Character strengths profiles in the specific setting of medical professionals are widely unchartered territory. This paper focused on an overview of character strengths profiles of medical professionals (medical students and physicians) based on literature research and available empirical data illustrating their impact on well-being and work engagement. A literature research was conducted and the majority of peer-reviewed considered articles dealt with theoretical or conceptually driven ‘virtues’ associated with medical specialties or questions of ethics in patient care (e.g., professionalism, or what (...) makes a good physician). The virtues of compassion, courage, altruism, and benevolence were described most often. Only a limited number of papers addressed character strengths of medical students or physicians according to the VIA-classification. Those articles showed that the VIA-character strengthsfairness, honesty,kindness, andteamworkwere considered most often by respondents to be particularly important for the medical profession. Available cross-sectional (time span: six years) and longitudinal (time span: three years) data regarding VIA-character strengths profiles of medical professionals were analyzed (N= 584 medical students, 274 physicians). These profiles were quite homogenous among both groups. The character strengthsfairness,honesty,judgment,kindness, andlovehad the highest means in both samples. Noteworthy differences appeared when comparing medical specialties, in particular concerning general surgeons and psychiatrists, with the former reporting clearly higher levels of e.g.,honesty(d= 1.02) orprudence(d= 1.19). Long-term results revealed significant positive effects of character strengths on well-being and work engagement (e.g.,perseveranceon physicians’ work engagement) but also significant negative effects (e.g.,appreciation of beauty and excellenceon students’ well-being). Further,hopewas significantly associated both positively with physicians’ well-being and negatively with students’ work engagement, possibly indicating specific issues concerning medical education or hospital working conditions. According to the modern-day physician’s pledge, medical professionals should pay attention to their own well-being and health. Therefore, promoting self-awareness and character building among medical professionals could be a beneficial strategy. (shrink)

In organizational psychology the positive effects of democratically structured enterprises on their employees are well documented. However, the longstanding viability as well as economic success of democratic enterprises in a capitalistic market environment has long been contested. For instance, this has given rise to widespread endorsement of the “degeneration thesis” and the so-called “iron law of oligarchy”. By reviewing 77 qualitative studies that examined 83 democratic enterprises within the last 50 years, the present systematic review provides evidence that such enterprises (...) are able to economically survive and prosper. The majority of studied enterprises either resisted pressures toward degeneration or subsequently regenerated after undergoing degenerative processes. Only 9.5% fully degenerated in accordance with the degeneration thesis and the “iron law of oligarchy”, while 27.0% of the democratic enterprises showed diverse and mixed forms of degeneration tendencies, indicating that the notion of an “iron law” needs to be revised. Within the nine investigated cases of Mondragon not one single enterprise or group fully degenerated. Three cases showed degenerative tendencies, another three one degeneration tendencies and simultaneously regeneration, one case fully resisted degeneration tendencies and two cases regenerated. Further, this systematic review provides an overview of organizational and external conditions, non-/democratic or non-/participative practices and psychological phenomena that contribute to the degeneration, regeneration, or resistance to degeneration. The described examples of such practices may help practitioners to implement and maintain democratic structures and processes in contemporary organizations. (shrink)

Research on applying signature character strengths demonstrated positive effects on well-being, health and work behavior. Future health care professionals represent a group at risk for impaired well-being due to high study demands. This study investigates potential long-term protective effects on well-being. In total, 504 medical students participated in a longitudinal online study, with at least 96 providing complete data at all three time points. Data on individual signature character strengths and their applicability, thriving, work engagement, burnout, mental and physical health (...) were collected. Longitudinal relations of signature character strengths’ applicability and well-being, mental and physical health were tested with cross-lagged panel analyses. Moreover, indirect longitudinal mediation effects via work engagement and emotional exhaustion were considered. Cross-lagged panel analyses demonstrated significant positive effects of thriving on signature character strengths’ applicability at later time points indicating that higher levels of well-being might be mandatory first to have access to one’s own signature character strengths in a naturalistic setting. Disentangling thriving, the effect was only significant for psychological well-being. Across all three time points, significant indirect effects via work engagement on the relation of the applicability of signature character strengths and well-being were identified, whereas significant indirect effects on mental and physical health were only evident at t2 and t3. A longitudinal mediation analysis via work engagement revealed a significant indirect effect. These results call for further research as previous studies showed that the applicability of signature character strengths affected well-being, not vice versa. The ‘broaden-and-build’ theory and the assumption of well-being in a “top-down” model could possibly explain these novel results. (shrink)