Abstract
Cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental research demonstrates that subjective well-being (e.g., positive emotions, life satisfaction) relates to, precedes, and leads to employee success on numerous work-related outcomes. We extend these findings by considering how organizations might improve worker well-being. Accordingly, we propose the Worker Well-Being Continuous Improvement Framework with three phases: (1) an initial phase with a pretest assessment of worker well-being; (2) a test phase, where a specific positive change to improve worker well-being is implemented; and (3) a concluding phase that administers a posttest assessment to examine the effectiveness of the change. We also discuss three important considerations to address when implementing the framework: (1) measuring employee well-being, (2) building thriving work cultures, and (3) deploying positive activity interventions. Consequently, organizations can rapidly test evidence-based practices to select the most relevant and effective positive changes for their employees.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albertsen, K. P., Rafnsdóttir, G. L. P., Grimsmo, A. M. A., Tómasson, K. M. D., & Kauppinen, K. P. (2008). Workhours and worklife balance. Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment & Health, 14–21.
Anik, L., Aknin, L. B., Norton, M. I., Dunn, E. W., & Quoidbach, J. (2013). Prosocial bonuses increase employee satisfaction and team performance. Plos One, 8(9), e75509. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0075509.
Appel-Meulenbroek, R., Kemperman, A., van de Water, A., Weijs-Perrée, M., & Verhaegh, J. (2022). How to attract employees back to the office? A stated choice study on hybrid working preferences. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 81, 101784. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101784.
Bartels, A. L., Peterson, S. J., & Reina, C. S. (2019). Understanding well-being at work: Development and validation of the eudaimonic workplace well-being scale. Plos One, 14(4), e0215957. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0215957.
Berman, M. G., Jonides, J., & Kaplan, S. (2008). The cognitive benefits of interacting with nature. Psychological Science, 19(12), 1207–1212. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02225.x.
Bhuiyan, N., & Baghel, A. (2005). An overview of continuous improvement: From the past to the present. Management Decision, 43(5), 761–771. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251740510597761.
Black, H., Greenberg, S., Saulsgiver, K., Sinar, E., Reece, A., Carr, E., & Kellerman, G. (2019). Beyond hedonia: 5 keys to enhancing workplace well-being at scale. American Journal of Health Promotion, 33(8), 1212–1217. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117119878277c.
Boehm, J. K., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). Does happiness promote career success? Journal of Career Assessment, 16(1), 101–116. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072707308140.
Bolier, L., Haverman, M., Westerhof, G. J. G. J., Riper, H., Smit, F., Bohlmeijer, E. E. T., Rupke, S. J., Blecke, D., Renfrow, M., Dobson, K. S., Cuijpers, P., Straten, A., Warmerdam, L., Cuijpers, P., Geraedts, A. S., Oppen, P., Andersson, G., Markowitz, J. C., Straten, A. v.,., & Altman, D. G. (2013). Positive psychology interventions: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies. Bmc Public Health, 13(1), 119–119. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-119.
Bono, J. E., Glomb, T. M., Shen, W., Kim, E., & Koch, A. J. (2012). Building positive resources: Effects of positive events and positive reflection on work stress and health. Academy of Management Journal, 56(6), 1601–1627. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2011.0272.
Bowling, A. (2005). Mode of questionnaire administration can have serious effects on data quality. Journal of Public Health, 27(3), 281–291. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdi031.
Bowling, N. A., Eschleman, K. J., & Wang, Q. (2010). A meta-analytic examination of the relationship between job satisfaction and subjective well-being. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 83(4), 915–934. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317909X478557.
Brotheridge, C. M., & Grandey, A. A. (2002). Emotional labor and burnout: Comparing two perspectives of people work. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 60(1), 17–39. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.2001.1815.
Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(4), 822–848. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.4.822.
Bryant, F. B., & Veroff, J. (2017). Savoring: A new model of positive experience. Psychology Press.
Carmody, J., & Baer, R. A. (2008). Relationships between mindfulness practice and levels of mindfulness, medical and psychological symptoms and well-being in a mindfulness-based stress reduction program. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 31(1), 23–33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-007-9130-7.
Carpinetti, L. C. R., Gerólamo, M. C., & Dorta, M. (2000). A conceptual framework for deployment of strategy-related continuous improvements. The TQM Magazine, 12(5), 340–349. https://doi.org/10.1108/09544780010341950.
