The relation between Psychological Capital and Professional Ethics among Nurses: mediating role of Defense Mechanisms

Document Type : علمی - پژوهشی

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Kashan University, Kashan, Iran.

2 Master of Psychology, Saveh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Saveh, Iran.

Abstract

Aim: The present study aimed to determine the relationship between psychological capital and professional ethics with the mediating role of defense mechanisms in nurses. Methods: The methodology was descriptive-correlational. The population was 1237 nurses in Hamedan hospitals. Two hundred thirty-four nurses were randomly selected and responded to Cadozier's questionnaire (2002) about Professional Ethics, Psychological Capital Questionnaire (Luthans et al., 2007), and Defense Style Questionnaire (Andrews. Singh, & Bond, 1993). Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and hierarchical regression. Results: There is a positive and significant relationship between psychological capital (hopeful, optimistic, self-efficacy, license) and professional ethics (P<0.01). The hierarchy regression results also show that mature, immature, and neurotic defense mechanisms significantly affect the relationship between psychological capital and professional ethics (P 0.01). Conclusion: The defense mechanisms indirectly affect the relationship between psychological capital and professional ethics. The categories of hope, optimism, resilience, and self-efficacy should be considered to promote nurses' professional ethics, and nurses should be encouraged to use the defense mechanism of maturity through counseling and training.

