Thriving

From 'Mindfulness in Positive Psychology' (Chapter 8) Eds. I. Itzvan & T. Lomas (Routledge, 2016)

Intense encounters with mortality - such as a diagnosis of a terminal illness or a sudden brush with mortality due to an accident or injury - can have positive transformational effects, leading to what positive psychology refers to as ‘flourishing.’ In particular, intense encounters with mortality may generate a heightened sense of appreciation for life, more authentic relationships and lifestyles, and an increased ability to be “mindful”, in the sense of becoming more focussed upon the present, and more vividly aware of one’s surroundings. (This is termed ‘externally-oriented mindfulness’.).This can be seen as a form of ‘spontaneous mindfulness’ caused by a re-orienting of attention, away from the future and the past, and into the present. Examples of this shift are given, and other reasons for its emergence are suggested. The positive effects of encountering mortality are contrasted with the findings of Terror Management Theory. The intensity and directness of the individual’s encounter with mortality may be a significant factor in whether it has negative or positive effects. It is suggested that increasing our awareness of mortality - such as by making a conscious effort to contemplate death - can help us to gain some of the positive transformational effects of an intense encounter with mortality (or IEM).

Media technology—from mass media to social media and from video gaming to computer-mediated communication—plays an increasingly central role in people’s lives. Due to exponential increases in computing power, people now carry incredibly powerful computers—their smartphones—everywhere they go. This ever-greater access to media technology is generating an ever-greater conflict between media activities and the unmediated activities critical for psychological well-being—from our face-to-face conversations and family time to our down time and work lives. What are the costs and benefits of people’s modern media technology use for psychological well-being? Using a complementarity-interference (CI) framework, I review research to illuminate key psychological processes (i.e., mediators) and conditions (i.e., moderators) of the relationship between media technology and psychological well-being. Based on the existing evidence, I propose an initial theoretical CI model of the effects of media technology on psychological well-being. I use this CI model to outline important directions for future research, providing guidelines for an integrated, theoretically informed research on media technology.

Was kommt nach einem Diplom an der Kunsthochschule? Schwer zu sagen, denn viele Absolventen holen ihre Urkunde ab und werden danach nie wieder gesehen. Einige wenige Namen tauchen jedoch plötzlich überall auf, man stößt auf sie in großen Ausstellungen, bei der Bekanntgabe von Wettbewerbs- und Stipendienentscheidungen oder beim Durchblättern einschlägiger Zeitschriften. Offensichtlich haben diese Künstler es geschafft: sie sind rein gekommen. Nun müssen sie nur noch drin bleiben. Nur wer drin ist, hat die Chance, perspektivisch von seiner Kunst auch leben zu können.
Aber genau da liegt das Problem: wie kommt man denn rein? Und wo rein überhaupt?

The aim of the paper is to examine positive psychological capital (PsyCap) as well as individual factors in the relationship with thriving in the multicultural work environment of multinational corporations (MNCs). We conducted a quantitative study on the sample of 127 individuals from subsidiaries of various MNCs located in Poland and involved in intercultural interactions. The results of cross-sectional study show that employees who have a higher level of PsyCap as resource caravans experience more vitality. Moreover, employees who have a higher level of PsyCap experience more learning at work in MNCs. We also observed that the learning component of thriving was more vivid than vitality. In contrast, individual factors, i.e. job tenure, language proficiency or prior international experience, were insignificant. Our results demonstrate that PsyCap of individuals is a significant factor that triggers their thriving at work in multicultural environments of MNCs.

The short answer to why we should aim to create regenerative cultures together is simple. Choosing the path of regeneration and cooperation will create a greater level of wellbeing, health, happiness, and equality for everyone and all life; and in the process of co-creating a better future together, our lives will be more meaningful, fulfilling, creative and fun. Local and global collaboration in the creation of regenerative communities, enterprises, economies and cultures elegantly adapted to the uniqueness of local and regional eco-social systems can unlock the gate to a very different future for humanity. Collaboration in regenerative practices can cause a gestalt-switch in our experience of reality, turning a heavily resource constraint planet on a trajectory towards ecological collapse into a thriving patchwork of highly productive eco-social systems generating an abundance of renewable resources, restoring ecosystems functions, community cohesion and resilience, while effectively mitigating and adapting to climate change. The motivation and value base for the creation of regenerative cultures is rooted in a shift in perception or worldview from only seeing ourselves as separate individuals, communities, nations, species to also understanding our deep interbeing as fundamentally interconnected expressions of one single process – life as a continuously transforming whole. By shifting to a relational perspective and paying attention to the ways that life creates conditions conducive to life, both, the need for and promise of regenerative cultures becomes apparent. As we identify individually and culturally with our true nature as relational beings, participants in the evolution of life and consciousness, we come to understand ourselves as creative expressions of nature, bringing forth a world together as conscious reflections of Universe. The degenerative path leads via increasing separation, disintegration, and competition to an early demise of our relatively young species. The path of regeneration through conscious interbeing, integration, and collaboration opens up the possibility of a thriving future for humanity as a mature member in the community of life generating abundance for all by consciously creating conditions conducive to life. Let us ask: what if we chose regeneration over degeneration? What if we chose to thrive together, rather than compete against? Sustainability is not enough. We need to do more than just 'sustain'. We need to regenerate the vitality and bioproductivity of the planetary life support system.

