The efficacy of psycho training on improvement of organizational behavior and mental health

Abstract

Introduction: One of the most important issues of organizations in the modern age is to maximize their efficiency via improvement of organizational behavior. Organizational behavior is directly linked to mental health and recent studies have shown the major role of religion in maintaining mental health of people. The aim of the study was to investigate the efficacy of psycho-religious training on improvement of the organizational behavior and mental health.

Method: A group of 120 white collar personnel (60 females and 60 males) chosen by cluster sampling & divided randomly into two equal experimental and control groups (n=60; 30 female & 30 male). The experimental trial was the administration of the psycho-religious training for three weeks, which consisted of twelve 120-minute discussion-group sessions during 12 weeks. In order to assess the mental health, GHQ-28 was administered as pre-test and post-test in both groups.

Findings: The results of the independent and dependent t-test indicate the positive effect of psycho-religious training on the mental health of the participants in the experimental group in indices of anxiety/insomnia, severe depression, and total health (p<.05). There were no significant gender differences.

Discussion and conclusion: These findings suggest that incorporation of religious training within the usual modalities of psychological interventions would be beneficial and increase the levels of mental health and organizational behavior. Implications and suggestions are discussed.

Keywords: Psycho-religious education, psychoeducation, religion, organizational behavior, mental health, white collar, labor force