Positive Psychology at Work:

How Does Positive Organizational Behaviour Turn into Positive Organizational Performance?

The virtuous practices, affirmative bias and positive deviance associated with flourishing organizations are increasingly being recognized as a cause rather than an outcome of abundance. In other words, while it might seem likely that organizations that are ‘doing well’ can afford to be virtuous in their dealings with their staff and community, it increasingly looks as if it works the other way round. Through the work of Cameron, Fredrickson and others, we are beginning to understand the processes at play that create this association between positive organizational behaviour and performance. Virtuous behaviour in particular is associated with three positive outcomes: it helps to create positive emotions; it makes people more likely to help each other; and it creates social capital. In turn, it seems there are two key processes that convert virtuous, positive orientation into abundant performance. These are the creation of virtuous circles of positive emotions among groups of people, and the creation and accumulation of social capital in organizations.

1) Upward virtuous circles of positive emotion

Virtuous acts produce positive emotions, that is, doing good makes us, and the recipient of our action, feel good. Feeling good in turn has two positive effects: it makes us more likely to do good and it increases personal wellbeing. Interestingly, this virtuous spiral of feeling good and doing good ...