Owing to globalization and the global mobility of workforce, working in multicultural environments has become a daily reality for an increasing number of manpower. Such an environment does introduce unique challenges to individuals, enabling some of them to thrive. The aim of the paper, therefore, is to explore the antecedents of thriving and its components in multicultural work settings of multinational corporations (MNCs). The in-depth interviews with 38 informants were conducted to analyze intercultural interactions in 2 MNCs' subsidiaries. The study demonstrates that those individuals who thrive in MNCs assess their specific job demands as challenges. Moreover, thriving people activate their personal resources to face their challenges, which in return enhances their learning and personal growth. The learning component of thriving appeared to be more salient than vitality. The research may suggest that managers of MNCs should recruit employees whose need for growth is well-developed, since those individuals can benefit more from multicultural work 2 settings and thrive. International experience and psychological capital are the additional factors here that may foster employees' thriving. To the best of our knowledge this is the first research that explores thriving in multicultural work context. It looks at the antecedents of thriving with the Positive Organizational Scholarship lens. Nevertheless, the study is based on the qualitative methodology, which does not allow for a generalization of the findings.

The purpose of the study was to examine the psychological resources which foster thriving in multicultural work settings of multinational corporations (MNCs) – the companies that are evident manifestation of globalization. Although globalized multicultural workplace creates specific job demands that pose unique occupational stress to individuals, some personal resources enable them to deal with these demands and to thrive. Thriving is the experience of an individual's growth resulted from both vitality and learning in a work context. In the qualitative explorative research the information was gained via semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 38 respondents working in subsidiaries of two MNCs located in Poland. The study presented here is a part of the research entitled " Cross-cultural interactions in foreign subsidiaries of multinational corporations – traditional and Positive Organizational Scholarship approaches " (No. DEC-2013/09/B/HS4/00498, the National Science Centre, Poland). The results demonstrate that those individuals who thrive in the globalized workplace more frequently assess their specific job demands as challenges than hindrances. They also feel more positive than negative emotions. Thriving people activate their personal resources such as curiosity, openness and positive attitudes all of which increase their vitality. Although more effort is needed to deal with cultural diversity in the globalized workplace, those individuals are motivated for long learning, which facilitates their occupational and personal development. Thriving people activate their personal resources to face their challenges, which, in turn, enhances their learning and personal growth. The results of the study are discussed with regard to the transactional stress theory and Positive Psychological Capital.

The purpose of this qualitative, grounded theory study was to understand the relationship between positive psychology coaching and thriving in the workplace. Thriving was defined as a marked sense of learning, vitality, energy, and connectivity to others and the work, and positive psychology coaches included coaches who are trained in strengthsbased, appreciative, co-active, and positive psychology coaching methods. Twenty people who had participated in positive psychology coaching as a method for achieving change in attitudes, behaviors, or skills were interviewed to understand the key activities of the coaching process that contribute to thriving as well as to understand the individual outcomes of thriving and how they contribute to emotional well-being and vitality. Data analysis indicated a need to revise the definition of thriving since coachees did not distinguish between states of vitality and energy and thriving is more temporal than originally predicted. Other findings reve...

Background: Thriving, composed of learning and vitality produces many positive outcomes for organizations. Yet, there is a lack of studies on thriving which is embedded in social interactions that juxtapose the two types of organizational contexts, i.e. mono-with multicultural ones. Research aims: The aim of the paper is to compare the level of thriving (i.e. learning and vitality) in mono-and multicultural work contexts. The author posits that the multicultural work environment has unique demands conducive to thriving to a larger extent than the mon-ocultural one. Methodology: The cross-sectional study was conducted in domestic companies and multinational corporations (MNCs) that represent mono-and multicultural workplaces, respectively. The samples comprised 259 employees having only monocultural interactions and 238 individuals involved in intercultural interactions. Key findings: The research reveals that the subjects employed in the multicultural organizations experienced a higher level of thriving than those working in the monocultural ones. The results support the notion that social contacts, including intercultural interactions, are needed to trigger thriving in organizations. As the paper is concerned with individuals' positive growth, it contributes to the Positive Organizational Scholarship studies.