Keywords


Abbas, M., Raja, U., Darr, W., & Bouckenooghe, D. (2014). Combined effects of perceived politics and psychological capital on job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and performance. Journal of Management, 2(1): 1-18.
Al Maqbali, M. A. (2015). Factors that influence nurses' job satisfaction: a literature review. Nurse Management (Harrow), 22(2), 30-37.
Alvarez- Segura, M., Echavarria, M. F., Lafuente, M., Zeiders, C., Antonin, P., & Vitz, P. (2017). Defense Mechanisms determined or Ethical Choices or both? European Journal of Science and Technology, 13(3): 11-25.
Andrews, G. D., Singh, M. F., & Bond, M. H. (1993). The Defense Style Questionnaire. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 181(4); 246-256.
Avey, J. B., Reichard, R. J., Luthans, F., & Mhatre, K. H. (2011). Meta-analysis of the impact of positive psychological capital on employee attitudes, behaviors, and performance. Human Resource Development, 22 (2): 127–152.
Bergheim, K., Nielsen, M. B., Mearns, K., & Eid, J. (2015). The relationship between psychological capital, job satisfaction, and safety perceptions in the maritime industry. Journal of Safety Science, 74 (1): 27-36.
Bitmis, M. G., & Ergeneli, A. (2013). The Role of Psychological Capital and Trust in Individual Performance and Job Satisfaction Relationship: A Test of Multiple Mediation Model. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 99(1): 173-179. doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.10.483.
Cadozier, V. (2002). The moral profession: A study of moral development and professional ethics, Retrieved from proquest.com.
Ciocca, I., Collazzon, A., Limoncin, E., Franchi, C., Mollaili, D., Diloarenzo, G., Santarnecchi, E., Troisi, A., Siracusano, A., Rossi, A., & Jannini, E.A. (2017). Defense mechanisms and attachment styles in paranoid ideationevaluated in a sample of non-clinical young adults. Journal of RIV Psichiatr, 52(4): 162-167.
Cramer, P. (2017).  Psychological Maturity and Change in Adult Defense Mechanisms. Journal of Research in Personality, 46(10); 306-316.
Cramer, P. (2017). Psychological Maturity and Change in Adult Defense Mechanisms. Journal of Research in Personality, 46(10); 306-316.
Currid, J. (2008). The lived experience and meaning of stress in acute mental health nurses. British Journal of Nursing, 17(4):88-104.
Dehghani, A., Mosalanejad, L., & Dehghan-Nayeri, N. (2015). Factors affecting professional ethics in nursing practice in Iran: a qualitative study. BMC medical ethics, 16 (1): 61.
Grace, P. J. (2013). Nursing ethics and professional responsibility in advanced practice. Jones & Bartlett Learning; ISBN: 1449667430, 9781449667436
Karatepe, O. M., & Talebzadeh, N. (2016). An empirical investigation of psychological capital among flight attendants. Journal of Air Transport Management, 55 (1): 193-202. doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2016.06.001
Kaya, H., Senyuva, E., & Bodur, G. (2017). Developing critical thinking disposition and emotional intelligence of nursing students: a longitudinal research. Journal of Nurse Educational Today, 48 (1): 72-77.
Lee, H., & Cummings, G. G. (2008). Factors influencing job satisfaction of front line nurse managers: a systematic review. Nurse Management, 16(7): 768-783.
Luthans, F., Avey, J.B., Avolio, B.J., Peterson, S.J., (2010). The development andresulting performance impact of positive psychological capital. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 21, 41–67.
Luthans, F., Avolio, B., & Avey, J. (2008). Psychological capital questionnaire. New York: Mind Garden Inc.
Manfred, D., Helena, C., Hay, E. L., Lumley, M. A., Daniel, G., & Gisela, L. (2014).  Changing in Coping and Defense Mechanisms across Adulthood: Longitudinal Findings in a European American Sample. Developmental Psychology, 50(10); 634-648.
Moberg, D. J., & Mark, A. (2009). Sea bright, The development of moral imagination, Business Ethics Quarterly. Retrieved from emeraldinsight.com
 Nam, J. W.,  Ha, J. H., Choi, E.,   Park, D. H., &  Ryu. S. H. (2019). Mature defense mechanisms affect successful adjustment in young adulthood to military service in South Korea. Psychiatry Investig, 16(7): 484–490.
Pan, X., Mao, T., Zhang, J., Wang, J., & Su, P. (2017). Psychological capital mediates the association between nurses' practice environment and work engagement among Chinese male nurses. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 4(4): 378-383.
Probst, T. M., Gailey, N. J., Jiang, L., & Bohle, S. L. (2017). Psychological capital: Buffering the longitudinal curvilinear effects of job insecurity on performance. Journal of Safety Science, 100 (1): 74-82.
Ramos, F. R., de Pires, D. E., Brehmer, L. C., Gelbcke, F. L., Schmoeller, S. D., & Lorenzetti, J. (2013). The discourse of ethics in nursing education: experience and reflections of Brazilian teachers - case study. Journal of Nurse Educational Today, 33(10): 1124-1129. Doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2012.12.011
Rassin, M. (2008). Nurses' professional and personal values. Nurse ethics, 15(5): 614-30.
Rissanen, I., Kuusisto, E., Hanhimaki, E., & Tirri, K. (2018). The implications of teachers’ implicit theories for moral education: A case study from Finland. Journal of moral education, 47(1): 63-77.
Sosik, J., Chun, J. U., & Zhu, W. (2013). Hang on to Your Ego: The Moderating Role of Leader Narcissism on Relationships Between Leader Charisma and Follower Psychological Empowerment and Moral Identity. Journal of business ethics, 1-16.
Sun, T., Zhao, X. W., & Yang, L. B. (2012). The impact of psychological capital on job embeddedness and job performance among nurses: a structural equation approach. Journal of advanced nursing, 68(1): 69-79.
Wang, H., Liu, L., Zou, F., Hao, J., Wu, H. (2017). Associations of Occupational Stressors, perceived Organizational Supoort and Psychological Capital with work Engagement aming Chinese Famale Nurses. Bomed Research int,
Woo, C. H., & Park, J. Y. (2017). Specialty satisfaction, positive psychological capital, and nursing professional values in nursing students: A cross-sectional survey. Nurse Education Today, 57, 24-28. doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2017.06.010
You, J. W. (2016). The relationship among college students' psychological capital, learning empowerment, and engagement. Learning and Individual Differences, 49 (1): 17-24.