Claudia Harzer

When the job is a calling: The role of applying one's signature strengths at work

This study investigates the role of applying the individual signature strengths at work for positive experiences at work (i.e. job satisfaction, pleasure, engagement, and meaning) and calling. A sample of 111 employees from various occupations completed measures on character strengths, positive experiences at work, and calling. Co-workers (N = 111) rated the applicability of character strengths at work. Correlations between the applicability of character strengths and positive experiences at work decreased with intraindividual centrality of strengths (ranked strengths from the highest to the lowest). The level of positive experiences and calling were higher when four to seven signature strengths were applied at work compared to less than four. Positive experiences partially mediated the effect of the number of applied signature strengths on calling. Implications for further research and practice will be discussed.

The Role of Character Strengths for Task Performance, Job Dedication, Interpersonal Facilitation, and Organizational Support

It was hypothesized that character strengths relate to job performance. Both constructs were investigated with respect to their currently known dimensions (i.e., 24 character strengths; job performance: task performance, job dedication, interpersonal facilitation, organizational support) to get a comprehensive overview of their co-occurrence. Two samples, 318 and 108 employees, respectively, filled in measures assessing character strengths as traits and their usefulness at work, and the job performance dimensions. For Sample 2, also supervisors judged the employees’ job performance. Based on this set of two samples we show replicable associations between character strengths and job performance (self-reports and supervisory ratings). Furthermore, the number of individual strengths beneficial at work was related to job performance. These promising findings open a new field for research on human performance.

The Eudaimonics of Human Strengths: The Relations Between Character Strengths and Well-Being

The present chapter was aimed at presenting an overview of the findings on the relations between character strengths and well-being. In order to get a broader picture about these relations, not just eudaimonic well-being but also hedonic well-being was considered. Within the scope of the chapter at hand, focus was on subjective well-being as indicator of hedonic well-being as well as on psychological well-being as indicator of eudaimonic well-being. Following the definitions of these constructs, research findings on the correlations between character strengths and well-being (i.e., subjective well-being: positive affect, negative affect, and global life satisfaction; psychological well-being: environmental mastery, personal growth, purpose in life, autonomy, self-acceptance, and positive relationships) are presented. None of the character strengths systematically showed a correlation coefficient that indicated a detrimental relation between a strength and (indicators of) subjective and psychological well-being. On the contrary and as expected, character strengths seem to be important individual factors facilitating well-being. Across all indicators of well-being (i.e., subjective well-being and psychological well-being) zest, hope, and curiosity were the most substantial correlates among the character strengths. Moreover, in addition to zest, hope, and curiosity, further character strengths were relevant for specific indicators of subjective well-being and psychological well-being as well. In-depth interpretations of the most important relations are presented and discussed. Finally, concluding remarks and open questions are presented, and future directions for research are discussed.

Measures of Life Satisfaction Across the Lifespan

This chapter reviewed life satisfaction measures appropriate for children, adolescents, adults, and older adults. Psychometric evidence was summarized in terms of normative samples, reliability, and validity data. A review of the available measures suggested that a number of life satisfaction measures demonstrate acceptable psychometric properties for various purposes, especially research purposes. Some measures appear useful for professional practice purposes (e.g., clinical screening, group monitoring) as well. Recommendations for future research are offered. Given the within-nation and across-nation interest in life satisfaction measurement, the most important recommendation for future research involves studies of the equivalence of the reliability and validity of key measures across differing groups, such as nations, cultures, ethnic groups, genders, and age groups. Research on the application of life satisfaction measures to the public policymaking arena also appears essential.

Different forms of life satisfaction and their relation to affectivity

Aims: the present study is aimed at studying the research question whether high satisfaction levels achieved through either (1) the fact that one’s quality of life is truly satisfactory (i.e., stabilized life satisfaction) or through (2) adapting a more favorable perception of one’s quality of life by lowering standards (i.e., resigned life satisfaction) are associated with different levels of positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) when compared to each other but also when compared to dissatisfied individuals. Methods: A sample of 104 adults completed measures assessing stabilized and resigned life satisfaction, PA and NA, and global life satisfaction (i.e., no explicit consideration of differences in standards) in an online survey. Participants were not paid for participation but received feedback on results of the study if interest was expressed. results: stabilized life satisfaction and global life satisfaction showed highly similar correlation pattern with PA and NA. resigned satisfaction was negatively associated with PA and positively correlated with NA. stabilized and resigned satisfied individuals showed more favorable levels of PA and NA compared with Claudia Harzer1, Christian Ehrlich2 Affiliations: 1Ph.D., Visiting Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Kassel, Germany; 2Ph.D., Senior Lecturer, Department of Business and Management, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK. Corresponding Author: Claudia Harzer, University of Kassel, Department of Psychology, Hollaendische Str. 36-38, 34127 Kassel, Germany; Email: harzer.c@gmail.com Received: 06 January 2016 Accepted: 19 February 2016 Published: 03 May 2016 dissatisfied individuals, but did not differ from each other with regard to their levels of PA and NA. conclusion: Although showing a less favorable correlation pattern with PA and NA, adopting a resigned form of satisfaction (i.e., taking a more favorable view of one’s quality of life by lowering individual standards) seemed to prevent individuals from experiencing the same high levels of NA like dissatisfied ones. this has not been studied in detail so far, and therefore, the present paper opens a further area of research within the context of life satisfaction.