Psychology of Organizational Sustainability
Deepika Gaur
Abstract
The ever-developing area of human behavior invites a
new sphere of actions and activities. Study in the area of
human psychology also helps the management in selection, training, and recruitment of the right candidates for
job positions. In today’s managerial world, this study has
relevance around the study of emotions, which considers
not only the organizational role before hiring the
employees but also taking into consideration the positive
mental growth of employees during the tenure of their
work life, which in turn builds sustainable organization.
The article focuses on sustainable behavior a field of
Conservation Psychology from the perspective of organizational well-being. It aims at enhancing the
socio-physical environment to facilitate better life for
employees in an organization. The primary prevention
goal of the psychology of sustainability can create
positive behavior at every level of an organization. It
emphasizes sustainability not only in terms of the
ecological, economic, and social environment but also
in relation to psychological well-being of people in an
organization. Through the intense review of previous
literature developed over a period giving rise to the model
of gainful employment and concept of subjective
well-being, a conceptual paper has been developed to
establish the role of variables of positive psychology on
the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation components which
creates positive environment in an organization. This
paper is aimed to develop an explanatory model of
sustainable behavior instigated by situational and dispositional positive antecedents and maintained by positive
psychological consequences. In conclusion, this paper
discusses the effect of positive psychology of sustainability and its impact on other social sciences dealing with
sustainability issues.
Keywords
Sustainable development Á Positive psychology Á
Organizational well-being Á Psychology of
sustainability
1 Introduction
According to Sigmund Freud, a healthy life can be described
as where a person has the ability to love and work. After the
statement given by Freud, psychology literature reinforced
the significance of positive interpersonal relationships and
employment. This was given a term as gainful employment
(Synder, Lopez, & Pedrotti, 2011). However, the twenty-first
century on a whole can be defined as complex, hastening,
changing speedily and so the workforce is insecure, economically unstable, and in ongoing turbulence. This situation is leading to a challenging and risky environment for the
well-being of individuals and organizations. As many people
get up only to dread getting up and going to work it creates
the opportunity for a new research area and intervention,
specifically the psychology of sustainability. This gives
support to the sustainable development for well-being in
organizations (Tetrick & Peiro, 2012; Di Fabio, 2016a,
2017; Peiro, 2017).
The 17 sustainable development goals of the United
Nations focused on: no poverty, no hunger, good health and
well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water
and sanitation, clean and affordable energy, decent work and
economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure
growth, reduction in inequality, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate
action, life below water, life on land, peace, justice and
strong institutions, and partnerships to achieve the goals. In
these, goal eight is focused on decent work and economic
growth; this also emphasizes the point of promoting safe and
secure working environments for employees. The aim of
decent work and economic growth is to enhance the
D. Gaur (&)
American University in the Emirates, Dubai, UAE
e-mail: deepika.gaur@aue.ae
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
M. Mateev and J. Nightingale (eds.), Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility—Volume 1,
Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32922-8_15
157
Deepika Gaur
Abstract
The ever-developing area of human behavior invites a
new sphere of actions and activities. Study in the area of
human psychology also helps the management in selection, training, and recruitment of the right candidates for
job positions. In today’s managerial world, this study has
relevance around the study of emotions, which considers
not only the organizational role before hiring the
employees but also taking into consideration the positive
mental growth of employees during the tenure of their
work life, which in turn builds sustainable organization.
The article focuses on sustainable behavior a field of
Conservation Psychology from the perspective of organizational well-being. It aims at enhancing the
socio-physical environment to facilitate better life for
employees in an organization. The primary prevention
goal of the psychology of sustainability can create
positive behavior at every level of an organization. It
emphasizes sustainability not only in terms of the
ecological, economic, and social environment but also
in relation to psychological well-being of people in an
organization. Through the intense review of previous
literature developed over a period giving rise to the model
of gainful employment and concept of subjective
well-being, a conceptual paper has been developed to
establish the role of variables of positive psychology on
the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation components which
creates positive environment in an organization. This
paper is aimed to develop an explanatory model of
sustainable behavior instigated by situational and dispositional positive antecedents and maintained by positive
psychological consequences. In conclusion, this paper
discusses the effect of positive psychology of sustainability and its impact on other social sciences dealing with
sustainability issues.
Keywords
Sustainable development Á Positive psychology Á
Organizational well-being Á Psychology of
sustainability
1 Introduction
According to Sigmund Freud, a healthy life can be described
as where a person has the ability to love and work. After the
statement given by Freud, psychology literature reinforced
the significance of positive interpersonal relationships and
employment. This was given a term as gainful employment
(Synder, Lopez, & Pedrotti, 2011). However, the twenty-first
century on a whole can be defined as complex, hastening,
changing speedily and so the workforce is insecure, economically unstable, and in ongoing turbulence. This situation is leading to a challenging and risky environment for the
well-being of individuals and organizations. As many people
get up only to dread getting up and going to work it creates
the opportunity for a new research area and intervention,
specifically the psychology of sustainability. This gives
support to the sustainable development for well-being in
organizations (Tetrick & Peiro, 2012; Di Fabio, 2016a,
2017; Peiro, 2017).
The 17 sustainable development goals of the United
Nations focused on: no poverty, no hunger, good health and
well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water
and sanitation, clean and affordable energy, decent work and
economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure
growth, reduction in inequality, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate
action, life below water, life on land, peace, justice and
strong institutions, and partnerships to achieve the goals. In
these, goal eight is focused on decent work and economic
growth; this also emphasizes the point of promoting safe and
secure working environments for employees. The aim of
decent work and economic growth is to enhance the
D. Gaur (&)
American University in the Emirates, Dubai, UAE
e-mail: deepika.gaur@aue.ae
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
M. Mateev and J. Nightingale (eds.), Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility—Volume 1,
Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32922-8_15
157