1. Unpacking psychological inequalities in organisations: Psychological capital reconsidered
- Author
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Edina Dóci, Lena Knappert, Sanne Nijs, Joeri Hofmans, Department of Human Resource Studies, Management and Organisation, Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Work and Organizational Psychology, and Brain, Body and Cognition
- Subjects
WORK ,RACE ,IMPACT ,Bourdieu ,POWER ,psychological capital ,EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE ,critical work and organisational psychology ,JOB-PERFORMANCE ,critical theory ,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) ,inequalities ,Developmental and Educational Psychology ,STEREOTYPE CONTENT ,GENDER ,OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION ,Applied Psychology ,SOCIAL-CLASS - Abstract
In this paper, we argue that psychological capital is unequally distributed among people from different social classes, ethnic backgrounds and genders. Confronting the limitations of the current, individualistic perspective on psychological capital, we offer a re-conceptualisation of the construct from a critical, interdisciplinary perspective, placing it at the intersection of sociology and psychology. We discuss the various mechanisms through which social inequalities may cause differential access to psychological capital for members of low- and high-status social groups and show how this differential access to psychological capital results in and exacerbates social inequalities. By doing this, we postulate a recursive theory on psychological capital that both recognises the formative effect of socio-organisational structures on one's psychology and vice versa.
- Published
- 2022