Thriving at work: A meta‐analysis
verifiedrich profile · Journal of Organizational Behavior · 2019
Kleine, Anne‐Kathrin; Rudolph, Cort W.; Zacher, Hannes
How this was studied
A meta-analytic synthesis — it pools many primary studies rather than running a single design, so there is no single-study diagram.
What this article reports
The findings we extracted from this work, normalized into Principia’s relationship form (X → Y). Each feeds the synthesized models below.
proactive personality → thriving
thriving → job satisfaction
burnout → thriving
psychological capital psycap → thriving
task performance → thriving
thriving → burnout
thriving → work engagement
thriving → task performance
positive affect → thriving
thriving → organizational commitment
perceived organizational support → thriving
thriving → turnover intention
work engagement → thriving
job satisfaction → thriving
thriving → task performance
Models this article informs
The meta-analytic priors this article contributes evidence to — its place in the broader synthesis.
burnout correlates thriving
employee well being predicts burnout
job satisfaction correlates thriving
perceived organizational support correlates thriving
positive affect correlates thriving
proactive personality correlates thriving
psychological capital psycap correlates thriving
task performance correlates thriving
thriving correlates work engagement
thriving predicts burnout
thriving predicts job satisfaction
thriving predicts organizational commitment
thriving predicts task performance
thriving predicts turnover intention
work engagement correlates thriving
In the authors’ words
The article’s own 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.
What the literature says about it
Attributed, open-access quotes from other works that cite this article, plus the citation-graph verdict tally. Corroborations and disputes, in one place — the honest-broker view.
supports “Research shows that thriving is related to a series of positive work-related outcomes, such as innovative behaviours, job satisfaction, and organisational citizen-ship behaviours (Jaiswal & Dhar, 2017; Kleine et al., 2019; Shahid et al., 2020; Walumbwa et al., 2018).”
supports “Given that thriving has been associated positively with engagement and performance, and negatively with turnover intentions (Kleine et al., 2019; Walumbwa et al., 2018), an important starting point for continued research is the study of thriving conditioning factors (Prem et al.”
supports “Kleine et al found supportive leadership behaviour, commitment, and perceived organizational support are associated with an employee thriving at work.(6) Hospital leaders must consider strategies to measure and enhance physician engagement, which is defined as the active involvement and participation of physicians in administrative and/or leadership activities in their organization.”
supports “As Kleine et al. (2019) summarized in their meta-analysis, thriving is moderately positively correlated with subjective health ( r c = .39), strongly negatively correlated with burnout ( r c = − .53), and has bene fi cial outcomes in terms of job attitudes and performance.”
supports “This result is in line with studies that emphasize the positive impact of organizational support on individuals’ work attitudes, such as thriving at work [38,120].”
supports “Workplace research in this space often centers on the concept of “thriving,” which is positively associated with affect, work engagement, and a range of social and health-related outcomes (80).”
supports “Previous studies have identified enablers that may facilitate thriving: both contextual (e.g., supportive co-workers, effective leadership) and personal (e.g., proactive personality, work engagement) [2, 3].”
supports “As Kleine et al. (2019) summarized in their meta-analysis, thriving is moderately positively correlated with subjective health ( r c = .39), strongly negatively correlated with burnout ( r c = − .53), and has bene fi cial outcomes in terms of job attitudes and performance.”
supports “Encouraging employees to thrive is critical at work because thriving individuals demonstrate positive work outcomes, including work engagement, job performance, and career development (Jiang et al., 2021; Kleine et al., 2019; Porath et al., 2012).”
supports “Research shows that thriving is related to a series of positive work-related outcomes, such as innovative behaviours, job satisfaction, and organisational citizen-ship behaviours (Jaiswal & Dhar, 2017; Kleine et al., 2019; Shahid et al., 2020; Walumbwa et al., 2018).”
supports “A meta-analysis found that thriving at work leads to positive employee outcomes (Kleine et al., 2019), including individual health and growth (e.g., physical and mental health, job burnout, career development), work attitude (e.g., organizational commitment, turnover intention) and…”
supports “Workplace research in this space often centers on the concept of “thriving,” which is positively associated with affect, work engagement, and a range of social and health-related outcomes (80).”