Carr, A., Finneran, L., Boyd, C., Shirey, C., Canning, C., Stafford, O., Lyons, J., Cullen, K., Prendergast, C., Corbett, C., Drumm, C., & Burke, T. (2023). The evidence-base for positive psychology interventions: A mega-analysis of meta-analyses. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2023.2168564.
Chancellor, J., Layous, K., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2015). Recalling positive events at work makes employees feel happier, move more, but interact less: A 6-week randomized controlled intervention at a japanese workplace. Journal of Happiness Studies, 16(4), 871–887. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-014-9538-z.
Chancellor, J., Margolis, S., Bao, J., K., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2018). Everyday prosociality in the workplace: The reinforcing benefits of giving, getting, and glimpsing. Emotion, 18, 507–517. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000321.
Chetty, R., Grusky, D., Hell, M., Hendren, N., Manduca, R., & Narang, J. (2017). The fading american dream: Trends in absolute income mobility since 1940. Science, 356(6336), 398–406. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aal4617.
Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 385–396. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136404.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper & Row.
Davenport, T. H. (2009). How to design smart business experiments. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2009/02/how-to-design-smart-business-experiments.
Davis, D. E., Choe, E., Meyers, J., Wade, N., Varjas, K., Gifford, A., Quinn, A., Hook, J. N., Van Tongeren, D. R., Griffin, B. J., & Worthington, E. L. Jr. (2015). Thankful for the little things: A meta-analysis of gratitude interventions. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63(1), 20–31. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000107.
Deci, E. L., Connell, J. P., & Ryan, R. M. (1989). Self-determination in a work organization. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 580–590. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.74.4.580.
Diener, E., & Emmons, R. A. (1984). Independence of positive and negative affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47(5), 1105–1117. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412956253.n278.
Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., Griffin, S., Larsen, J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71–75. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13.
Donald, I., Taylor, P., Johnson, S., Cooper, C., Cartwright, S., & Robertson, S. (2005). Work environments, stress, and productivity: An examination using asset. International Journal of Stress Management, 12, 409–423. https://doi.org/10.1037/1072-5245.12.4.409.
Duhigg, C. (2019). What google learned from its quest to build the perfect team. The New York Times Magazine. https://centre.upeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/7.1-what-google-learnt.pdf.
Eberth, J., & Sedlmeier, P. (2012). The effects of mindfulness meditation: A meta-analysis. Mindfulness, 3(3), 174–189. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-012-0101-x.
Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383. https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999.
Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377–389. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.2.377.
Epley, N., & Schroeder, J. (2014). Mistakenly seeking solitude. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(5), 1980–1999. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037323.
Fauver, L., McDonald, M. B., & Taboada, A. G. (2018). Does it pay to treat employees well? International evidence on the value of employee-friendly culture. Journal of Corporate Finance, 50(June 2015), 84–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2018.02.003.
Ferrari, M., Hunt, C., Harrysunker, A., Abbott, M. J., Beath, A. P., & Einstein, D. A. (2019). Self-compassion interventions and psychosocial outcomes: A meta-analysis of RCTs. Mindfulness, 10(8), 1455–1473. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01134-6.
Folk, D., & Dunn, E. (2023). A systematic review of the strength of evidence for the most commonly recommended happiness strategies in mainstream media. Nature Human Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01651-4.
Foreman, A., Glenn, M., Meade, B., & Wirth, O. (2017). Dogs in the workplace: A review of the benefits and potential challenges. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(5), 498. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14050498.
Fredrickson, B. L., Cohn, M., Coffey, K., Pek, J., & Finkel, S. M. (2008). Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(5), 1045–1062. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013262.
Fritz, M. M., Walsh, L. C., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2017). Staying happier. In M. D. Robinson & M. Eid (Eds.), The happy mind: Cognitive contributions to well-being (pp. 95–114). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58763-9_6.
Grandey, A. A. (2003). When the show must go on: Surface acting and deep acting as determinants of emotional exhaustion and peer-rated service delivery. The Academy of Management Journal, 46(1), 86–96. https://doi.org/10.2307/30040678.
Haar, J. M., Russo, M., Suñe, A., & Ollier-Malaterre, A. (2014). Outcomes of work–life balance on job satisfaction, life satisfaction and mental health: A study across seven cultures. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 85(3), 361–373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2014.08.010.
