Chantal Olckers

Psychological ownership : a managerial construct for talent retention and organisational effectiveness

Many scholars, consultants and practitioners have recently focused their attention on ‘ownership’ as a psychological, rather than just a business phenomenon. Psychological ownership is defined as a state in which individuals feel as though the target of ownership or a piece of it is ‘theirs’ (that is ‘It is mine!’). It suggests that, the presence of psychological ownership among employees can have a positive effect on organisational effectiveness. The main aim of this paper is to introduce and describe a new kind of ownership, known as ‘psychological ownership’ that could be a valuable managerial construct for improving talent retention and organisational effectiveness within the South African work environment. The research methodology followed an extensive literature review in order to compile the construct for psychological ownership, which was then validated by a panel of nine scholarly subject-matter experts by applying Lawshe’s quantitative approach to content validity. The study resulted in a multidimensional construct for psychological ownership with high content validity, consisting of a promotion-orientated and prevention-orientated dimension. Promotion-orientated psychological ownership consists of six theory-driven components: Self-efficacy, sense of belonging, self-identity, accountability, autonomy and responsibility. Territoriality, the seventh dimension, was identified as a preventative form of psychological ownership. The particular relevance of this paper is the introduction of a positively oriented psychological ownership construct that can be utilised by managers and human resource professionals as a potential guideline to facilitating talent retention and productivity in the current work environment.

The relationship between employment equity perceptions and psychological ownership in a South African mining house : the role of ethnicity

Psychological ownership is a cognitive–affective construct based on individuals’ feelings of possessiveness towards and of being psychologically tied/attached to objects that are material (e.g. tools or work) and immaterial (e.g. ideas or workspace) in nature. Research suggests that psychological ownership could be influenced by various individual, organisational and contextual factors. The South African Employment Equity Act, which was implemented to grant equitable opportunities to previously disadvantaged employees, could be a significant contextual factor affecting psychological ownership, due to perceptions associated with inequality. Ethnicity may also act as a moderator for the relationship between perceptions of employment equity and psychological ownership. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between employment equity perceptions and psychological ownership and to explore whether ethnicity plays a moderating role in the relationship. A cross-sectional survey design was employed with a purposeful sample of 202 respondents employed in a large South African mining house. Pearson product–moment correlations and structural equation modelling confirmed that employment equity perceptions could predict the five components of psychological ownership. However, the results revealed that ethnicity has no moderating effect on the relationship between perceptions of employment equity and the emergence of psychological ownership. By implication, organisations that seek to retain employees targeted through equity initiatives need to find ways to enhance and develop the psychological ownership of these employees. The research contributes new insights into and knowledge of how contextual factors could influence employees’ psychological ownership.

Theoretical orientations and practical applications of psychological ownership

This book shares the theoretical advancements that have been made regarding psychological ownership since the development of the construct and specifically the practical applications within multi-cultural and cross-cultural environments. Enriched by empirical data and case studies by subject specialists in the field, this book serves as a cutting-edge benchmark for human resource management specialists, industrial psychologists, as well as students in positive organizational psychology and professionals in other fields. This book follows an in-depth view of the most recent research trends in psychological ownership. Offering practical tools of how the psychological ownership of employees could be developed in the workplace to not only enhance the performance of organisations, but to increase the commitment of employees and influence the intentions of skilled employees to remain with their organisations.

Exploring the Role of Psychological Ownership in the Coaching Process

Psychological ownership is a cognitive-affective construct that is used to measure individuals’ feelings of possessiveness towards material and immaterial objects. The existence of psychological ownership strengthens an individual’s feelings of responsibility towards and influence over a target and has behavioural effects on both the individual and the organization for which the individual works. The aim of this chapter is to explore the theory underlying the role that psychological ownership can play when applied to the GROW model of coaching within a multicultural context. It is posited that psychological ownership can enhance a coach-client relationship and can help a client to solve problems, make better decisions, learn new skills, and even progress in a role or career. Furthermore, psychological ownership may enhance an individual’s perception of meaningfulness and self-determination during the coaching process, which may have positive outcomes for both the individual and the individual’s organization in a multicultural context such as South Africa.

