Effect of Hospital Employees’ Psychological Capital on Counterproductive Work Behavior: Role of Work Alienation and Procrastination

Counterproductive work behavior (CWB) causes financial losses and psychologically affects other employees exposed to verbal or physical attacks from their colleagues. This issue creates a stressful workplace and has a negative impact on organizational outputs. The objective of this study is to develop a coherent logic and a thorough comprehension of the CWB’s predecessors and their relationships to the CWB. Our research applied partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test hypotheses on a sample of 390 healthcare personnel in a hospital. We propose an approach in which administrators can reduce counterproductive work behaviors by strengthening psychological capital. Also, eliminating work alienation and workplace procrastination is an original and critical argument for preventing counterproductive work behavior. The findings reveal that high psychological capital negatively affected counterproductive work behaviors and reduced these behaviors in the workplace. However, the partial mediation role of work alienation and the mediation role of workplace procrastination were determined in the relationship between psychological capital and counterproductive work behavior.