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Positivity and Behaviour: The Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy in Organisational and Educational Settings

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Abstract

Positivity is an evaluative disposition capturing what self-esteem, life satisfaction and optimism have in common. Self-efficacy refers to specific beliefs aimed at exercising control over the events through self-regulation. This paper examines in two studies whether the effect of positivity on performance is mediated by self-efficacy beliefs. The first examines the role of task and empathic self-efficacy in mediating the relationship of positivity with respect to in-role and extra-role behaviours in a sample of 829 Italian adult employees. The second examines the role of academic self-efficacy in mediating the relationship of positivity with respect to academic grades and academic citizenship behaviour on a sample of 223 Italian university students. Structural Equation Models results revealed that: (1) the relationship between positivity and both in-role and extra-role behaviours was substantially mediated by self-efficacy beliefs; (2) the relationship between positivity and both school grades and citizenship behaviours was completely mediated by self-efficacy beliefs.

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Acknowledgements

This study was partially supported by the “Progetti di Ricerca di Università Anno 2015 - prot. C26A15ZEAB” from Sapienza University of Rome to Claudio Barbaranelli.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Claudio Barbaranelli

  2. Uninettuno Telematic International University, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 39, 00100, Rome, Italy

    Marinella Paciello

  3. Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Viale Montpellier, 00173, Rome, Italy

    Valentina Biagioli

  4. Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Office: TP 1.27, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK

    Roberta Fida

  5. Centre for Advances in Behavioural Science, Coventry University, Coventry, CV1 5FB, UK

    Carlo Tramontano

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  1. Claudio Barbaranelli
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  2. Marinella Paciello
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Correspondence to Claudio Barbaranelli.

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Barbaranelli, C., Paciello, M., Biagioli, V. et al. Positivity and Behaviour: The Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy in Organisational and Educational Settings. J Happiness Stud 20, 707–727 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-018-9972-4

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