JOURNAL OF

SOCIAL AND RESEARCH ARTICLE

EDUCATIONAL
RESEARCH
P-ISSN: XXX-XXXX | E-ISSN: XXX-XXXX Journal of Social and Educational Research, 2022, 1(1), 21-26

Psychological capital and anxiety: A study among Gen Z job

seekers
Remya Lathabhavan1 , Revathy Lathabhavan2

1Indian Institute of Management Bodh Gaya, Abstract

Bodh Gaya, Indıa
2Ramakrishna Ayurvedic Medical College The purpose of the paper is to analyze and explore the relationship between psychological capital and anxiety
Hospital and Research Centre, Bengaluru, among students. The authors conducted survey among 424 students from Indian universities and the data
India obtained from the survey was analysed using a combination of means, standard deviation and correlation. The
study presented first elaborates on psychological capital, moves onto Anxiety and transitions into the special
anomaly that they share in a measurable and qualitative manner. The inferential studies show us that there is a
high negative correlation that exists between psychological capital and anxiety. The study has extended the
previous research results in the field of psychological capital as a predictor of anxiety. The study recommends
more longitudinal studies in this area. This study helps individuals to understand their own psychological
capital and anxiety. This also helps them to understand the importance of keeping a high level of psychological
capital. With regard to student’s psychological capital, this is the first study to investigate their relationship
with anxiety.
Keywords: Psychological capital, anxiety, Gen Z, students , job seekers

INTRODUCTION
Overtime, researchers have come to realize that people perform better when focusing on
their strengths (Lin, Mutz, Clough & Papageorgiou, 2017; Lounsbur., Gibson, Sundstrom,
Wilburn & Loveland, 2004). A decade back, it was all about conquering one’s weaknesses,
but now capitalizing on one’s strength is considered a better strategy to increase efficiency.
This shift in focus is a result of the introduction of the concept, Positive Psychology
(Seligman, 2002). Positive Psychology is when we concentrate more on our strengths
rather than our weaknesses (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2014).

Psychological Capital can be simply understood as a person’s positive state of

psychological development (Luthans, Youssef, & Avolio, 2007). And this growth can
directly be related to their performance at work. It’s characterized by four attributes; self-
reliance while dealing with the challenges (self-efficacy), positive expectations for the
future success (optimism), being full of determination (hope), and accomplishment in spite
of obstacles (resilience) (Luthans et al, 2004). Psychological capital is unique and
measurable. And it’s particularly trending because it is developable.

Present day situation lead to a lot of stress among all category of people (Lathabhavan &
Vispute, 2021). It comes to us naturally given the competitive world we live in. Due to the
rising levels of stress in an average person’s life, anxiety has become a part of our daily
lives. It’s so common that most of us fail to realize we suffer from it. As a result of this,
Corresponding Author people suffer from physical and mental symptoms (El-Bardan & Lathabhavan, 2021). A
Remya Lathabhavan, Indian Institute of lot of research has showed a negative relationship between psychological capital and
Management Bodh Gaya, Bodh Gaya, Indıa
E-mail: remya.l@[Link]
unhealthy attitude. Today, school kids or top managers at MNCs, all are under negative
stress and hence, it becomes extremely important for us to work towards the improvement
Received : 17 June 2022 of psychological capital in people at every level.
Accepted : 9 November 2022
Online Published : 31 December 2022
Through this paper, we try to find out the relationship between psychological capital and
©2022 JSER, Available online at [Link] anxiety among final year graduates who seek job and attending placements.
[Link]

Cite this article as: Lathabhavan, R., & Lathabhavan, R. (2022). Psychological capital and anxiety: A study among Gen Z job seekers. Journal of Social and Educational Research, 1(1),
21-26.

