Personal Growth Initiative in Work Setting: A Scoping Review
Dhini Rama Dhania
1
, Fendy Suhariadi
1
, Fajrianti
1
and Unika Prihatsanti
2
1
Faculty of Psychology Airlangga University, Surabaya Indonesia
2
Diponegoro University, Semarang, Indonesia
Keywords: Personal Growth Initiative, Systematic Review, Work.
Abstract: This study aims to realize a systematic review of personal growth initiatives. A literature review was realized
through several sources: Airlangga Online Library, Summon, Science direct, Sage journal, Proquest, J-Store,
DOAJ, SpringerLink, Emerald, and the garuda portal with the help of the covidence for systematic review
program. Found 27 research articles, issued 3, and analyzed 24 research articles. The next step is to review
the quality of the articles that have been obtained by involving two reviewers. The results of the 24 research
articles finally found three themes related to factors that affect personal growth initiatives, outcomes of
personal growth initiatives, and also interventions that have been carried out related to personal growth
initiatives in the organizational context. The results of this study indicate that the factors that influence the
personal growth initiative are divided into 2, namely personal factors (strength awareness, self-actualization,
work-family strength, career adaptability, learning goal orientation, person-organization fit, development job
experiences) and organizational factors. (transformational leadership, authentic leadership, and work
empowerment). The outcomes of the personal growth initiative are employee engagement, career exploration,
vocational identity, calling, posttraumatic stress, meaning in life, satisfaction, work motivation, psychological
empowerment, intention to leave, and career commitment. Research related to interventions on personal
growth initiatives, namely strength centered career counseling, talent management programs, the effect of
strength-based job performance assessment, and strength interventions.
1 INTRODUCTION
In the 21st century era, work organizations depend on
rapid technological advances that put pressure on
employees and organizations in terms of performance
and productivity (Kour et al., 2019). On the other
hand, work organizations are also faced with several
problems, where based on a survey conducted by
Gallup'S (2017) conducted in 155 countries, it shows
that 85% of employees globally do not show
engagement with companies that have an impact on
organizational productivity and performance. Based
on this, a strategy is needed to increase the
understanding and motivation of organizational
members to engage positively to increase
organizational productivity and performance.
A number of studies have proven that positive
psychology really helps the performance and
productivity of humans and companies (Ezcurra,
2016; Kour et al., 2019). This is because the focus of
positive psychology is on development, and a positive
perspective on the many factors that contribute to
solid organizational performance (Elmuti et al.,
2009). Positive psychology is an important
contributor to success in the business world whether
it is showing management, how to develop and use
human capital, guiding organizational policies, or
enabling workers to give their best contribution
(Froman, 2010).
One of the concepts rooted in positive psychology
is personal growth (Le Cunff, 2019). Personal growth
is the main pillar in psychological well-being. This
concept is one of the six factors of psychological
well-being developed by (Ryff & Keyes, 1995).
Personal growth is a lifelong process of developing
self-awareness, identity, talent as human capital in
achieving the best quality of life and performance at
work (Le Cunff, 2019). According to DeCarvalho
(1990) individuals who are most prepared for change
throughout the life span are those who have a high
level of intentionality in the growth process. Related
to this construct, personal growth is important.
Personal growth initiative is a concept that describes
292
Dhania, D., Suhariadi, F., Fajrianti, . and Prihatsanti, U.
Personal Growth Initiative in Work Setting: A Scoping Review.
DOI: 10.5220/0010811500003347
In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Psychological Studies (ICPsyche 2021), pages 292-301
ISBN: 978-989-758-580-7
Copyright
c
 2022 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved

the process in which individuals are actively and
intently engaged in the process of personal change in
a domain of life (Robitschek & Kashubeck, 1999).
This concept involves cognition, behavior, attitude
and motivation (Robitschek & Keyes, 2009).
