Confirmation of Maslow’s Hypothesis of Synergy: Developing an Acceptance of Selfishness at the Workplace Scale

Jiro Takaki, Toshiyo Taniguchi and Yasuhito Fujii
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Jiro Takaki: Department of Public Health, Sanyo Gakuen University Graduate School of Nursing, 1-14-1 Hirai, Naka-ku, Okayama-shi, Okayama 703-8507, Japan
Toshiyo Taniguchi: Department of Welfare System and Health Science, Okayama Prefectural University, 111 Kuboki, Soja-shi, Okayama 719-1197, Japan
Yasuhito Fujii: Department of Welfare System and Health Science, Okayama Prefectural University, 111 Kuboki, Soja-shi, Okayama 719-1197, Japan

IJERPH, 2016, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-11

Abstract: This study aimed to develop a new Acceptance of Selfishness at the Workplace Scale (ASWS) and to confirm Maslow’s hypothesis of synergy: if both a sense of contribution and acceptance of selfishness at the workplace are high, workers are psychologically healthy. In a cross-sectional study with employees of three Japanese companies, 656 workers answered a self-administered questionnaire on paper completely (response rate = 66.8%). Each questionnaire was submitted to us in a sealed envelope and analyzed. The ASWS indicated high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.86). Significant ( p < 0.001) positive moderate correlations between ASWS scores and job control scores support the ASWS’s convergent and discriminant validity. Significant ( p < 0.001) associations of ASWS scores with psychological distress and work engagement supported the ASWS’s criterion validity. In short, ASWS was a psychometrically satisfactory measure. Significant ( p < 0.05) interactions between a sense of contribution and acceptance of selfishness at the workplace in linear regression models showed that when those two factors are low, psychological distress becomes high. However, when a sense of contribution and acceptance of selfishness are high, work engagement also becomes high. Thus, Maslow’s hypothesis of synergy was confirmed.

Keywords: acceptance of selfishness; Abraham H. Maslow; altruism; calling; job control; mental health; Ricardo Semler; sense of contribution; synergy; work engagement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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