21
 Lathabhavan & Lathabhavan A Study among Gen Z Job Seekers 22

Theoretical background and hypotheses level of psychological capital make significant differences in
individual’s attitude (Karatepe & Avci, 2017), stress level
Psychological capital (Baron, Franklin & Hmieleski, 2016; Abbas & Raja, 2015) and
depression (Bakker, Lyons, & Conlon, 2017; Barry, Woods,
Psychological capital, or popularly used as PsyCap, directly
Martin, Sterling & Warnecke, 2016).
effects performance. It has helped people understand better that
an individual’s state of mind, plays an imperative role in his/her Anxiety
performance at work. The four features that have been found to
be most crucial abbreviate to “HERO” (Luthans & Youssef- “Anxiety was defined by Freud as something felt, an emotional
Morgan,2017). Hope, is having the willpower to go after one’s state that included feelings of apprehension, tension,
goals and having faith enough to believe in overcoming all nervousness, and worry accompanied by physiological arousal”
hurdles (Lutans et al,2004). Efficacy, is the use of cognitive (Spielberger, 2010). It is characterized by an unpleasant state
resources to obtain intended results (Youssef & Luthans, 2007). of inner turmoil, often accompanied by nervous behavior.
It’s to believe in succeeding or completing tasks with Anxiety is an emotional state which affects all age groups
accomplishment of desired outcomes. Resiliency, is having the (Beck, Emery & Greenberg, 2005).
strength to come back from every adversity (Larson & Luthans,
Various studies have explored that anxiety affects negatively in
2006). People often drown in their failures, tend to give up
individual’s life. Anxiety affects negatively to performance
(Balasubramanian & Lathabhavan, 2018). But the one who
(Foley, Herts, Borgonovi, Guerriero, Levine & Beilock, 2017),
doesn’t look back, and one crisis after another with the same
job satisfaction (Macdonald & Levy, 2016) and happiness (Dai
positive energy is the one who can perform well (Lathabhavan,
& Chu, 2018). Anxiety also lead to depression in many
2020). A resilient person can also encourage and motivate the
situations (Beiter et al., 2015) and also effect proper decision
people around (Lathabhavan, 2019). Optimism, is having a
making (Whitehead, Raffan, & Deaney, 2006).
positive outlook towards current and future situations. All these
together constitute Psychological Capital (Luthans, Youssef & The relationship between psychological capital
Avolio,2015). Positive employees can change the organization
for good, and Psychological Capital is a measure of that. and anxiety
According to Social Cognitive theory (Bandura,1989),
The behaviour to be adapted by employees is termed as
observed behavior is determined by personal, behavioral and
“Positive organizational Behaviour or POB, which aims to
environmental aspects. Among these, the personal aspects play
measure and manage one’s strengths and psychological capital,
a major role in dealing with the success factors in personal and
while giving not much importance to their weaknesses”
professional life. Those individuals who possess high self-
(Luthans & Youssef-Morgan, 2017). Adopting a Psychological
efficacy have more chances of succeed in their respective field.
Positive Behaviour will help develop a positive attitude in
Seligman’s explanatory style (2002) talks about pessimistic
people and also build a positive environment, where feedbacks
explanatory style lead to pessimistic beliefs and finally lead to
are constructive and competition is healthy. Now, most
negative aspects in behavior. Whereas optimistic explanatory
companies invest heavily in Talent Management. This is
style related to the positive aspects and overcome negativity
because for any organization, their employees are their biggest
and lead to success.
and most precious asset. Eventually, it comes down to the
employees, to decide the growth of the organization. And these, Based on these literature support, we formulated hypothesis as
employees, that everything seems to depend on, work best
when their Psychological Capital is high. Theory and H1: Psychological capital is negatively related to anxiety
researches support that psychological capital can be defined as
A person who view the situations optimistically can cope up
a structure which includes positive outcomes both in personal
with the negative situations easily and this will help the
and organizational levels and improves human performance,
individual move away from impacts of the negative attitudes
which in turn enhances the chances of the company’s overall
(Seligman, 2002). Optimism plays an important role for
success. Employees’ Psychological Capital must be built on,
reducing anxiety and leading to a better both mental and
positively from the very beginning for long-term success of the
physical health of an individual (Dolcos et al, 2015; Schofield
organization.
et al, 2016). Among students also, optimisms play an important
Psychological capital has a direct effect on various aspects on role in reducing the effects of anxiety or negating the anxiety
an individual’s life. Many studies have found out the positive itself (Bagana, Raciu, & Lupu, 2011; Lau Hui, Lam, & Cheung,
relationship between psychological capital and other 2017).
organizational aspects such as work engagement (Lathabhavan,
Using this rationale, we have formulated this hypothesis:
Balasubramanian, & Natarajan, 2017); Wang, Liu, Zou, Hao &
Wu, 2017; Paek, Schuckert, Kim, & Lee, 2015), job satisfaction H2: Optimism is negatively related to anxiety.
(Badran & Youssef-Morgan, 2015; Balasubramanian &
Lathabhavan, 2017; Jung & Yoon, 2015) and performance According to hope theory, hope is the perceived capability to
(Bouckenooghe, Zafar, & Raja, 2015; Luthans, Youssef, & derive pathways to desired goals and motivate an individual to
Avolio, 2015). When it comes to individual psychological use those pathways (Snyder, 2000). This attitude provides them
aspects, psychological shows notable impact on them. High the strength to move forward to achieve their goals and
overcome the adverse situations (Larson & Luthans, 2006).
 23 Journal of Social and Educational Research, 2022, 1(1), 21-26

