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Advances in Sustainable Psychology and Behavior: Managing and Developing People within the External and Organizational Environment

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 47420

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Hak-Seon Kim

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Guest Editor

School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Kyungsung University, Busan 48434, Republic of Korea
Interests: hospitality; service management; online review; food service
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Hyun-Jeong Ban

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Guest Editor

School of Global Studies, Kyungsung University, Busan 48434, Korea
Interests: hospitality & tourism mgmt.; big-data analytics; consumer behavior; service management; food tourism
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Jue Wang

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Guest Editor

School of Global Studies, Kyungsung University, Busan 48434, Republic of Korea
Interests: organizational behavior; HRM; leadership; business ethics; research methods
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Shuting Tao

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Guest Editor

School of Tourism, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, Henan 453007, China
Interests: text analytics; cruise tour; contactless service; nutrition; e-service quality

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are organizing a Special Issue of Sustainability on Advances in sustainable psychology and behavior: Managing and developing people within the external and organizational environment. The venue is a peer-reviewed open-access journal that publishes articles and communications in the interdisciplinary area of sustainability.

The overall purpose of this Special Issue is to focus on people's (e.x., employee, consumer) perceptions and behaviors within the external and organizational context to better understand and manage people at work. Furthermore, we look forward to the enrichment topics in psychological and behavioral sustainability. For instance:

1) employee relations

2) consumer relations and the contingency approach

3) the emerging field of positive organizational behavior

4) Information technology and the e-business revolution, and implications for business.

These research and directions are critical for success in any job and at different levels (individual, group, and organizational).

The vision of this Special Issue is to help increase the contributions to sustainable psychology and behavior by adding drivers, barriers, limitations, and potentials of managing and developing people under organizational context and external environment. Therefore, we wish to bring together distinguished researchers from a variety of academic backgrounds to present recent advances in this emerging field.

This Special Issue is open to any subject area related to shared mobility. The listed keywords suggest just a few of the many possibilities.

Dr. Hak-Seon Kim
Dr. Hyun-Jeong Ban
Dr. Jue Wang
Dr. Shuting Tao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

organizational behavior
cunsomer behavior
satisfaction
behavioral change
travel behavior
sutainable business
collaboration
co-creation

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Published Papers (12 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 713 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of Idiosyncratic Deals on Coworkers’ Knowledge Hiding: A Moderated Serial Mediation Model

by Chen Ding, Tian Ai, Shuming Zhao and Gaoqi Zhang

Sustainability 2023, 15(18), 13679; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151813679 - 13 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1490

Abstract

The essence of knowledge management involves the personalized management of talented employees who possess tacit knowledge. Unfortunately, non-standardized practices can lead to negative knowledge behaviors among coworkers, which can hamper beneficial knowledge interactions. This study aims to explore the underlying mechanism of idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) on knowledge hiding from the bystander perspective. We conducted a two-wave on-site survey of 321 knowledge-based employees in Kunshan Industrial Park, China. During the first wave, employees provided information regarding their perceptions of others’ i-deals and ethical leadership. Two weeks later, employees reported their effort–reward imbalance (ERI), psychological distress, and knowledge hiding behaviors. To test our hypothesis, we used a hierarchical regression analysis with SPSS 26.0 and a path analysis with Mplus 7.4. The results indicate that (a) coworkers’ perceptions of other employees’ idiosyncratic deals (CPOEID) have an indirect effect on knowledge hiding via ERI and psychological distress; (b) ERI and psychological distress serially mediate the relationship between CPOEID and knowledge hiding; and (c) ethical leadership not only reduces the positive effect of CPOEID on ERI but also weakens the serial mediation effects of ERI and psychological distress between CPOEID and knowledge hiding. Our investigation, by using a cognitive-emotional processing system framework, provides a new theoretical perspective on the potential dysfunctionality of differentiated human resource management practices. Furthermore, our findings offer evidence for the compatibility of leadership and policy factors, as ethical leadership lessens the destructive effects of management practices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Psychology and Behavior: Managing and Developing People within the External and Organizational Environment)

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18 pages, 668 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How Platform Economic Dependence Leads to Long Working Time: The Role of Work Pressure and Platform HRM Practices

by Xinqi Lin, Meng Lei and Xin Wang

Sustainability 2023, 15(16), 12634; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151612634 - 21 Aug 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1323