Personal growth initiatives are shown when
individuals are actively seeking personal growth
experiences and intend to involve themselves in the
development process (Le Cunff, 2019).
The personal growth initiative was first developed
by Robitscheck (1998) by taking the general
population aged 17-66 years. According to
Robitscheck (1999) personal growth can be applied in
various areas of life, both for student contexts,
clinical contexts and organizations. Several studies
related to PGI in the organizational context that have
been carried out previously were not only conducted
on the subject of employees or leaders but also in the
context of students who will prepare to enter the
world of work ((Bott & Duffy, 2015a; De Jager-van
Straaten et al., 2016a). ; Robitschek & Cook, 1999) A
systematic review related to the personal growth
initiative was previously carried out by Freitas, Toba,
Damasio & Koller (2016) by reviewing 47 articles
consisting of 35 articles with educational context, 8
general subject articles, 2 clinical context articles. ,
and 2 articles on organizational context. Based on the
disbursement that has been done, the author found
that there has been no review regarding personal
growth initiatives, especially in the organizational
context. Meanwhile, according to van Woerkom &
Meyers (2019), it is necessary to understand the
organizational context in PGI research because
according to Scandura & Williams (2000 ) there is a
difference in understanding the general context with
the context of education With student subjects, the
characteristics of the educational context with a
unique sample of students make it more open to
outside influences than the general population, as
well as strong cognitive abilities (Oosterwijk, 2016).
Empirical studies have shown that personal
growth initiatives are associated with several positive
functions in individuals (Ayub & Iqbal, 2012;
Shigemoto et al., 2017) and within organizations
(Vaksalla & Hashimah, 2015). The function of the
individual shows some research results that personal
growth initiative has an effect on the meaning of life
and also life satisfaction in individuals. Finding the
meaning of life requires a long process where
personal growth is needed by individuals in
perceiving a positive meaning in life and finding
satisfaction in life. Meanwhile, the function in the
organizational realm, namely personal growth
initiative, involves being open to change and adapting
to the good things in life (Meyers et al., 2015) so as
to enable a person not to give up easily in the learning
process which in turn increases engagement with the
company. Personal growth initiatives will help
individuals in organizations to achieve career success
in a work environment required for continuous
learning and adaptation (Meyers et al., 2015), and
contribute to their mental and psychological health
functioning (Robitschek & Keyes, 2009; Weigold et
al. ., 2013). On the other hand, personal growth
initiatives benefit organizations because employees
who are proactive about their personal development
are better, stay healthy, vital, and productive in the
face of high environmental demands and also help
individuals to focus on their career development
(London & Smither, n.d.). Teonata & Yuliawati's
research (2020) also found that personal growth
initiatives have an effect on career commitment in the
millennial generation, where this generation
dominates the current workforce.
Lack of personal growth initiative skills is
associated with negative impacts on people's lives. It
has been observed that low levels of personal growth
initiative are associated with difficulty in adapting to
new contexts, so that those involved experience
higher levels of stress and anxiety and lower levels of
life satisfaction (Stevic & Ward, 2008; Weigold et al.,
2013; Weigold & Robitschek, 2011). Difficulty in
identifying personal growth opportunities is also
related to the adoption of ineffective coping
strategies, such as the general use of emotion-focused
coping strategies rather than the use of problem-
focused strategies (Weigold & Robitschek, 2011).
For this reason, a scoping review of personal
growth initiatives in the organizational context is
necessary, with the aim of analyzing studies that
investigate what influences personal growth
initiatives, what are the outcomes of personal growth
initiatives, and what interventions have been carried
out regarding development. personal growth initiative
especially in organizational context.
2 METHODS
A systematic literature review related to the PGI
concept was carried out, without setting a date limit.