Hence those individual who have will face hindrances with METHOD
confidence and this will lead to less anxiety compare to others
(Arnau et al., 2017). Participants and procedures
On the basis of above literature support, we have formulated the The main aim was to target students as this provides us a unique
third hypothesis: demographic to further our studies when it comes to assessing
their behaviour and related decision making in general. To aid
H3: Hope is negatively related to anxiety.
in this research, a group of 424 students from Indian
According to Ungar’s (2004) theory, resilience is the outcome universities were asked to fill in the questionnaire created. This
from the negotiations between individuals and their gave us a broad spectrum to cement our studies in an effective
environments for the resources to define themselves as healthy and default free manner. Data were collected from final year
amidst conditions collectively viewed as adverse. According to undergraduate students from various universities in India. We
him, the youth with resilience attitude can overcome have specifically chosen final years because they usually find it
psychological difficulties also easily compare to others difficult to cope up with their studies with placements and
(Lathabhavan, Balasubramanian, & Natarajan,2018). Various future aspirations during this period due to behavioral issues.
studies across the world among students also shown the
Measures
negative relationship between resilience and anxiety (Hjemdal
et al., 2011; Legault, Anawati & Flynn, 2006). Psychological capital- The Psychological Capital was
measured using the 12-item Psychological Capital
Considering the literature discussed, we formulated the Questionnaire (PCQ-12) developed by Luthans, Youssef, &
hypothesis as: Avolio (2007). The PCQ-12 has demonstrated acceptable
H4: Resilience is negatively related to anxiety. reliability and support for construct validity has been obtained
in several previous studies (Avey, Luthans, & Mhatre, 2008).
According to Bandura (2006), self-efficacy is people’s beliefs Sample items include the following: hope— “I can think of
in their capabilities to produce desired outcome. According to many ways to reach my current goals”; optimism— “I always
him, a high level of self-efficacy will lead to more positive look on the bright side of things regarding my life”; resilience—
outcomes and will be negatively related to negative outcomes. “I can get through difficult times because I’ve experienced
Various studies among the students around the world reiterated difficulty before”; self-efficacy— “I feel confident contributing
the negative relationship between self-efficacy and anxiety to discussions about my ideas during discussions among peers.”
(Dull, Schleifer, & McMillan, 2015; Muris,2002). Responses were averaged to form an overall score of
psychological capital.
Based on these rationale, we formulated the hypothesis as:
Anxiety- Anxiety was measured using the 7-item Generalized
H5: Self-efficacy is negatively related to anxiety.
Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-7) developed by
Our proposed model is depicted in Figure Mossman et al. (2017). Sample items include “I have been
feeling nervous, anxious or on the edge” and “I have been
worrying too much about different things”.

Data Analysis
To ascertain results and the corresponding relationship, it
Figure 1. Proposed model required statistical analysis. The data obtained from the survey
was analysed using a combination of means, standard deviation
and correlation. This provided a numerical result that could pin
point the specifics between various parameters in Psychological
Capital to anxiety. Data was analyzed using SPSS 22.0.

Table 1. Metrics detailing the spread and distribution of the metrics.

