Is psychological capital the same in Singapore? An exploration of psychological capital and its relationship with engagement in an Asian context

Abstract

This study investigated Psychological Capital (PsyCap) and engagement in an Asian context. Specifically, we analyzed how different combinations of efficacy, hope, resilience, optimism, defensive pessimism and kiasuism could predict engagement. The results indicated that the higher-order PsyCap core factor predicted engagement. Further analyses revealed that defensive pessimism is a better predictor of engagement than optimism because defensive pessimism, efficacy, hope and resilience were better able to predict engagement than the composite PsyCap. The article concludes with limitations of our study, the need for future research and implications.