مقاله سال ۲۰۱۶

In line with the World Health Organization (1948), which defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (p. 2), researchers have become more interested in researching both negative and positive indicators of psychological health at work (Boudrias et al., 2014). Psychological distress and psychological well-being at work are some of the main indicators that have been studied (Gilbert, Dagenais-Desmarais, & Savoie, 2011).

Beyond the subjective experience of distress and well-being, psychological health at work also should include an assessment of the individual’s functioning in the workplace (Gilbert, 2009; Warr, 1990). Notably, individual functioning is considered as one of the criteria to consider in establishing a clinical diagnosis (e.g., DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 2000). In an organizational context, an employee’s functioning differs from other spheres of life because of the singularity of the workplace (e.g., rules, norms, need to ensure livelihood; Dagenais-Desmarais & Savoie, 2012; Hakanen & Schaufeli, 2012). However, few studies focusing on occupational health have examined such a component of psychological health. Now, more than ever, a person’s ability to function is constantly being challenged, especially because people face many changes in their workplace (e.g., financial market instability, mergers and restructurings, shifts in the demographic composition of the working population; DeArmond et al., 2006; Griffin, Neal, & Parker, 2007). Thus, it is crucial to focus on individual functioning in order to understand and measure psychological health at work.

o tackle this issue, we draw on previous work in the areas of organizational socialization (e.g., Bauer, Bodner, Erdogan, Truxillo, & Tucker, 2007; Kammeyer-Mueller & Wanberg, 2003; Saks, Uggerslev, & Fassina, 2007) and Conservation of Resources theory (COR theory; Hobfoll, 1989, 2001) to propose a conceptualization and a measurement of a construct that captures individual functioning in a work environment. Two studies were conducted from this perspective. The former tested the construct structure, while the latter examined a partial nomological network for the construct through the lens of psychological health at work.