Metric Total PsyCap Optimism Hope Resilience Self-efficacy Anxiety
Average 51.05769 8.51923077 16.11538 13 13.42307692 8.461538
Standard Deviation 9.906124 2.33279615 4.272694 2.9807072 3.531975661 5.620914
 Lathabhavan & Lathabhavan A Study among Gen Z Job Seekers 24

Results negative relationship of psychological capital and its

components with anxiety.
From the analysis of the data, it was found that the population
interviewed tended to have a moderate to high psychological Considering the practical implication of the study, it provides a
capital. It was also observed that the students interviewed were large view on this aspect. This study helps individuals to
more biased to be anxious at the current frame of time owing to understand their own psychological capital and anxiety. This
the ongoing recruitment and final year pressures. also helps them to understand the importance of keeping a high
level of psychological capital. This psychological capital helps
As can be seen from the metrics, the deviation was quite wide them to reduce the anxiety level and other negative
spread for the whole population under consideration which is psychological aspects.
attributed to the balanced selection of candidates. The higher
levels of optimism and self-efficacy amongst the students is For organizations and institutions, this study can be considered
validated by the fact that they are still new to the ways of life. as a tool to check psychological capital. By understanding the
The vast deviation in anxiety also shows that each student is psychological capital and anxiety level among the students, the
unique in the way he or she deals with stressful situations. institutions can frame programs or counseling sessions so as to

Table 2. Correlation between Psychological Capital and Anxiety

Optimism Hope Resilience Self- Efficacy Total PsyCap
Pearson’s Correlation coefficient with Anxiety -0.51985 -0.43141 -0.25137 -0.57941 -0.59072

From Table 2, we can find a common pattern of a negative make the future employees. Organizations can understand the
correlation between anxiety and all the sub components of psychological capital level of entry level employees and
psychological capital. This shows that the higher a person’s organize training sessions in order to improve the psychological
psychological capital the lower his or her anxiety levels are. aspects of employees.
Amongst all the sub-parts of psychological capital one can
observe that the most correlated is self-Efficacy (-0.579) The social implications of the work cannot be underestimated.
showing that anxiety tends to negatively impact one’s Results from this study can be used to empower youth since it
confidence in themselves and their work. The least related shows their psychological health towards job. If such
being resilience (-0.251) shows that usually a student who is psychological capital and anxiety as a behavior studies can be
immune to ups and downs tends to be less susceptible to be generalized or differentiated in terms of gender, region, races
anxious. Thus, overall there is a significantly high negative etc. social reformers and policy makers can work on these areas
correlation (- 0.590) between psychological capital and anxiety to promote progress. Hence positive results can be encouraged
in a student. and work on more improvements. Negative results can be
suppressed through proper remedial measures and policies.
DISCUSSION Limitations and Future Scope
The study focused psychological capital among final year
The present study has few limitations. First, the research design
students as a predictor of anxiety among them. Our main
was cross-sectional and hence the potential relationship among
hypotheses were largely supported by the data. We have thus
the constructs over a period may vary or may not differ.
extended the previous research results in the field of
Longitudinal studies can be considered for better
psychological capital as a predictor of anxiety. The relationship
understanding. Second, self-reporting styles may be associated
between the four components of psychological capital- hope,
with problems of social desirability. However, data were
resilience, optimism and self-efficacy- are also a major
collected anonymously and respondents were assured
contribution of this work. With regard to student’s
confidentiality. Future works may make use of situational
psychological capital, this is the first study to investigate their
approach to surveying – i.e., introducing a particular situation
relationship with anxiety.
and how the individual responds to it and this will provide more
Although there were studies which have already analyzed clarity. Third, the respondent groups were limited to particular
psychological capital and anxiety, their purview was not on groups in terms of age and region. Hence future researchers are
academic aspects. Anxiety was found out cause for leaving jobs offered the large scope of studying different target groups from
among the patients of different health issues (Liu et al., 2013). different geographical locations, ethnicity and age groups. A
Different studies among different work groups also explored comparative study among these also will provide more clarity
that psychological capital plays significant role on anxiety on these aspects. The current study considered only anxiety.
(Avey, Wernsing, & Mhatre, 2011; Rahimnia, Mazidi & Future studies can consider different psychological aspects.
Mohammadzadeh, 2013).
Conclusion
The present research contributes to psychological capital
This study shows that psychological capital predict anxiety
literature in several important ways. First, this is a pioneer study
among students. It clearly says high psychological capital will
in demonstrating the relationship of psychological capital with
lead to low anxiety level among the students. Understanding
anxiety among students. Second, the study reaffirms the
and measuring them will help the students to change their
 25 Journal of Social and Educational Research, 2022, 1(1), 21-26

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