Poster Presentation 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology 2019

Role Of Task Enabling To Foster High-Quality Connections At Work: A Randomized Waitlist Control Trial (#547)

Raina Chhajer 1
  1. Indian Institute of Management, Indore, Indore, MP, India

This study aimed to extend our understanding of how task enabling exerts its positive influence on building high-quality connections at work. Task enabling intervention assists individuals to improve help-giving and help-seeking behavior. Employing a randomized waitlist control study design, this study sought to (a) assess an instructor-led task enabling intervention for its effect on “capacity building over high-quality connections,” specifically, emotional-carrying capacities, tensility, and openness; (b) assess different subjective experiences of high-quality connections (mutuality, positive regard, and vitality) as mechanisms of change; and (c) assess whether the effect of the intervention was maintained over time by following up participants after 1 and 3 months. Participants who completed the task enabling intervention (n=32) reported significantly higher levels of emotional-carrying capacity, tensility, and openness when compared with waitlist control participants (n=30). Effects of the intervention were maintained at 1- and 3-month follow-up with medium to large effect sizes. The effect of task enabling intervention was primarily explained by increased levels of only one subjective experience of high-quality connection (mutuality). This study provides support and furthers our understanding of how task enabling exerts its positive effect on nurturing high-quality connections at work.