This article tracks how a trope of middle-class household thrift, grounded on the autarchic Aristotelian oikos, has long fueled derogatory discourses in Britain aimed at low-income urban residents who practice quite different forms of thrift. Since the 1970s this trope has migrated across scales, proving a potent metaphor for national economic policy and planetary care alike, and morally and economically justifying both neoliberal welfare retraction compounded by austerity policies and national responses to excessive resource extraction and waste production. Both austerity and formal recycling schemes shift responsibility onto consumer citizens, regardless of capacity. Further, this model of thrift eclipses the thriftiness of low-income urban households, which emerges at the nexus of kin and waged labor, sharing, welfare, debt, conserving material resources through remaking and repair and, crucially, the fundamental need for decency expressed through kin care. Through a historicized...

This article presents two studies that examine the moderated multiple mediation model between Family Supportive Supervisors Behaviors (FSSB) and individual's thriving at work through psychological availability and work–family enrichment at conditional levels of need for caring. Drawing on the Resource-Gain-Development framework and self-determination theory, the results of the 6-month time-lagged data demonstrate, in Study 1 (Italian sample = 156), that FSSB is associated with greater individual thriving at work via work–family enrichment and that this indirect relationship is significant exclusively for those who perceive a higher need for caring. In Study 2 (Chinese sample = 356), the results demonstrate the relationship between FSSB and thriving at work is serially mediated by both psychological availability and work–family enrichment at the conditional level of need for caring. In particular, the results demonstrate that individuals with a higher need for caring responded more favorably to the presence of a family supportive supervisor than those experiencing a lower need for caring. Implications for research and practice are discussed. Acknowledgments: We would like to thank Russell A. Matthews for his friendly review on earlier versions of this paper, Marc Ohana for his methodological advice, and professor Andrew F. Hayes for his advice for computing the index of moderated mediation. We are also grateful to Dr. Eden King, associate editor, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful and constructive comments and suggestions.

This study aims to examine the mediating role of spiritual orientation and subjective vitality in the relationship between thriving and life satisfaction among university students. Data were sourced from a total of 527 participants: 428 females (81.2%) and 99 males (18.8%), from Istanbul Medeniyet University. The mean age of the participants was 20 (SD = 2.35). The Thriving Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Spiritual Orientation Scale and Subjective Vitality Scale were utilized. Analyses were performed with the Structural Equation Model and The Pearson Product Moment Correlation, Path Analysis and Bootstrapping Test were used. According the road analysis result, the direct effect of spiritual orientation and subjective vitality in life satisfaction proved to be significantly high. The fit values of the model are within acceptable limits (χ2/SD = 0.00; p < 0.01; GFI = 0.99; CFI = 0.1; NFI = 0.99; RMSEA = 0.00). In the established model, 22% of the total variance of the life satisfaction variable is explained. The results of the bootstrapping process in the model prove to be significant (bootstrap coefficient model = 0.054, 95% G.A. = 0.022, 0.118). The findings were discussed in line with relevant literature and recommendations on their possible application have been given.

The aim of the study is to examine the relationship between psychological capital (PsyCap) and thriving in mono-and multicultural environments. We assume that thriving will vary while scrutinizing mono-and multicultural workplaces. We also posit that PsyCap is positively related to thriving and that this relationship will also differ depending on the organizational context. The samples of 238 individuals involved in intercultural interactions and working for various MNCs as well as the ones of 259 respondents having only monocultural interactions and employed in local enterprises were included in the cross-sectional study. International experience and job tenure were control variables. The results show that a higher level of thriving was observed with regard to the individuals involved in intercultural interactions. Moreover, a higher level of PsyCap was related to more thriving in both the mono-and multicultural workplaces. The PsyCap-thriving relationship was also stronger in the multicultural organizations. Abstract The aim of the study is to examine the relationship between psychological capital (PsyCap)

The aim of the paper is to depict the role of thriving in intercultural interactions as an antecedent of organizational creativity and innovation in multinational corporations (MNCs). The theoretical framework for the discourse is based on social learning and social cognitive theories, cognitive dissonance and information-processing theory. The paper is a conceptual type and its relevance to the topic of corporate entrepreneurship is emphasized. It both portrays the theoretical background as well as summarizes the results of the studies on thriving, creativity and innovation in intercultural interactions, proposing a conceptual framework concerning the above links. Finally, it provides conclusions and directions for future research. The paper emphasizes that an inevitable component of thriving – learning – is an immanent part of interactions with culturally different others and an antecedent of organizational creativity and innovation, which are inherent elements of corporate entrepreneurship.