Hauser, O. P., Gino, F., & Norton, M. I. (2018). Budging beliefs, nudging behaviour. Mind & Society, 17(1–2), 15–26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11299-019-00200-9.
Hinkin, T. R., & Tracey, J. B. (2010). What makes it so great?: An analysis of human resources practices among fortune’s best companies to work for. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 51(2), 158–170. https://doi.org/10.1177/1938965510362487.
Jackson, S. A., & Marsh, H. W. (1996). Development and validation of a scale to measure optimal experience: The flow state scale. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 18(1), 17–35. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.18.1.17.
Jacobs Bao, K. (2012). The course of well-being in romantic relationships: Predicting positive affect in dating participants. Psychology, 03(12A), 1091–1099. https://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2012.312A161.
Jacques-Hamilton, R., Sun, J., & Smillie, L. D. (2019). Costs and benefits of acting extraverted: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 148, 1538–1556. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000516.
Jones, D., Molitor, D., & Reif, J. (2019). What do workplace wellness programs do? Evidence from the Illinois Workplace Wellness Study. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 134(4), 1747–1791. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjz023.
King, L. A. (2001). The health benefits of writing about life goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(7), 798–807. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167201277003.
Layous, K., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2014). The how, why, what, when, and who of happiness: Mechanisms underlying the success of positive activity interventions. In J. Gruber, & J. Moscowitz (Eds.), Positive emotion: Integrating the light sides and dark sides (pp. 473–495). Oxford University Press.
Layous, K., Kurtz, J., Chancellor, J., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2018). Reframing the ordinary: Imagining time as scarce increases well-being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 13(3), 301–308. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2017.1279210.
Lee, H. (2021). Changes in workplace practices during the COVID-19 pandemic: The roles of emotion, psychological safety and organisation support. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 8(1), 97–128. https://doi.org/10.1108/joepp-06-2020-0104.
Lipman, V. (2019). Workplace trend: Stress is on the rise. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2019/01/09/workplace-trend-stress-is-on-the-rise/?sh=1bfe654e6e1b.
Lund, P., Bednall, T. C., & Williams, B. (2022). The effects of hybrid work choices and worker needs on employee wellbeing. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2022(1), 15118. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2022.15118abstract.
Lyubomirsky, S. (2013). The myths of happiness: What should make you happy, but doesn’t, what shouldn’t make you happy, but does. The Penguin Press.
Lyubomirsky, S., & Lepper, H. S. (1999). A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research, 46(2), 137–155. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006824100041.
Macdonald, S., & Maclntyre, P. (1997). The generic job satisfaction scale. Employee Assistance Quarterly, 13(2), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1300/j022v13n02_01.
Margolis, S., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2019). Experimental manipulation of extraverted and introverted behavior and its effects on well-being. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 149, 719–731. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000668.
Mari, C., & Meglio, O. (2013). Planning data collection in longitudinal field research: Small and not so small practical issues. In M. E. Hassett & E. Paavilainen-Mäntymäki (Eds.), Handbook of longitudinal research methods in organisation and business studies (pp. 295–317). Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9780857936790.00026.
Markwell, N., & Gladwin, T. E. (2020). Shinrin-yoku (forest bathing) reduces stress and increases people’s positive affect and well-being in comparison with its digital counterpart. Ecopsychology, 12(4), 247–256. https://doi.org/10.1089/eco.2019.0071.
McCullough, M. E., & Witvliet, C. V. (2002). The psychology of forgiveness. In C. R. Snyder, & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 446–455). Oxford University Press.
McCullough, M. E., Emmons, R. A., & Tsang, J. A. (2001). The Gratitude Questionnaire-Six Item Form (GQ-6). https://socialskillsplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Penn-Institute-Gratitude-Questionnaire.pdf.
McDowall, A., & Kinman, G. (2017). The new nowhere land? A research and practice agenda for the always on culture. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 4(3), 256–266. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOEPP-05-2017-0045.
Neff, K. D. (2011). Self-compassion, self-esteem, and well-being. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00330.x.
Nelson, S. K., Layous, K., Cole, S. W., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2016). Do unto others or treat yourself? The effects of prosocial and self-focused behavior on psychological flourishing. Emotion, 16(6), 850–861. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000178.