Psychological ownership in relation to workplace trust and turnover intent

The study investigated the relationship between workplace trust, psychological ownership and turnover intent within a South African professional services organisation. A cross-sectional quantitative survey design was used to collect data from a purposive sample (n = 302) of skilled, highly skilled and professional employees in a professional services industry. The participants completed the Psychological Ownership Questionnaire, Workplace Trust Survey, and Turnover Intentions Scale. The results from structural equation modelling (SEM) suggest psychological ownership to be significantly related to workplace trust (positively) and turnover intent (negatively). In addition, the findings indicate psychological ownership to fully mediate the relationship between workplace trust and turnover intent. By implication, work environments that fostered workplace trust would increase the level of psychological ownership that employees’ experienced, which, in turn, would reduce employees’ intent to leave their workplace.

Measurement Equivalence of the South African Psychological Ownership Questionnaire for Diverse South African Cultural Groups

This study determined the measurement equivalence of the South African Psychological Ownership Questionnaire (SAPOS) for black and white South African employees. Participants were a non-probability sample of 645 professional level employees from both the private and the public sector (59.4% were females, 35.2% were black and 52% were over the age of 40. Over 90% of the participants have college education qualifications and nearly 41.7% had been working in their current organisations for a period of less than 5 years). Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used to analyse the data. The results indicated that factor variances appeared to be equal for the two groups although differences existed in factor loadings and covariances.

Future perspectives on psychological ownership in multi-cultural contexts

The purpose of this chapter is to determine the future directions of psychological ownership for both the discipline (research) and the profession (practice). Through thematic content analysis, this chapter aims to evaluate the 15 manuscripts submitted for this specialist book in order to provide a descriptive overview of the most frequently occurring themes relating to the future direction of psychological ownership within multi-cultural contexts. A brief overview of the research method, data analysis and findings will be presented.

Measuring psychological ownership: A critical review

In the fields of psychology and management, psychological ownership has been identified as an important positive psychological predictor of workplace motives, attitudes and behaviours. Given its importance, the highly respected authors Avey, Avolio, Crossley, and Luthans (J Organ Behav 30:173–191, 2009) have posited that the development of psychological ownership within organisational contexts should be a strategic priority and that psychological ownership should be effectively measured, developed and managed. However, its effective measurement is still a challenge. Although various instruments exist to measure psychological ownership, their factor structures, item loadings and reliability differ in respect of different populations. Thus, two questions arise: Are these measures valid, reliable and complete? Why do these measures produce inconsistent results across samples? To explore possible answers to these questions a critical review of the existing measures is necessary. Therefore, this chapter aims to critically review the main measures of psychological ownership.

Work engagement, psychological ownership and happiness in a professional services industry company

In order to gain and maintain a competitive advantage, organisations should not only recruit but also retain top talent. Organisations that are able to foster a positive organisational environment conducive to psychological ownership, work engagement and resultant happiness will be more inclined to retain top talent. Retaining their top talent will allow these organisations to contribute meaningfully to their bottom line, which is important considering the volatile professional services industry. The purpose of this chapter was to investigate the relationship between psychological ownership, work engagement and happiness within a multi-cultural professional services industry. Furthermore, the aim was to determine the extent to which work engagement indirectly affected the relationship between psychological ownership and happiness within the sample. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey-based research design was employed and a purposeful sample of 365 respondents was drawn from a large South African professional services company. The Psychological Ownership Questionnaire (POQ), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) were administered. The results showed that work engagement was a good predictor of both psychological ownership and happiness within this sample. However, the mediation effect of psychological ownership on the relationship between work engagement and the happiness of the employees in the relevant multi-cultural professional services organisation was not supported.

Exploring the Theoretical Relationship Between Psychological Ownership and Career Anchors

This chapter explores the possible role that individuals’ psychological ownership can play in their career anchors, since job satisfaction and commitment are common denominators of both constructs. The chapter will commence with a description and an explanation of career anchors and psychological ownership. The possible relationship between the seven dimensions of psychological ownership and the eight career anchors is explored to indicate possible linkages. Several propositions are developed, based on their theoretical relationship, and these propositions are illustrated in a proposed figure.