Practice, Research, Training, and Social Advocacy for Psychologists. The Counseling Psychologist, 35(4), 493–566. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000006291411
Humphrey, S. E., Nahrgang, J. D., & Morgeson, F. P. (2007). Integrating motivational, social, and contextual work design features: a meta-analytic summary and theoretical extension of the work design literature. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(5), 1332.
Kenny, M. E., & Hage, S. M. (2009). The next frontier: Prevention as an instrument of social justice. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 30, 1-10.
Lowe, G. (2010). Healthy organisations: How vibrant workplaces inspire employees to achieve sustainable success. Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
Maree, J. G., & Di Fabio, A. (2018). Integrating personal and career counseling to promote sustainable development and change. Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development. Special Issue in Sustainability MDPI, 10(11), 4176. doi. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10114176
Savickas, M. L. (2011). Career counseling. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Savickas, M. L. (2016). Reflection and reflexivity during life-design interventions: Comments on Career Construction Counseling. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 97, 84-89.
Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. R. (2002). Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test. MSCEIT. User’s manual. Toronto, ON, Canada: Multi-Health Systems.
Morgan, J., & Farsides, T. (2009). Psychometric evaluation of the meaningful life measure. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(3), 351-366.
Raya, R. P., & Panneerselvam, S. (2013). The healthy organisation construct: A review and research agenda. Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 17(3), 89-93.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). To be happy or to be self-fulfilled: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. In S. Fiske (Ed.), Annual Review of Psychology (Vol. 52, 141-166). Palo Alto, CA: Annual Reviews.
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069-1081.
Savickas, M. L. (2001). Toward a comprehensive theory of career development: Dispositions, concerns, and narratives. Contemporary models in vocational psychology: A volume in honor of Samuel H. Osipow (pp. 295–320). Mahwah: NJ: Erlbaum.
Savickas, M. L. (2005). The theory and practice of career construction. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work (pp. 42–70). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Savickas, M. (2011). Career counseling. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Savickas, M. L., & Porfeli, E. J. (2012). Career Adapt-Abilities Scale: Construction, reliability, and measurement equivalence across 13 countries. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80(3), 661-673.
Savickas, M. L., Nota, L., Rossier, J., Dauwalder, J. P., Duarte, M. E., Guichard, J., ... & Van Vianen, A. E. (2009). Life designing: A paradigm for career construction in the 21st century. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 75(3), 239-250.
Sparks, K., Faragher, B., and Cooper, C. L. (2001). Well-being and occupational health in the 21st century workplace. Journal of occupational and organisational psychology, 74, 489–509. doi: 10.1348/096317901167497
Petrides, K. V., & Furnham, A. (2000). On the dimensional structure of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 29(2), 313-320.
Petrides, K. V., & Furnham, A. (2001). Trait emotional intelligence: Psychometric investigation with reference to established trait taxonomies. European Journal of Personality, 15(6), 425-448.
Petrides, K. V., Furnham, A., & Martin, G. N. (2004). Estimates of emotional and psychometric intelligence: Evidence for gender-based stereotypes. The Journal of Social Psychology, 144(2), 149-162.
Raven, J. C. (1962). Advanced progressive matrices. Firenze, Italy: Organizzazioni Speciali.
Rosa, H. (2015). Accellerazione e alienazione: Per una teoria critica del tempo nella tarda modernità. Roma, Italia: Einaudi.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54-67.
Tetrick, L. E. & Peiró, J. M. (2012). Occupational Safety and Health. In The Oxford Handbook of Organisational Psychology (Vol. 2). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Tremblay, M. A., Blanchard, C. M., Taylor, S., Pelletier, L. G., & Villeneuve, M. (2009). Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale: Its value for organisational psychology research. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 41(4), 213-226.
Waterman, A. S., Schwartz, S. J., Zamboanga, B. L., Ravert, R. D., Williams, M. K., Bede Agocha, V., et al. (2010). The Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Well-Being: Psychometric properties, demographic comparisons, and evidence of validity. Journal of Positive Psychology. 5, 41-61.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063-1070.
Weiten, W., Dunn, D. S., & Hammer, E. Y. (2014). Psychology applied to modern life: Adjustment in the 21st century. Cengage Learning.
Autore per la corrispondenza
A. Di Fabio. Fax +39 055 2756134; Tel. +39 055 2755013.
Indirizzo e-mail: E-mail: adifabio@psico.unifi.it
Dipartimento di Formazione, Lingue, Intercultura, Letteratura e Psicologia, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Via di San Salvi 12 – Complesso di San Salvi, Padiglione 26, 50135, Firenze, Italy.
Note
1 A
© 2017 Edizioni Centro Studi Erickson S.p.A.
ISSN 2421-2202. Counseling.
Tutti i diritti riservati. Vietata la riproduzione con qualsiasi mezzo effettuata, se non previa autorizzazione dell'Editore.
