Predicting well-being at work during Covid-19: Examining the incremental validity of core self-evaluations and the mediating effect of perceived strengths use

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic affected work dynamics across economies, creating a need to map which individual and job-related resources organizations should rely on to support their workforce in dealing with challenging job demands, while preserving positive levels of performance and well-being. The current study is carried out with this purpose and empirically tests whether core self-evaluations play a relevant role over proactive personality in predicting occupational well-being, operationalized through thriving at work. Results from a sample of N = 94 incumbents from different jobs and organizations, surveyed during the fourth wave of the pandemic, revealed that core self-evaluations yield a significant contribution to predicting thriving, over proactive personality. Mediation analyses showed that core self-evaluations impact upon this criterion via perceived strengths use, both directly and indirectly, when the effects of proactive personality are accounted for. Major implications for human resources management in the Covid-19 pandemic and analogous work crises are discussed.