A total of 9 databases were used as references
(Airlangga Online Library, Summon, Science direct,
Sage journal, Proquest, J-Store, DOAJ, SpringerLink,
and Emerald) with the help of the covidence for trial
program. The covidence for trial program has a
limitation, namely a maximum of 500 articles that can
be analyzed so it is necessary to first sort out from 9
Personal Growth Initiative in Work Setting: A Scoping Review
293

databases to be included in the zotero program to be
connected to the covidence program. The descriptor
used in the search was “personal growth initiative”
“work” “organization”. in English, Indonesian
(personal growth initiative) “work” “organization”.
The descriptor must be in the abstract or the body of
the text. The research selection criteria were:
empirical studies; published in a peer-reviewed
journal; and written in English or Indonesian. All the
procedures quoted above are realized from December
2020 to January 2021. After obtaining a journal that
fits the scope of this research, the next step is to
review the journal articles obtained by involving 2
reviewers using study quality assessment tools from
the National heart, lung and blood institute (NHLBI).
3 RESULT
It was found that 27 studies, released 3, and 24 studies
involving PGI construction were analyzed, 1 in the
form of a dissertation, 2 in the form of a thesis and 21
in the form of a journal. The 24 studies found were
published in English (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: PRISMA flow diagram for literature search.
Based on the search years from 1999 to 2020,
there has been an increase in publications over time,
especially since 2016 (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: Articles published about the construct of personal
growth initiative between 1999-2020.
Based on 24 articles that have been obtained with
the help of the Covidence program in accordance with
the scope of this research, the next 24 articles were
assessed by the reviewer team. A total of 22 articles
were assessed using the Quality Assessment Tool for
Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies
with 14 criteria and 2 articles were assessed by the
Quality Assessment of Controlled Intervention
Studies with 14 criteria. Based on the results of the
article assessment involving two reviewers, it was
found that the 24 articles met several criteria and
could be used for further processing.
The relationship between PGI and other variables
became the focus of 24 studies. Ten studies used
PGIS, and fifteen studies used PGIS-II. Twenty
articles researched with a sample of employees, 5
articles with a sample of students who will prepare
themselves to enter the world of work. For details of
these results, this topic and the studies that compose
it, are shown separately.
Table 1: Characteristics of the articles analyzed.
No
Authors /Year of
Publication
Judul
Instrument
Sample
Country
Reliability (α)
Test retest
reliability
1
Robitschek &
Cook, 1999
The Influence of
Personal Growth
Initiative and
Coping Styles on
Career
Exploration and
Vocational
Identity
PGIS
206 College
student
Amerika
.78
to
.90
.84 for 1
week,
.73 for 4
weeks,
and .74
for 8
weeks.
2
Jeny, Rapheal
& Paul, 2012
Self-Actualization
and Personal
Growth Initiative
among the
Teachers of
Adolescents
PGIS 256 Teacher Africa
0.78
–
0.90
0.74
0
2
4
6
8
1999 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
PGI
Series 1
Records
identified from
(Summon,
Science direct,
Sage journal,
Proquest, J-
Store, DOAJ,
SpringerLink,
Emerald, dan
portal garuda)
n =312
Records
removed before
screening:
Duplicate
records
removed (n
= 245 )
Records
screened
(
n = 67
)
Records
excluded**
(
n = 40
)
Reports assessed
for eligibility
(
n = 27
)
Reports
excluded:
The research
results are not
in accordance
with the
organizational
context (n = 3)
Studies included
in review
(
n = 24
)
Identification
Screening
Included
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294

Table 1: Characteristics of the articles analyzed (cont.).
No
Authors /Year of
Publication
Judul
Instrument
Sample
Country
Reliability (α)
Test retest
reliability
3 Ashton, 2013
Career
adaptability in
emerging adults: a
foundation of
personal growth.
PGIS-
II
700 College
student
Amerika
4
Bott & Duffy,
2014
A Two-Wave
Longitudinal
Study of Career
Calling Among
Undergraduates:
PGIS
443 College
student
Amerika
0.78
–
0.90
0.90 &
0.89
5 Jurica, 2014
Personal Growth
Initiative and
Calling: Intrinsic
Motivation At
Work.