Nelson-Coffey, S. K., Fritz, M. M., Lyubomirsky, S., & Cole, S. W. (2017). Kindness in the blood: A randomized controlled trial of the gene regulatory impact of prosocial behavior. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 81, 8–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.03.025.
Nguyen, T. (2015). Employee perks in silicon valley: Technology companies lead the arms race as corporate law trails in representing shareholder interests. Hastings Business Law Journal, 12(1), 51–51.
Packer, J., & Ballantyne, J. (2011). The impact of music festival attendance on young people’s psychological and social well-being. Psychology of Music, 39(2), 164–181. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735610372611.
Parks, A. C., Williams, A. L., Tugade, M. M., Hokes, K. E., Honomichl, R. D., & Zilca, R. D. (2018). Testing a scalable web and smartphone based intervention to improve depression, anxiety, and resilience: A randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Wellbeing, 8(2), 22–67. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v8i2.745.
Pencavel, J. (2015). The productivity of working hours. Economic Journal, 125(589), 2052–2076. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecoj.12166.
Peterson, C. (2006). Character strengths. A primer in positive psychology. Oxford University Press.
Piff, P. K., Dietze, P., Feinberg, M., Stancato, D. M., & Keltner, D. (2015). Awe, the small self, and prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108(6), 883–899. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000018.
Quoidbach, J., Berry, E. V., Hansenne, M., & Mikolajczak, M. (2010). Positive emotion regulation and well-being: Comparing the impact of eight savoring and dampening strategies. Personality and Individual Differences, 49(5), 368–373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2010.03.048.
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1(3), 385–401. https://doi.org/10.1177/014662167700100306.
Rankin, K., Walsh, L. C., & Sweeny, K. (2019). A better distraction: Exploring the benefits of flow during uncertain waiting periods. Emotion, 19(5), https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000479.
Reece, A., Cooney, G., Bull, P., Chung, C., Dawson, B., Glazer, T., Knox, D., Liebscher, A., & Marin, S. (2022). Advancing an interdisciplinary science of conversation: Insights from a large multimodal corpus of human speech [Preprint]. arXiv, 1-116, https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2203.00674.
Regan, A., Walsh, L. C., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2022). Are some ways of expressing gratitude more beneficial than others? Results from a randomized controlled experiment [Advance online publication]. Affective Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-022-00160-3.
Reid, R. A. (2005). Productivity and quality improvement: An implementation framework. International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 1(1–2), 26–36. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJPQM.2006.008371.
Roe, R. A. (2014). Time, performance and motivation. In A. J. Shipp, & Y. Fried (Eds.), Time and work: How time impacts individuals. Psychology Press.
Rogge, R. D., Fincham, F. D., Crasta, D., & Maniaci, M. R. (2017). Positive and negative evaluation of relationships: Development and validation of the positive–negative relationship quality (pn-rq) scale. Psychological Assessment, 29, 1028–1043. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000392.
Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Wesleyan University Press.
Ruch, W., Niemiec, R. M., McGrath, R. E., Gander, F., Proyer, R. T., Ruch, W., Niemiec, R. M., McGrath, R. E., & Gander, F. (2020). Character strengths-based interventions: Open questions and ideas for future research. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 00(00), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2020.1789700.
Russell, D., Peplau, L. A., & Cutrona, C. E. (1980). The revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: Concurrent and discriminant validity evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39(3), 472–480. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.39.3.472.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68.
Saari, L. M., & Scherbaum, C. A. (2011). Identified employee surveys: Potential promise, perils, and professional practice guidelines. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 4(4), 435–448. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1754-9434.2011.01369.x.
Sanchez, L., & Blanco, B. (2014). Three decades of continuous improvement. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 25(9–10), 986–1001. https://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2013.856547.
Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60(5), 410–421. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.60.5.410.
Sheldon, K. M., & Hilpert, J. C. (2012). The balanced measure of psychological needs (bmpn) scale: An alternative domain general measure of need satisfaction. Motivation and Emotion, 36, 439–451. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-012-9279-4.
Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2006). How to increase and sustain positive emotion: The effects of expressing gratitude and visualizing best possible selves. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1(2), 73–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760500510676.
Sheldon, K. M., Elliot, A. J., Kim, Y., & Kasser, T. (2001). What is satisfying about satisfying events? Testing 10 candidate psychological needs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(2), 325–339. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.80.2.325.