supports “Kleine et al found supportive leadership behaviour, commitment, and perceived organizational support are associated with an employee thriving at work.(6) Hospital leaders must consider strategies to measure and enhance physician engagement, which is defined as the active involvement and participation of physicians in administrative and/or leadership activities in their organization.”
supports “A meta-analysis found that thriving at work leads to positive employee outcomes (Kleine et al., 2019), including individual health and growth (e.g., physical and mental health, job burnout, career development), work attitude (e.g., organizational commitment, turnover intention) and…”
supports “…process of adaptation is based on empirical studies which have demonstrated that thriving is positively related to individual characteristics (e.g., person inputs), relational characteristics (e.g., positive relationships), and occupational outcomes (e.g., job performance) (Kleine et al., 2019).”
supports “The concept of thriving in turn increases well-being (Yousaf et al., 2019), job satisfaction, and positive attitudes toward self-development (Kleine et al., 2019), to name a few.”
supports “…with growth, progress, and momentum at work, and has been linked to outcomes such as better performance, lower burnout, and greater proac-tivity (Kleine et al., 2019). thriving is often viewed within the JD-R framework as a personal resource that arises when employees experience adequate job…”
supports “As a proximal predictor of thriving and typical “agentic work behavior”, task engagement features prominently in multiple models for thriving (Brown et al., 2017; Kleine et al., 2019; Spreitzer et al., 2005).”
supports “As thriving is related to important work-related outcomes (e.g., wellbeing, task performance; Kleine et al., 2019), knowledge about predictors of thriving is especially relevant for more introverted leaders seeking to thrive in leadership roles and for organizations seeking to foster thriving in…”
supports “A meta-analysis found that thriving at work leads to positive employee outcomes (Kleine et al., 2019), including individual health and growth (e.g., physical and mental health, job burnout, career development), work attitude (e.g., organizational commitment, turnover intention) and…”
supports “…meta-analysis reported positive relationships between overall thriving at work and various health-related (e.g., subjective health, burnout), attitudinal (e.g., job satisfaction, commitment), and performance-related outcomes (e.g., task performance, organizational citizenship; Kleine et al., 2019).”
supports “Workplace research in this space often centers on the concept of “thriving,” which is positively associated with affect, work engagement, and a range of social and health-related outcomes (80).”
supports “The concept of thriving in turn increases well-being (Yousaf et al., 2019), job satisfaction, and positive attitudes toward self-development (Kleine et al., 2019), to name a few.”
supports “Previously identified enablers of thriving, such as a proactive personality, supportive co-workers, and effective leadership [2, 3], may also act by reducing perceived stress, potentially through facilitating a subconscious perception of safety [21].”
supports “Employees with high perceived organisational support find their job more pleasurable, are in a better mood at work, and suffer fewer strain symptoms, such as fatigue or burnout (Kleine et al., 2019).”
supports “Likewise, thriving has a positive association with health, job satisfaction, self-development, citizenship behavior; commitment toward organizations, task and creative performance, and organizational citizenship behavior also has a negative association with burnout and turnover intention [6].”
supports “…with growth, progress, and momentum at work, and has been linked to outcomes such as better performance, lower burnout, and greater proac-tivity (Kleine et al., 2019). thriving is often viewed within the JD-R framework as a personal resource that arises when employees experience adequate job…”
supports “…meta-analysis reported positive relationships between overall thriving at work and various health-related (e.g., subjective health, burnout), attitudinal (e.g., job satisfaction, commitment), and performance-related outcomes (e.g., task performance, organizational citizenship; Kleine et al., 2019).”
supports “…with growth, progress, and momentum at work, and has been linked to outcomes such as better performance, lower burnout, and greater proac-tivity (Kleine et al., 2019). thriving is often viewed within the JD-R framework as a personal resource that arises when employees experience adequate job…”
supports “Individuals who are thriving at work typically exude vitality and experience more positive emotions, which are conducive to creative thinking and innovative problem-solving [47].”
supports “Thriving at work is being considered an antecedent of both performance and job satisfaction (part of our well-being outcome cluster; see below) [56].”
