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Cited by 606Job Satisfaction and Organizational BehaviorWorkaholism, burnout, and well-beingStress and Burnout Research

Thriving at work: A meta‐analysis

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Kleine, Anne‐Kathrin, Rudolph, Cort W., Zacher, Hannes·2019·Journal of Organizational Behavior
DOI 10.1002/job.2375
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Abstract

Summary: Thriving at work refers to a positive psychological state characterized by a joint sense of vitality and learning. On the basis of Spreitzer and colleagues' model, we present a comprehensive meta‐analysis of antecedents and outcomes of thriving at work ( K = 73 independent samples, N = 21,739 employees). Results showed that thriving at work is associated with individual characteristics, such as psychological capital ( r c = .47), proactive personality ( r c = .58), positive affect ( r c = .52), and work engagement ( r c = .64). Positive associations were also found between thriving at work and relational characteristics, including supportive coworker behavior ( r c = .42), supportive leadership behavior ( r c = .44), and perceived organizational support ( r c = .63). Moreover, thriving at work is related to important employee outcomes, including health‐related outcomes such as burnout ( r c = −.53), attitudinal outcomes such as commitment ( r c = .65), and performance‐related outcomes such as task performance ( r c = .35). The results of relative weights analyses suggest that thriving exhibits small, albeit incremental predictive validity above and beyond positive affect and work engagement, for task performance, job satisfaction, subjective health, and burnout. Overall, the findings of this meta‐analysis support Spreitzer and colleagues' model and underscore the importance of thriving in the work context.

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  • Thriving at work is a key resource because it supports goal achievement and drives higher innovation, solution identification, work commitment, creativity, and task performance.

    “Thriving at work represents one of these key resources because it facilitates goal achievement and drives elevated levels of innovation, solution identification, work commitment, creativity, and task performance (Carmeli and Spreitzer, 2009;Liu et al., 2020aLiu et al., , 2020b; see Kleine et al., 2019 for a meta-analysis).”

    From Work hard or play hard: the effect of leisure crafting on opportunity recognition and venture performance (2023) · cites this paper as Kleine et al., 2019

  • Thriving at work is a strong predictor of individual job performance.

    “Research supports the notion that thriving at work is a robust predictor of individual job performance (Kleine et al., 2019;Porath et al., 2012).”

    From Work hard or play hard: the effect of leisure crafting on opportunity recognition and venture performance (2023) · cites this paper as Kleine et al., 2019

  • Thriving at work carries the indirect effect of leisure crafting on an entrepreneur's opportunity recognition and performance because it is a resource that can be gained and preserved and because it drives work-related outcomes.

    “Thus, we argue that thriving at work facilitates the indirect effect of LC on an entrepreneur's opportunity recognition and performance because it is a resource that can be both acquired (e.g., learning new knowledge and skills) and conserved (e.g., protecting and enhancing energy), and because it drives work-related outcomes (Kleine et al., 2019).”

    From Work hard or play hard: the effect of leisure crafting on opportunity recognition and venture performance (2023) · cites this paper as Kleine et al., 2019

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Research works printed but not linked: 18

  1. Ahmed, S., & Bashir, S. (2017). Power of negative emotions at workplace: Envy, subjective career success, thriving at work with moderating role of self-control. Journal of Managerial Sciences, 11, 427-448.
  2. Anjum, M. A., Marri, S. R., & Khan, H. (2016). Thriving at work: Evidences from Telecom companies in Balochistan. Gomal University Journal of Research, 32, 36-46.
  3. Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Free Press.
  4. Brown, C. B. (2009). Influential women in organization development: Illumi- nating the path to prominence and the role of knowledge and social influence in the evolution of OD (dissertation). Chicago, Springfield, Ari- zona, USA: Benedictine University.
  5. Collins, L. A. (2014). Thriving at work: Contextual versus non-contextual fac- tors (dissertation). Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, USA.
  6. DiMarcangelo, A. (2017). Thriving at work: Manager thriving in higher edu- cation (dissertation). Pepperdine University, Malibu, California, USA.
  7. Gilbreath, B., & Karimi, L. (2012). Supervisor behavior and employee presenteeism. International Journal of Leadership Studies, 7, 114-131.
  8. Helfer, K. M. (2017). Sex-role identity, workplace stress and thriving in South African employees (dissertation). University of Witwatersand, Johannes- burg, South Africa.
  9. Kan, Shi, Wan Jin, & Youbo, Cui. (2015). Work-based feelings based on people-context-interaction: Generation mechanism. China Academic Journal, 17, 65-83. https://doi.org/10.16471/j.cnki.11-2822/ c.2015.17.010 · DOI
  10. Leslie, B., Aring, M. K., & Brand, B. (1998). Informal learning: The new fron- tier of employee & organizational development. Economic Development Review, 15, 12-18.
  11. Levy, R. (2016). The role of implicit person theories and psychological capital in workplace thriving (master's thesis). University of Witwatersand, Johannisburg, South Africa.
  12. Macera, J. L. (2016). A theory of thriving for small business owners: A grounded theory study (dissertation). Minneapolis, Minnesota, US: Capella University.
  13. Rozkwitalska, M., & Basinska, B. A. (2016). Positive psychological capital enhances thriving in the multicultural work environment of multina- tional corporations (Conference Paper).
  14. Schaufeli, W. B., Bakker, A. B., & Salanova, M. (2016). The measurement of work engagement with a short questionnaire. Educational and Psycho- logical Measurement, 66, 701-716. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316 4405282471 · DOI · Paper page
  15. Spreitzer, G. M. (2007). Toward the integration of two perspectives: A review of social-structural and psychological empowerment at work.
  16. Bingley, UK: Emerald.
  17. Woo, V. C. Y. (2015). Thriving in transition: Cognitive, social & behavioral resources for times of change (dissertation). Cleveland, Ohio, US: Case Western Reserve University.
  18. *Zhang, R.-G. (2018). How social exchange affects employees' thriving at work. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 9, 99-106.

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Authors
Kleine, A., Rudolph, C. W., & Zacher, H.
Affiliations
  • University of Groningen (NL)
  • Saint Louis University (US)
  • Leipzig University (DE)
Corresponding author
  • Kleine, Anne‐Kathrin
  • Zacher, Hannes
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Organizational Behavior
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2019-06-07
Volume
40
Issue
9-10
Pages
973-999
ISSN
  • 0894-3796 (ISSN-L)
  • 1099-1379
DOI
10.1002/job.2375
OpenAlex
W2942090227
Cited by
606
References
228
Citations by year
2026: 104 · 2025: 117 · 2024: 116 · 2023: 88 · 2022: 76 · 2021: 60 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 7
FWCI
63.49
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Organizational Behavior (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Workaholism, burnout, and well-being
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
Keywords
thriving at work, psychological capital, proactive personality, positive affect, work engagement, supportive leadership, coworker support, perceived organizational support, burnout, work commitment, task performance, job satisfaction, self-rated health, employee outcomes

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