Shibazaki, K., & Marshall, N. A. (2017). Exploring the impact of music concerts in promoting well-being in dementia care. Aging and Mental Health, 21(5), 468–476. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2015.1114589.
Shin, L. J., Armenta, C. N., Kamble, S. V., Chang, S. L., Wu, H. Y., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2020). Gratitude in collectivist and individualist cultures. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 15(5), 598–604. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2020.1789699.
Simonsohn, U., Simmons, J., & Nelson, L. D. (2022). Above averaging in literature reviews. Nature Reviews Psychology, 1(10), 551–552. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-022-00101-8.
Sin, N., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: A practice-friendly meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65(5), 467–487. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.
Smeets, E., Neff, K., Alberts, H., & Peters, M. (2014). Meeting suffering with kindness: Effects of a brief self-compassion intervention for female college students. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 70(9), 794–807. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22076.
Sop Shin, W. (2007). The influence of forest view through a window on job satisfaction and job stress. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research, 22(3), 248–253. https://doi.org/10.1080/02827580701262733.
Stimec, A., & Grima, F. (2019). The impact of implementing continuous improvement upon stress within a lean production framework. International Journal of Production Research, 57(5), 1590–1605. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2018.1494391.
Stringer, A. (2023). A comprehensive list of 2023 tech layoffs. TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/24/tech-industry-layoffs-2023/.
Sturm, V. E., Datta, S., Roy, A. R. K., Sible, I. J., Kosik, E. L., Veziris, C. R., Chow, T. E., Morris, N. A., Neuhaus, J., Kramer, J. H., Miller, B. L., Holley, S. R., & Keltner, D. (2022). Big smile, small self: Awe walks promote prosocial positive emotions in older adults. Emotion, 22, 1044–1058. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000876.
Su, R., Tay, L., & Diener, E. (2014). The development and validation of the Comprehensive Inventory of Thriving (CIT) and the brief inventory of thriving (BIT). Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 6(3), 251–279. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12027.
Temponi, C. (2005). Continuous improvement framework: Implications for academia. Quality Assurance in Education, 13(1), 17–36. https://doi.org/10.1108/09684880510578632.
Tomyn, A. J., Tyszkiewicz, F., M. D., & Cummins, R. A. (2013). The personal wellbeing index: Psychometric equivalence for adults and school children. Social Indicators Research, 110(3), 913–924. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-011-9964-9.
Walsh, L. C., Boehm, J. K., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2018). Does happiness promote career success? Revisiting the evidence. Journal of Career Assessment, 26(2), https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072717751441.
Walsh, L. C., Regan, A., Twenge, J. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2022). What is the optimal way to give thanks? Comparing the effects of gratitude expressed privately, one-to-one via text, or publicly on social media [Advance online publication]. Affective Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-022-00150-5.
Walsh, L. C., Boz, S. G., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2023). Well-being and career success. In B. Walsh, L. Flores, P. Hartung, F. Leong, & M. Savickas (Eds.), Career psychology: Models, concepts, and counseling for meaningful employment (1st ed., pp. 235–256). American Psychological Association. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2023-68988-012
Wayne, J. H., Michel, J. S., & Matthews, R. A. (2022). Balancing work and family: A theoretical explanation and longitudinal examination of its relation to spillover and role functioning. Journal of Applied Psychology, 107, 1094–1114. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001007.
Williams, J. M. G., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (2011). Mindfulness: Diverse perspectives on its meaning, origins, and multiple applications at the intersection of science and dharma. Contemporary Buddhism, 12(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/14639947.2011.564811.
Worthington, E. L., Jennings, D. J., & Diblasio, F. A. (2010). Interventions to promote forgiveness in couple and family context: Conceptualization, review, and analysis. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 38(4), 231–245. https://doi.org/10.1177/009164711003800401.
Wrike (2019). From positivity to productivity: Exposing the truth behind workplace happiness. https://www.wrike.com/library/ebooks/happiness-survey-report/.
Zheng, X., Zhu, W., Zhao, H., & Zhang, C. (2015). Employee well-being in organizations: Theoretical model, scale development, and cross-cultural validation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(5), 621–644. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1990.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Walsh, L.C., Montemayor-Dominguez, M., Horton, C. et al. Worker Well-Being: A Continuous Improvement Framework. Applied Research Quality Life 18, 2993–3017 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-023-10217-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-023-10217-5