UNCORRECTED PROOF Human Resource Management, September–October 2009, Vol. 48, No. 5, Pp. 677– 693 © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/hrm.20294 PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL: A POSITIVE RESOURCE FOR COMBATING EMPLOYEE STRESS AND TURNOVER JAMES B. AVEY, FRED LUTHANS, AND SUSAN M. JENSEN Workplace stress is a growing concern for human resource managers. Although considerable scholarly and practical attention has been devoted to stress man- agement over the years, the time has come for new perspectives and research. Drawing from the emerging field of positive organizational behavior, this study offers research findings with implications for combating occupational stress. Specifically, data from a large sample of working adults across a vari- ety of industries suggest that psychological capital (the positive resources of efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience) may be key to better understanding the variation in perceived symptoms of stress, as well as intentions to quit and job search behaviors. The article concludes with practical strategies aimed at leveraging and developing employees’ psychological capital to help them better cope with workplace stress. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Keywords: positive psychological capital, stress, turnover intentions T he World Health Organization has declared occupational stress to be a worldwide epidemic. Certainly the impact of an increasingly pres- sured work environment is evi- dent throughout American industry. One recent analysis noted that 20% of payroll of a typical company goes toward dealing with stress-related problems (Riga, 2006), and Americans identify work as their most significant source of stress because of heavy workloads, uncertain job expectations, and long hours (American Psychological Asso- ciation, 2007). Extensive research over the years has focused on identifying stressors (e.g., Colligan & Higgins, 2006), coping mechanisms (e.g., Nelson & Sutton, 1990), and ways that both individual employees and organizations can effectively manage stress (e.g., Kram & Hall, 1989). Yet, despite this attention, remedies to combat occupa- tional stress remain elusive. Taking a new approach, this study draws from both positive psychology and the Correspondence to: James B. Avey, Department of Management, College of Business, Central Washington University, 400 E. University Way, Ellensburg, WA 98926-7485, Phone: (509) 963-3381, Fax: 509-963-2875, E-mail: aveyj@cwu.edu 20294.indd 677 8/13/2009 1:52:13 PM