PGIS-
II
297 College
student
Amerika 0.70
6 Jager, 2015
Personal growth
initiative among
Industrial
Psychology
students in a
higher education
institution in
South Africa
PGIS
568 College
student
Africa
7
Wang & Lee,
2015
The Effectiveness
of Two Positive
Career Counseling
Modules for
Working Parents
in Taiwan.
PGIS 51 Employee Taiwan 0.90
8 Roover, 2015
The influence of
talent
management on
personal growth
initiative and the
mediating role of
perceived
organizational
support and the
moderating role o
f
culture
PGIS-
II
172
Employee
Belanda 0.93
9 Zee, 2016
Managing high
potential
employees: the
impact of
transformational
leadership on
behavioural
outcomes and the
moderation effect
of role stress
PGIS-
II
146
Employee
Belanda 0.89
10 Ghielen, 2016
Increasing
personal growth
initiative using
strengths-focused
developmental
performance
appraisals.
PGIS-
II
97 Employee Belanda 0.93
11 Borowa, 2016
Posttraumatic
stress and growth
in student service
members and
veterans: The role
of personal growth
initiative
PGIS-
II
136 Militer Polandia 0.93
12
Srivastava,
2017
Does personal
growth initiative
lead to impression
management: role
of personality?
PGIS
324 Middle
management
India 0.87
13 Borowa, 2018
Personal growth
initiative’s
relation to life
meaning and
satisfaction in a
polish sample
PGIS-
II
530 Polisi Polandia
0.90
–
0.94
14
Oosterwijk,
2018
Strength
Awareness and
Personal Growth
Initiative
PGIS-
II
223
Employee &
manager
Belanda 0.93
15
Wang & Tien,
2018
The Relation of
Career
Adaptability to
Work-Family
Experience and
Personal Growth
Initiative Among
Taiwanese
Working Parents.
PGIS
598
Employee
Taiwan
0.66-
0.78
16
Adekunle,
Adeola &
Abdulrahoman,
2019
Need for
achievement,
personal growth
initiative as co-
variates of work
motivation
PGIS
250
Employee
Nigeria 0.61
0.74 after
8 weeks
17 Matsuo, 2019
Personal growth
initiative as a
predictor of
psychological
empowerment:
The mediating
role of job crafting
PGIS-
II
320
Employee
Jepang
0.87
–
0.91
18 Matsuo, 2019
Empowerment
through self-
improvement
skills: The role of
learning goals and
personal growth
initiative
PGIS-
II
365 nurse Jepang 0.86
19
Srivastava,
2019
Linking
conservation of
resource
perspective to
personal growth
initiative and
intention to leave:
Role of mediating
variables
PGIS
382
Employee
India
0.82
–
0.92
20 Teonata, 2019
The role of
p
erceiving calling
in career as a
mediator in the
relationship
between personal
growth initiative
and career
commitment
among millennials
PGIS-
II
College
student
Indonesia
0.72
–
0.78
21
Woerkom,
2019
Strengthening
personal growth:
The effects of a
strengths
intervention on
personal growth
initiative
PGIS-
II
84 Employee Belanda
0.78
–
0.89
22
Joo, Park &
Lee, 2020
Personal growth
initiative: the
effects of person–
organization fit,
work
empowerment and
authentic
leadership
PGIS-
II
Employee Korea 0.93
23
Srivastava,
2020
Linking personal
growth initiative
and organizational
identification to
employee
engagement:
Testing the
mediating-
moderating effects
in Indian hotel
industry.