Abstract

Drawing upon the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this paper discusses the effect of platform economic dependence on working time and the mediating role of work pressure, as well as the boundary role of platform human resource management practices, with a survey of 9576 takeaway riders. The results suggest that the greater the economic dependence of takeaway riders on the platform organization, the longer they work; work pressure plays a mediating role between platform economic dependence and working time; the amount of platform rewards has no effect on the positive relationship between platform economic dependence and working time, whereas the difficulty of obtaining platform rewards strengthens the positive relationship between platform economic dependence and working time. This paper contributes to the literature on gig work by providing a micro-individual perspective and to the literature on COR theory by enriching the studies of resource caravan passageways. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Psychology and Behavior: Managing and Developing People within the External and Organizational Environment)

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27 pages, 1592 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Double-Edged Sword Effect of Flexible Work Arrangements on Employee Innovation Performance: From the Demands–Resources–Individual Effects Perspective

by Liyuan Wang and Tianyi Xie

Sustainability 2023, 15(13), 10159; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151310159 - 26 Jun 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 7828

Abstract

This study explores the double-edged sword effect of FWAs on employee innovation performance based on the Demand–Resource–Individual Effect (DRIVE) model. A total of 411 valid questionnaires from knowledge-based employees were collected in three stages through a survey of technology-based companies in China. The data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 22 software, and multi-level linear model analysis was conducted to test the double mediating effect of psychological empowerment and role ambiguity and the moderating effect of role breadth self-efficacy. This study found that, in terms of the job demand path, flexible work arrangements (FWAs) increased employees’ role ambiguity, which in turn decreased their innovation performance; in terms of the job resource path, FWAs increased employees’ psychological empowerment, which in turn increased their innovation performance. From the perspective of individual differences, under the flexible work system, employees with high role breadth self-efficacy can enhance their psychological empowerment and reduce role ambiguity, thus promoting their innovation performance. This study is the first to analyze the “double-edged sword” effect of FWAs on employee innovation performance based on the DRIVE model, which effectively extends the moderating variable of role breadth self-efficacy in the model and helps to understand the impact of different types of FWAs on employee innovation performance. In addition, this study provides a reference for technology-based companies to strengthen their digital capabilities and regulation of FWAs, which is conducive to achieving sustainable business development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Psychology and Behavior: Managing and Developing People within the External and Organizational Environment)

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14 pages, 480 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Roles of Professional Socialization and Higher Education Context in Prosocial and Pro-Environmental Attitudes of Social Science and Humanities versus Business Students in Italy and Croatia

by Nikša Alfirević, Koraljka Modić Stanke, Fabrizio Santoboni and Giuseppe Curcio

Sustainability 2023, 15(12), 9669; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15129669 - 16 Jun 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1546

Abstract

According to the bio-ecological model, individuals are highly influenced by the context and dynamic interactions occurring within their environment over time. Therefore, prolonged shared contexts that people are exposed to, such as the higher education system, should contribute to more similarities in their cognition. We examine two research models, specifying the influence of the national higher education system as a variable, that moderates the potential relationship between the students’ country of origin and their prosocial (Model 1) and pro-environmental (Model 2) attitudes. Two culturally similar countries (Croatia and Italy) and two student subsamples from both countries (one group with social science and humanities majors and another with business and economics major) are considered. We used A. F. Hayes’ PROCESS macro to estimate the results using the regression approach. The research results show statistically significantmoderated relationships between study major and prosocial and pro-environmental attitudes. However, the national HE contexts, when considered as moderating variables, suppressed the main effects in both models. We discuss possible explanations of the suppression of the main effect by the conditional one, outline implications of the present findings and provide guidelines for future research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Psychology and Behavior: Managing and Developing People within the External and Organizational Environment)

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19 pages, 4496 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Presence of a Family Communal Space as a Form of Local Wisdom towards Community Cohesion and Resilience in Coastal Settlements

by Idawarni Asmal and Rudi Latief

Sustainability 2023, 15(10), 8167; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108167 - 17 May 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2217

Abstract

Family communal spaces have multiple functions and can accommodate the activities of individuals and families. These spaces accommodate the life of gotong royong, which is a form of solidarity and togetherness in the form of local wisdom of the Indonesian people. Families apply this traditional concept in space and create cohesion through intense interaction between families, which will have an impact on the security and resilience of settlement against negative things that come from society and the environment. The purpose of this study is to examine how interactions influenced by local wisdom and the environment create cohesion, which has an impact on community and environmental resilience in coastal settlements. The research method uses geographic methods with socio-spatial analysis and behavioral mapping methods with place-central mapping analysis. The study shows cohesion between families increases because of the high-intensity meetings and a sense of belonging and togetherness as a family. Unity with the environment is also formed because of their livelihood as fishermen who have close relationships with the sea and the coast. In addition to cohesion, the family communal space creates community and environmental resilience because of the additional functions as areas of family and environmental control. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Psychology and Behavior: Managing and Developing People within the External and Organizational Environment)

