Psychological Capital as a Buffer to Student Stress

By Laura Riolli, Victor Savicki, Joseph Richards. 2012

128 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This study examined the influence of psychological capital (PsyCap), on the well-being of university un- dergraduates during an academic semester. PsyCap, a recently developed, higher-order construct, applied to the world of work has been hypothesized to aid employees cope with stressors in the workplace. The current study extends this concept to work in the academic environment. Psychological capital is hypothesized to empower students with the necessary metal strength to cope up with adverse circumstances. Among undergraduate students from a university in the Western US, Psychological Capital (PsyCap) mediated between stress and indices of psychological and physical well-being. In the case of Psychological Symptoms and Health Problems, PsyCap buffered the impact of stress so that the relationship between stress and negative outcomes was reduced. In the case of Satisfaction with Life, PsyCap augmented a positive psychological outcome. We discuss implications for research on resilience to academic stress, the power of the PsyCap construct to effect positive psychological outcomes in a variety of student situations, and implications for educators in developing and promoting positive outcomes based on this valuable personal capital.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, General Health Professions, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a8b90abd0ec95f239da5e4a0affbc5b0a2d351e1

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In Clinical Psychology

In General Health Professions

In Social Psychology

Citations in the corpus

Linking positive emotions and academic performance: The mediated role of academic psychological capital and academic engagement (2019, background): “In a similar sample, Riolli et al. (2012) showed that academic PsyCap mediated between stress and psychological symptoms.”
The Role of Psychological Capital in Academic Adjustment Among University Students (2017, background): “As stated, beyond PsyCap’s relation to academic achievement and GPA, some researchers consider its potential contribution to students’ social and emotional adjustment to academic life (Avey et al. 2011; Riolli et al. 2012).”
Psychological capital and performance among undergraduate students: the role of meaning-focused coping and satisfaction (2018, methodology): “Undergraduate students face a number of stressors related to their academic coursework: uncomfortable classrooms, continuous evaluation and hard exams, high pressure to obtain a degree, long and intensive days of study, etc. (Riolli, Savicki, and Richards 2012).”