supports “Previous studies have identified enablers that may facilitate thriving: both contextual (e.g., supportive co-workers, effective leadership) and personal (e.g., proactive personality, work engagement) [2, 3].”
supports “Given that thriving has been associated positively with engagement and performance, and negatively with turnover intentions (Kleine et al., 2019; Walumbwa et al., 2018), an important starting point for continued research is the study of thriving conditioning factors (Prem et al., 2017).”
supports “…has focused exclusively on thriving with employees in physical offices, has found that perceived organizational support, various leadership practices (Kleine et al., 2019), relationships at work (Carmeli & Spreitzer, 2009), other work resources, and positive relationships contribute to thriving.”
supports “As thriving is related to important work-related outcomes (e.g., wellbeing, task performance; Kleine et al., 2019), knowledge about predictors of thriving is especially relevant for more introverted leaders seeking to thrive in leadership roles and for organizations seeking to foster thriving in…”
supports “…with growth, progress, and momentum at work, and has been linked to outcomes such as better performance, lower burnout, and greater proac-tivity (Kleine et al., 2019). thriving is often viewed within the JD-R framework as a personal resource that arises when employees experience adequate job…”
supports “…process of adaptation is based on empirical studies which have demonstrated that thriving is positively related to individual characteristics (e.g., person inputs), relational characteristics (e.g., positive relationships), and occupational outcomes (e.g., job performance) (Kleine et al., 2019).”
supports “In the workplace, vitality is related to thriving (Kleine et al., 2019), work engagement (see the Job Demands-Resources model, Bakker et al., 2014), and reduced burnout levels (Demerouti et al., 2001; Kristensen et al., 2005).”
supports “As Kleine et al. (2019) summarized in their meta-analysis, thriving is moderately positively correlated with subjective health ( r c = .39), strongly negatively correlated with burnout ( r c = − .53), and has bene fi cial outcomes in terms of job attitudes and performance.”
supports “Second, extra-verted behavior has strong links to positive affect (e.g., Margolis & Lyubomirsky, 2020; see also van Allen et al., 2021), which is positively correlated with thriving ( r c = .52; Kleine et al., 2019).”
supports “A recent metanalysis of thriving indicated the key antecedents of thriving at work include supportive coworker behavior, supportive leadership behavior and perceived organizational support (Kleine et al., 2019).”
supports “As a proximal predictor of thriving and typical “agentic work behavior”, task engagement features prominently in multiple models for thriving (Brown et al., 2017; Kleine et al., 2019; Spreitzer et al., 2005).”
supports “…research related thriving to beneficial outcomes in terms of, for example, employees’ affective commitment and collective organizational performance (Walumbwa et al., 2018) as well as subjective health, more positive job attitudes, and better task and creative performance (Kleine et al., 2019).”
supports “Thriving at work is defined as a positive psychological state described by feelings of vitality and learning, resulting in higher levels of work commitment and wellbeing (Kleine et al., 2019; Moloney et al., 2020) .”
supports “A meta-analysis found that thriving at work leads to positive employee outcomes (Kleine et al., 2019), including individual health and growth (e.g., physical and mental health, job burnout, career development), work attitude (e.g., organizational commitment, turnover intention) and…”
supports “…meta-analysis reported positive relationships between overall thriving at work and various health-related (e.g., subjective health, burnout), attitudinal (e.g., job satisfaction, commitment), and performance-related outcomes (e.g., task performance, organizational citizenship; Kleine et al., 2019).”
supports “As Kleine et al. (2019) summarized in their meta-analysis, thriving is moderately positively correlated with subjective health ( r c = .39), strongly negatively correlated with burnout ( r c = − .53), and has bene fi cial outcomes in terms of job attitudes and performance.”
supports “Education, training, and support might facilitate personal enablers of thriving, such as work engagement and proactivity [2].”
supports “Besides the influence of work context on well-being at work, organizational scholars have pointed to the potential enabling role of personal attributes such as psychological capital on need satisfaction and motivation (for a review, see the study by Kleine et al., 2019), fostering thriving at work.”
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Assembled from Principia’s registry — bibliographic record, extracted effect sizes, the models they inform, and open-access citing literature.