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18 pages, 1846 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Investigation of the Key Attributes of Korean Wellness Tourism Customers Based on Online Reviews

by Aura Lydia Riswanto and Hak-Seon Kim

Sustainability 2023, 15(8), 6702; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086702 - 15 Apr 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2999

Abstract

With its fast-growing trend, wellness tourism is transforming the client base and service and product offerings, and it is attracting new suppliers. The purpose of understanding the customer experience as portrayed in online reviews is to sustainably maintain customer loyalty and satisfaction. The objective of this research is to identify the critical attributes and their structural relationships to Korean wellness tourism. The study analyzed 24,060 Google-based customer reviews on 11 wellness tourism destinations in South Korea. Following the calculation of word frequencies in a matrix, UCINET 6.0 was utilized to analyze the centrality of the network and perform a CONCOR analysis. Based on the findings of the CONCOR analysis, the review data were sorted into four distinct categories. Following the quantitative analysis led to the identification of six variables that were grouped together through exploratory factor analysis.: wellness, tangible, value, F&B, purpose, and service. Whereas value, F&B, and service negatively affected the satisfaction of guests, the study also revealed that wellness, tangible, and purpose all had positive impacts and contributed to increased trust among wellness tourism customers. In terms of managerial implication, the results will enable wellness tourism destination managers to focus more on improving the factors of value, food, and service. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Psychology and Behavior: Managing and Developing People within the External and Organizational Environment)

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12 pages, 564 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Study on the Effect of Medical Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction during COVID-19 for Foreigners in Korea

by Seieun Kim and Hak-Seon Kim

Sustainability 2023, 15(7), 5953; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075953 - 29 Mar 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2244

Abstract

With the increasing number of foreigners residing in Korea, there is a need for further research on medical service satisfaction for this demographic. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the impact of medical service quality on customer satisfaction and revisit intention of foreigners in Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey was conducted from 15 March to 15 May 2022 to gather data from foreign residents in Korea. A total of 201 questionnaires were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0 and Smart PLS3.0 for empirical analysis. The results of the study demonstrate that reliability, empathy, and COVID-19 regulations (excluding responsiveness, assurance, and tangibles) positively impact customer satisfaction with medical services. Additionally, customer satisfaction with medical services positively affects revisit intention. Furthermore, variables, such as nationality and medical department, show average differences. These findings suggest that hospitals should focus on COVID-19 prevention and the quality of medical services, while also taking into account unique characteristics, such as nationality and medical department. This study provides essential reference data for medical institutions exposed to infinite competition, informing management strategies to increase customer satisfaction and revisit intention during COVID-19. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Psychology and Behavior: Managing and Developing People within the External and Organizational Environment)

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16 pages, 1033 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Determinants of College Students’ Actual Use of AI-Based Systems: An Extension of the Technology Acceptance Model

by Kang Li

Sustainability 2023, 15(6), 5221; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065221 - 15 Mar 2023

Cited by 27 | Viewed by 15384

Abstract

Acceptance of, behavioral intention towards, and actual use of AI-based systems or programs has been a topic of growing interest in the field of education. A considerable number of studies has been conducted to investigate the driving factors affecting users’/students’ intentions regarding certain technology or programs. However, few studies have been performed to understand college students’ actual use of AI-based systems. Moreover, the mediating effect of students’ learning motivation was seldom considered. Therefore, the present study was conducted to explain factors contributing to college students’ actual use of AI-based systems, as well as to examine the role of their learning motivations. As a result, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of AI-based systems positively impacted students’ attitude, behavioral intentions, and their final, actual use of AI-based systems, while college students’ attitude towards AI-based systems showed an insignificant impact on students’ learning motivations of achieving their goals and subjective norms. Collectively, the findings of the present study could enrich the knowledge of the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the application of the TAM to explain students’ behavior in terms of the adoption of AI-based systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Psychology and Behavior: Managing and Developing People within the External and Organizational Environment)

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18 pages, 743 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Does Help-Seeking Message Content Impact Online Charitable Behavior? A Qualitative Comparative Analysis Based on 40 Waterdrop Projects

by Yanzhi Liu, Rong Cao and Zheng Wang

Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1094; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021094 - 6 Jan 2023