PGIS
382
Employee
India
0.76
–
0.91
24
Thapa &
Singh, 2020
Resilience,
Personal Growth
Initiative and
Employees
Productivity at
Workplace
PGIS-
II
200
Employee
India
Personal Growth Initiative in Work Setting: A Scoping Review
295

3.1 Personal Growth Initiative and
Relationships with Other Variables
3.1.1 Factors Affecting Personal Growth
Initiative
Self-awareness and intentionality are key
characteristics of PGI, (Robitschek & Cook, 1999)
investigating how PGI is associated with other
processes of personal growth. Previous studies have
explored the factors that influence personal growth
initiatives. Factors that influence personal growth
initiatives that have been obtained from several
previous research results can be categorized into 2
factors, namely individual factors and organizational
factors. Based on individual factors, it is known that
the experience of work family strength (WFS) has a
positive effect and is more helpful for individuals
(Kacmar et al., 2014; van Steenbergen et al., 2014).
Work family strength (WFS) is a predictor of high
personal growth initiatives in eastern culture (Wang
et al., 2018; Lu & Cooper, 2015). Work family
strength (WFS) is a positive experience brought from
work roles as well as roles in the family (Greenhaus
& Powell, 2006). Furthermore ((Brian) Joo et al.,
2020) in the results of his research showed that the
factor of person organization fit influences personal
growth initiatives. where employees exhibit high
levels of PGI when they feel they fit into the
organization and when they are empowered in their
work. Research (Oosterwijk, n.d.) found that strength
awareness affects PGI in both employees and leaders.
When individuals are aware of their strengths, it will
help individuals to take the initiative in their own
growth. Furthermore (Tien & Wang, 2017) in his
research found work-family strength and career
adaptability as moderating variables in influencing
PGI. Subsequent research (Abaci & Okyay, 2013)
shows that self-confidence is related to PGI, when a
person has self-confidence, they will have the ability
to understand what they want and have the intention
of growing themselves. Self-efficacy is also known to
be related to PGI in the context of teachers, where
when teachers have self-efficacy, they will be
oriented to their growth which can then foster positive
things for students (Jeni, 2012). Resilience in
employees can be seen in their ability to adapt to the
surrounding environment, learn skills and develop
themselves in the workplace, and assist in social
behavior with fellow employees. A strong employee
seizes opportunities and utilizes profitable resources
for individual personal growth as well as for the
organization as a whole (Thapa & Singh, 2020).
In addition to the individual factors in influencing
the PGI mentioned above. Organizational factors are
also known to influence personal growth initiatives.
Organizational factors such as work empowerment
are known to influence personal growth initiatives,
work empowerment refers to a person's perception of
empowerment that has been provided by the company
(Matthews, Diaz, & Cole, 2002). When people are
empowered in an organization, they will tend to be
more involved with their tasks and more motivated to
excel at the goals assigned to them (Gregory et al.,
2010). Transformational leadership has an effect on
personal growth initiatives (Zee, 2016). Subsequent
research related to the effect of authentic leadership
found that it had no effect on personal growth
initiatives (Joo, Park & Lee, 2020). In detail, the
influence of other variable factors on personal growth
initiatives can be seen in table 2.
Table 2: The relationship between other variables that affect
personal growth initiative.
Variabel
Author of
Publication
PGIS /PGIS II
RC Pla IB UR GS
Faktor Individual
Self actualization
Jeny, Rapheal
& Paul, 2012
.41*
Career
ada
p
tabilit
y
Wang & Lee,
2015
.47*
Strength
awareness
Oosterwijk,
2018
.35*
POF
Joo, Park &
Lee, 2020
.55**
Work Family
stren
g
th
Wang & Lee,
2015
.47**
Learning goal
orientation
Matsuo, 2019
.44*
Development job
experiences
Matsuo, 2019
.09*
Self confidence
Abaci &
Okyay, 2013
.47*
Faktor Organisasional
Transformasional
leadership
Zee, 2016
.32*
Work
empowerment
Joo, Park &
Lee, 2020
.50**
Authentic
leadership
Joo, Park &
Lee, 2020
.41**
Note: * p < .05, PGIS = Personal Growth Initiative Scale, PGIS-II
= Personal Growth Initiative Scale - II, GS = General Score, RC =
Readiness for Change, Pla = Planfulness, IB = Intentional
Behavior, and UR = Using Resources.
