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The ‘Happy Productive Worker Thesis’ and Australian Managers

Peter Hosie is at Curtin Business School, Curtin University of Technology, Building 402, Room 807, GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia, Australia 6845. E-mail: Peter.Hosie{at}cbs.curtin.edu.au.

Peter Sevastos

Peter Sevastos is at School of Psychology, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia.

Cary L. Cooper

Cary L. Cooper is Pro Vice-Chancellor (External Relations), Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health, Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YX, UK.

Few conundrums have captured and held the imagination of organizational researchers and practitioners as has the ‘happy productive worker’ thesis, or the proposition that ‘a happy worker is a good worker’. This thesis is revisited by investigating the impact of job-related affective well-being and intrinsic job satisfaction on Australian managers’ performance. Decades of research have been unable to establish a strong link be-tween intrinsic job satisfaction and performance. Despite mixed empirical evidence, there is support in the literature to suggest that a relationship exists between affective well-being, intrinsic job satisfaction and managers’ performance. Affect has rarely been used as a predictor of managers’ job performance outcomes. Indicators of their affective well-being and intrinsic job satisfaction were shown to predict dimensions of their contextual and task performance.

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Journal of Human Values, Vol. 13, No. 2, 151-176 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/097168580701300207


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Hosie, P. Articles by Cooper, C. L. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?