Multiculturality as an antecedent to work wellbeing and work passion Cátia Sousa1 Gabriela Gonçalves2
AbstrAct Within the workplace, promoting positive feelings in regard to work well-being and work passion has become essential to an increase in health, motivation, and consequently to an increase in productivity. This study aims to assess cultural values, cultural intelligence and multicultural personality as predictors of work well-being and work passion. Based on a sample of 240 workers aged 20 to 64 years (M = 36.78, SD = 10.22), multiple linear regression was carried out. The results of the multiple linear regression analysis show that the dimensions of power distance and uncertainty avoidance have a negative influence on work well-being and work passion, whereas emotional stability is the dimension with the highest predictive value for both constructs. On the other hand, cultural intelligence has no significant predictor effect. As organisations must invest in enhancing work well-being and work passion, the identification of their predictors is of the utmost importance. Keywords: Multiculturality, Cultural Values, Cultural Intelligence, Multicultural Personality, Work Well-Being, Work Passion. JEL Classification: D23
1. INtrODUctION The growth of studies on positive psychology (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) in recent years has led to an increased interest in organisational life. Rather than focus on the four D’s—Diseases, Disorders, Damages and Disabilities (e.g., Seligman, 2002; Bakker, Rodriguez-Muñoz & Derks, 2012)—positive psychology seeks to focus on the dynamics that positively affect happiness and quality of life (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). This interest in the organisational context (e.g., Bakker & Oerlemans, 2011; Xanthopoulou, Bakker & Ilies, 2012) has shown positive aspects such as engagement (e.g., Schaufeli & Bakker, 2010), well-being (e.g., Diener, 1984), job satisfaction, positive experiences at work (e.g., Rodrígues-Muñoz & Sanz-Vergel, 2013) and work passion (e.g., Vallerand & Houlfort, 2003). For organisations, promoting positive feelings such as work well-being and work passion becomes essential to an increase in employee health, motivation and consequently to productivity. Most of the investigations carried out in the context of well-being have focussed on the concept of subjective well-being and not specifically on work well-being. Although we have noticed a high interest in work passion, there is still too much to understand in particular with regard to the antecedents of positive work feelings. Concepts such as cultural intelligence and multicultural personality have been shown to be predictors of numerous variables. Although addressed mostly in regard to multicultural contexts, cultural intelligence and multicultural personality are attributes that can and should be examined as predictors of 1 2
University of Algarve, Research Center in Psychology, Faro, Portugal (cavsousa@ualg.pt) University of Algarve, Research Center in Psychology, Faro, Portugal (ggoncalves@ualg.pt)