Viewed by 1937

Abstract

A help-seeking message is composed of abundant types of content; therefore, it is unsuitable for analysis by the traditional methods that assume that variables are independent of one another. To address this problem, we introduced qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to explore the synergistic effects of help-seeking message content on online charitable behavior. Crisp-set QCA and fuzzy-set QCA were both used to analyze qualitative and quantitative data from 40 Waterdrop projects. To analyze the qualitative data, three members of our research team intensively and separately read a large number of help-seeking messages, analyzed and summarized the main content referring to previous studies on charitable donation, extracted rational appeals, positive emotions, negative emotions, moral appeals, and the economic condition as condition variables, and finally determined the coding rules collaboratively. The necessity analysis results show that moral appeals and rational appeals are necessary conditions for online charitable behavior. The sufficiency analysis results show that there are three configurations impacting online charitable behavior. This study can help inspire future studies shifting from a traditional perspective to a configuration perspective and help seekers obtain more charitable donations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Psychology and Behavior: Managing and Developing People within the External and Organizational Environment)

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20 pages, 714 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Employability: Precariousness, Capabilities, and Functioning of Special Education Teachers in Namibia

by Annelisa Murangi, Sebastiaan Rothmann and Mirna Nel

Sustainability 2022, 14(16), 10264; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610264 - 18 Aug 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2153

Abstract

Institutions cannot ignore the need for the sustainable employability of people. This study aimed to investigate the sustainable employability of special education teachers from the perspective of employment precariousness, capabilities, and functioning (flourishing and intention to leave) of special education teachers in Namibia. Using a cross-sectional survey design, teachers (n = 200) across seven Namibia regions took part in this study. The Precarity Position Profile, Capability for Work Questionnaire, Flourishing at Work Questionnaire, and Intention to Leave Questionnaire were administered. The results showed that precarious employment was negatively associated with the capability set and with flourishing (emotional, psychological, and social well-being) and positively associated with intention to leave. Low job insecurity and the capability set were associated with emotional well-being. Moreover, low job insecurity, professional development, and the capability set were associated with psychological well-being. Furthermore, precarious work conditions, job insecurity, low professional development, and low scores on the capability set were associated with low social well-being. Precarious work conditions and low scores on the capability set were associated with teachers’ intentions to leave. Two dimensions of precarious employment, namely salary and precarious work conditions, indirectly affected teachers’ emotional, psychological, and social well-being via the capability set. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Psychology and Behavior: Managing and Developing People within the External and Organizational Environment)

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16 pages, 1011 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Analysis of Customer Textual Reviews and Satisfaction at Luxury Hotels in Singapore’s Marina Bay Area (SG-Clean-Certified Hotels)

by Narariya Dita Handani, Angellie Williady and Hak-Seon Kim

Sustainability 2022, 14(15), 9382; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159382 - 31 Jul 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 5105

Abstract

Singapore relies heavily on the tourism industry, which was severely affected by COVID-19. During the early phase of the pandemic, the Singapore government created a campaign reassuring locals and encouraging them to “travel” within Singapore. During the pandemic, travelers’ focus shifted to pandemic-related topics. This study examined 8441 customer textual reviews from seven luxury hotels in the Marina Bay area through Google Travel derived from SCTM 3.0. In order to determine the new attributes affecting customer satisfaction, this study used UCINET 6.0 and Text2Data as part of text mining. Subsequently, SPSS was used for descriptive analysis and regression analysis to identify the relationship between the attributes in the customer textual reviews and the overall satisfaction of the customers. The results showed that all the attributes were significant in terms of overall customer satisfaction, with three attributes, sentiment polarity, readability, and word length, positively affecting overall customer satisfaction. Through social media and online platforms, consumers express their thoughts and feelings about online reviews of many products and services. With the adopted methodology, the industry may be able to benefit from this abundance of information in order to adjust strategies and increase financial benefits post-COVID-19. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Psychology and Behavior: Managing and Developing People within the External and Organizational Environment)

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25 pages, 565 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Managing Consumers and Employees through Digital Services

by Jelena Zelenović and Vera Zelenović

Sustainability 2022, 14(14), 8824; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148824 - 19 Jul 2022

Viewed by 1921

Abstract

Creating sustainable and effective management strategies is one of the main goals for companies in today’s digitalized world. To achieve that, companies need to understand the social capital for which the strategies will be generated, especially regarding work output, which will in this case refer to digital services. Consequently, the goal of this paper was to point out the connection between social capital and digital services. Satisfaction, self-assessment, and self-esteem of online consumers and employees in digital sales were investigated, with regard to digital services. The survey involved 113 employees in digital sales and 275 online consumers. Results obtained through factor and regression analysis indicated the importance of managing consumers and employees (i.e., social capital) while they formed relationships with digital services. Online consumer satisfaction and self-esteem need to be taken into account when formulating strategies. For employees, self-esteem is the key component. Self-assessment from both sides proved to have no connection with digital services. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Psychology and Behavior: Managing and Developing People within the External and Organizational Environment)

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