This study aims to examine the mediating role of spiritual orientation and subjective vitality in the relationship between thriving and life satisfaction among university students. Data were sourced from a total of 527 participants: 428 females (81.2%) and 99 males (18.8%), from Istanbul Medeniyet University. The mean age of the participants was 20 (SD = 2.35). The Thriving Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Spiritual Orientation Scale and Subjective Vitality Scale were utilized. Analyses were performed with the Structural Equation Model and The Pearson Product Moment Correlation, Path Analysis and Bootstrapping Test were used. According the road analysis result, the direct effect of spiritual orientation and subjective vitality in life satisfaction proved to be significantly high. The fit values of the model are within acceptable limits (χ2/SD = 0.00; p &lt; 0.01; GFI = 0.99; CFI = 0.1; NFI = 0.99; RMSEA = 0.00). In the established model, 22% of the total variance of the life sat...

Hope contributes to positive development in adolescents, and religious and spiritual contexts may be particularly important for developing and supporting hope. However, extant literature on hope, religion, and spirituality neglects their synergistic relation, leaving questions about how they work together to support development. In this study, we explore how religiousness and spirituality (R/S) inform hope by identifying unique synergies that might be particularly useful in difficult contexts. Multilevel qualitative content analyses of interviews conducted with 18 thriving Salvadoran adolescents (50% female, Mage = 16.39 years, SD = 1.83) involved in a faith-based program provided evidence that the ideological and relational resources associated with R/S informed these adolescents’ agentic and receptive hopes. Agentic hopes, identified through expressed hopeful future expectations, revealed that adolescents held beyond-the-self hopes focused on benefiting three distinct targets: God...

This study examines the link between proactive personality and creative behavior by focusing on employee thriving at work as a mediator. Data from 438 employees and their supervisors were collected and examined by conducting structural equation modeling. This analysis revealed that employee thriving at work fully mediates the relationship between proactive personality and creative behavior. Additionally, the results showed that the perceived presence of high-involvement human resources (HR) practices in the organization enhances the tendency of proactive individuals to thrive at work. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for theory and practice as well as on directions for future research.

In this presentation, Patrick Camangian and Sharim Hannegan-Martinez use interpretive case studies (Stake, 2005) from their work in California schools to illustrate a pedagogical lens for how to adequately teach the sensibilities needed to deal with the traumatic stress of everyday, urban life and create classroom learning conditions that foster radical healing (Ginwright, 2010) and critical hope (Duncan-Andrade, 2009).

This article tracks how a trope of middle-class household thrift, grounded on the autarchic Aristotelian oikos, has long fueled derogatory discourses in Britain aimed at low-income urban residents who practice quite different forms of thrift. Since the 1970s this trope has migrated across scales, proving a potent metaphor for national economic policy and planetary care alike, and morally and economically justifying both neoliberal welfare retraction compounded by austerity policies and national responses to excessive resource extraction and waste production. Both austerity and formal recycling schemes shift responsibility onto consumer citizens, regardless of capacity. Further, this model of thrift eclipses the thriftiness of low-income urban households, which emerges at the nexus of kin and waged labor, sharing, welfare, debt, conserving material resources through remaking and repair and, crucially, the fundamental need for decency expressed through kin care. Through a historicized ethnography of a London social housing estate and its residents, this paper excavates what happens as these different forms and scales of household thrift coexist, change over time, and clash. Ultimately, neoliberal policy centered on an inimical idiom of thrift delegitimizes and disentitles low-income urban households and undermines their ability to enact livelihood practices of sustainability and projects of dignity across generations.

This study aims to examine the mediating role of spiritual orientation and subjective vitality in the relationship between thriving and life satisfaction among university students. Data were sourced from a total of 527 participants: 428 females (81.2%) and 99 males (18.8%), from Istanbul Medeniyet University. The mean age of the participants was 20 (SD = 2.35). The Thriving Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Spiritual Orientation Scale and Subjective Vitality Scale were utilized. Analyses were performed with the Structural Equation Model and The Pearson Product Moment Correlation, Path Analysis and Bootstrapping Test were used. According the road analysis result, the direct effect of spiritual orientation and subjective vitality in life satisfaction proved to be significantly high. The fit values of the model are within acceptable limits (χ²/SD = 0.00; p &lt; 0.01; GFI = 0.99; CFI = 0.1; NFI = 0.99; RMSEA = 0.00). In the established model, 22% of the total variance of the life sat...