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296

3.1.2 Outcome Personal Growth Initiative
Research related to personal growth initiatives (PGI)
that has been going on for more than two decades, has
also been carried out in the area of work organization
(Borowa et al., 2020; De Jager-van Straaten et al.,
2016b; Meyers et al., 2015 ; Tien & Wang, 2017).
Various literatures show the benefits of personal
growth initiatives both for organizations, namely job
satisfaction (Wang & Tien, 2011), work motivation
(Kenku, 2019), employee engagement and intention
to leave (Srivastava & Bajpai, 2020) as well as for
individuals such as psychological empowerment
(Kashubeck -West & Meyer, 2008; Matsuo, 2019;
Robitschek & Kashubeck, 1999).
Personal growth initiatives are known to have a
positive impact on organizations, as in a study
(Borowa et al., 2020) by taking a sample of the police,
it was found that PGI had a positive influence on life
meaning and satisfaction. This is in accordance with
the study of Robitschek and Hershberger (2015)
where the ability of PGI will promote positive mental
health. In addition to samples of employees or
managers, several studies related to organizations
also took samples of students (Bott & Duffy, 2015b;
Collins, nd; Robitschek & Cook, 1999) this is because
it takes preparation of students to enter the world of
work, which in the research results (De Jager -van
Straaten et al., 2016b) show that PGI is an important
characteristic for psychology students to help clients
efficiently in the growth and development process.
Research related to PGI in the context of vocational
students has also been carried out by (Robitschek &
Cook, 1999) where PGI helps students explore
careers in the future. Further research (Bott & Duffy,
2015b; Jurica, 2014) with a sample of students shows
that PGI can be incorporated into the applicable
calling model in various ways. First, evidence
suggests that PGI can function as a predictor of
calling attendance. Second, PGI can function as a
moderator between the presence of calling and
carrying out the calling. In addition, PGI is a mediator
between the presence of the calling variable and
positive criteria, including life satisfaction and job
expectations. According to Robitschek (1998) the
PGI concept can be applied to all ages and all levels
of office (Robitschek, 2012) thus opening up
opportunities for research at all ages, such as the
Amanda & Yuliawati study (2019) showing PGI is
beneficial for career commitment in the millennial
generation, where the millennial generation
Millennials are known as a generation that is not loyal
to the organization.
Table 3: Relations of Personal Growth Initiative (readiness
for change, planfulness, intentional behavior, and using
resources) with outcome.
Variabel Author Of Publication PGIS/PGIS II
RC Pla IB UR GS
Coping Robitschek &
Cook, 1999
.43*
Career
exploration
Robitschek &
Cook, 1999
.43
Calling Bott & Duffy,
2014
.29*
Living of
calling
Jurica, 2014 .48*
Satisfaction
with life
Borowa, 2018 −.03 .18 .29** .16 .24*
Life meaning Borowa, 2018 .54*** .56*** .44*** 29* 55***
Work
Motivation
Adekunle,
Adeola &
Abdulrahoman,
2019
.39*
Psychological
empowerment
Matsuo, 2019
Srivastava,
2020
.65*
Employee
Engagement,
Srivastava,
2019
.64**
Intention to
leave
Srivastava,
2019
Career
Comitment
Teonata, 2019 .30
Resilience,
Productivity
Thapa &
Singh, 2020
.36
Note: * p < .05, PGIS = Personal Growth Initiative Scale, PGIS-II
= Personal Growth Initiative Scale - II, GS = General Score, RC =
Readiness for Change, Pla = Planfulness, IB = Intentional
Behavior, and UR = Using Resources.
