The mediating role of innovative work behavior and work engagement in the effect of positive psychological capital on adaptive performance

Within today's dynamic and competitive business environment, employees' psychological resources stand out as a strategic element for the sustainable success of organizations. Organizations are searching for ways to increase the capacities of their human resources to adapt to ever-changing and uncertain environmental conditions and to maintain their competitive advantage. In this context, the term positive psychological capital, which includes positive characteristics of employees such as self-efficacy, hope, optimism and psychological resilience, stands out as a fundamental strength that supports the sustainability of individual and organizational performance. Current study investigates the key psychological and behavioral elements that shape the success of organizations. This study explores the impact of positive psychological capital (self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience) on employees' adaptive performance and investigates the mediating roles of innovative work behaviors and work engagement in this effect. Regarding positive psychological capital, the study considers it as a core personal resource that increases individuals' capacity for resilience against challenges in the work environment and enables them to be more innovative and engaged to their work. The study provides a comprehensive view of employee performance by addressing the process by which individual psychological resources create value at the organizational level. The theoretical framework includes the theory of extending and the broaden–and–build theory of positive emotions, conservation of resource theory, and the job demands and resources model. The sample of the study consists of employees working in private defense industry companies operating in Ankara, 649 people participated in the study. The data were collected by survey method and after being made suitable for analysis in SPSS 24.0 program, it was analyzed with SmartPLS 4 program using structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that the effect of positive psychological capital on adaptive performance (job performance) is indirectly strengthened through the mediating roles of innovative work behaviors and work engagement. The results of the study are expected to provide both a theoretical and empirical framework for the business world in terms of examining the critical factors affecting individual job performance.