3.1.3 Interventions for Personal Growth
Initiative Promotion
Research related to intervention programs is designed
to promote self-knowledge and skill development
related to PGI (Robitschek, 1997; Thoen &
Robitschek, 2013; Wang & Tien, 2011). Personal
growth initiatives are not only a central individual
need but also a key requirement for organizational
success. For this reason (van Woerkom & Meyers,
2019) developed workplace interventions aimed at
stimulating employees' personal growth. In his study
(van Woerkom & Meyers, 2019) investigated the
effectiveness of interventions aimed at identifying,
developing, and using employee strengths in driving
personal growth initiatives. It was found that the
intervention had a direct effect on general self-
efficacy (GSE) and an indirect effect on personal
growth initiatives. Strength intervention can provide
Personal Growth Initiative in Work Setting: A Scoping Review
297

a brief and an effective tool for organizations aiming
for self-study among their staff, especially to
employees who lack confidence in their own abilities.
Another PGI intervention was also developed by
Wang & Lee (2017) where in their experimental
research providing career counseling interventions
that focus on strengths and career counseling that
focuses on goals that are carried out on employees
show the results that these two interventions have an
effect on PGI. Van Woerkom & Meyers (2019)
conducted a study to understand the factors that
influence PGI in an organizational context, in the
results of his research PGI is influenced by
interventions on employee strength, and general self-
efficacy as a mediator variable. In addition to the
intervention on strength (Ghielen, 2016) in his
research, his research shows that performance
appraisals that focus on employee strengths affect
PGI levels.
Organizations today are increasingly seeking to
redesign their performance appraisals, leading to a
shift from evaluative performance appraisals, often
focusing on employee weaknesses to developmental
performance appraisals often focusing on employee
strengths (Aguinis et al., 2012). Ghielen's research
(2016) examines the extent to which performance
appraisal is focused on strengths in influencing
employee PGI using a cross-sectional survey. PGI
describes the extent to which an employee is actively
involved in the process of personal growth.
Table 4: Intervension for Personal Growth Initiative
No Intervension
1 Strength centered career counseling
2 Talent management
3 Strength-based performance appraisal
4 Strength intervention
4 DISCUSSION
Personal growth initiatives are known to provide
benefits to organizations because employees who are
proactive about their personal development are better
prepared to remain healthy, vital, and productive in
the face of high environmental demands (London &
Smither, 1999). This research shows that studies on
PGI, especially in the context of work organization,
have shown a gradual increase since the 2014s.
(Robitschek, 1998b) initiated a systematic study of
PGI and developed PGIS where this growth has been
most pronounced in the last six years (2014-2020), a
period during which 85.7% of publications were
condensed (see Figure 1). The studies found in this
systematic review focused on the relationship
between PGI and other variables related to work
organization such as influencing factors, impact of
PGI, as well as interventions that seek to promote PGI
in an organizational context. It was observed that the
population investigated in more than half of the
published studies was the employee population (18
studies, 72%), and only a small proportion of the
manager population (2 studies, 8%), in the study
(Oosterwijk, nd) demonstrated a need for personal
growth initiatives studied in the context of leaders,
because leaders have tasks with more challenges than
employees.
The pattern of the relationship between personal
growth initiative and its dimensions with the variables
evaluated in the studies cited in this article indicate
that personal growth initiatives arise due to several
influencing factors, including: self confidence,
person organization fit, work empowerment,
transformational leadership, learning goal
orientation, development job experiences, strength
awareness, work-family strength, and career
adaptability. Based on the factors that influence the
personal growth initiative, it can be classified into
factors originating from within the individual and
factors originating from outside the individual,
namely organizational factors. This is in accordance
with Hammond & Zimmerman (2012) which states
that to build strength is not only obtained from
personal factors but also from external factors.
Formal and informal support also contributes to
increasing personal power. Support from the social
environment, especially organizations, for example in
the form of leadership roles can improve employee
performance (Moghli, 2015).
Zee's research (2016) regarding the role of
leaders, namely transformational leadership, has an
influence on employee personal growth initiatives,
but based on Joo, Park & Lee's (2020) research,
authentic leadership has no significant effect in
moderating between person organization fit and
personal growth initiatives. It is interesting to be able
to study further for future research to find out more
about the role of the type of leadership that can affect
personal growth initiatives.
With regard to PGI's relationship with other
variables, PGI and its dimensions (readiness to
change, planning, use of resources, and intentional
behavior) are positively associated with variables
related to the state of increasing effectiveness in work
organizations, including: career exploration, career
calling , satisfaction, life meaning, work motivation,
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psychological empowerment, employee engagement,
career commitment, resilience and productivity), and
negatively related to factors related to ineffectiveness
in the organization (eg intention to leave). The skills
that exist in PGI are also related to a person's ability
to evaluate adverse and stressful situations as
challenges and opportunities for personal growth, so
that they experience lower levels of stress when
facing these situations (Weigold & Robitschek, 2011;
Yakunina et al., 2013). ). The process of unconscious
and unintentional change and conscious and
unintentional change usually allows for personal
growth. In the process of unconscious and
involuntary change, subjects may not be aware of
what motivates their personal change, or how they
choose to take up new forms of interaction with other
people. In conscious and unintentional processes of
change the individual recognizes the need for change,
however has little control over how this change
process occurs (Robitschek, 1999). The distinction
between undesired conscious and unconscious
processes and PGI is important, because the processes
of involuntary personal growth are negatively related
to people's well-being indices and with their positive
development. The PGI process, in turn, is positively
associated with increased levels of well-being and
positive development of individuals (Robitschek,
1999).
Understanding PGI as a set of skills that can be
developed in promoting PGI by providing
interventions in performance appraisals programs,
and career counseling models (Ghielen, 2016; Wang
& Lee, 2017). Wang & Lee's 2017 study explored the
effectiveness of 2 positive career counseling,
strengths-centered career counseling (SCC) and goal-
oriented career counseling modules for working
parents in Taiwan (23 males and 28 females). This
study uses an experimental design, and the
instruments used are Personal Growth Initiative
Scale, Job Satisfaction, and Self-Efficacy Scale.
Analysis of variance in subjects showed that both
modules were effective in personal growth initiative
and career self-efficacy, and SCC in particular had a
sustained effect on both. The research of Woerkom &
Meyers (2019) investigated the effectiveness of
interventions aimed at identifying, developing, and
using employee strengths in promoting personal
growth initiatives by taking a sample of 84 education
professionals who were in the control group. In a 1-
month follow-up study, found that the intervention
had a direct effect on general self-efficacy (GSE) and
an indirect effect on personal growth initiative.
The use of this article is limited by the author's
language restrictions, only articles written in English
are used. In addition, the role of cultural factors in
influencing personal growth initiatives has not been
discussed in this scoping review. This scoping review
contributes by presenting a comprehensive overview
of the study of the PGI construct. Future studies
should test the validity of PGIS-II in different
samples, such as with clinical patients, or across
cultures. In fact, longitudinal studies should be
developed to assess the existence of causal
relationships between PGI dimensions.
5 CONCLUSIONS
Personal growth initiatives are characterized by
individuals' skills to deliberately seek opportunities to
mature and realize personal changes that will enable
their positive development (Robitschek et al., 2012).
Study results The analysis in this review shows that
PGI plays an important role for individuals as well as
organizations to experience increased levels of well-
being, develop themselves positively and adapt to
adverse situations that ultimately benefit the
organization. It is also proven that PGI is a personal
resource. Furthermore, the potential shown for these
personal resources will be promoted by interventions
focused on developing PGI-related skills
(Robitschek, 1997; Thoen & Robitschek, 2013; Wang
& Tien, 2011).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The researchers would like to express their gratitude
to the Head of Psychology, Doctoral Program of
Airlangga University and Education Funder
Institution (LPDP) for the support given in writing
this article.
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