Hobfall's Conservation of Resources (CoR)- SCT and Adaptive Leadership

Conservation of Resources

An interesting title for a theory that I've come to learn is associated with crisis management. 


Bajaba et al., (2021) interject Hobfoll's (1989) theory as a means to explain how particular managers recognize and are able to adjust resources that create conditions necessary in a time of crisis. These resources are not limited to physical assets. These resources include personality traits and skills of individuals within the organization that advantage opportunity and overcome challenges in times of crisis: traits and skills that become invaluable resources in times of stress.

"COR theory, a motivational theory introduced by Hobfoll (1989), defines resources as "those objects, personal characteristics, conditions, or energies that are valued by the individual or that serve as a means for the attainment of these objects, personal characteristics, conditions, or energies" (Bajaba et al., citing Hobfoll, 1989, 2021, p. 3); 

The authors present this idea after describing the significance of Social Cognitive Theory (SRT) as an explanatory thread to describe adaptive leaders and present Adaptive Leaders as leaders who have characteristics and demonstrate behaviors associated with leaders who are able to lead in times of crisis. 

At the outset of this introduction to an unfamiliar theory (COR) within a very familiar theory, SRT- I could not help but focus on the term Conservation. Conservation implies that resources currently exist. I wonder if this term is adequate. The conditions of COVID required resources that went beyond what was currently available and relevant and into resources that were insufficient and, at times, absent.  

Tapping into the work of Hobfoll (1989), the authors describe a stressful situation as one that is characterized by "(1) perceived threat towards one's current resources, (2) loss of one's current resources, and/or (3) failure to gain additional resources following significant effort or investment" (p. 3).

I am curious about whether or not Hobfoll's COR theory's framing of a stressful situation applies to schools and applies to the current crisis.

The authors are curious about the degree to which the traits associated with adaptive Leadership and their relationship to SCT contribute to the capacity of a leader to respond to a crisis situation. In other words, the authors: "

...we argue that adaptive managers are more likely to believe in their capacity to accurately assess the available information at the time of the crisis and make/recommend the necessary adjustments. Thus, we hypothesize the following:

Hypothesis 1. Adaptive personality will be positively related to crisis leader self-efficacy. 


References

Bajaba, A., Bajaba, S., Algarni, M., Basahal, A., & Basahel, S. (2021). Adaptive Managers as Emerging Leaders During the COVID-19 Crisis. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 1062.

Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: a new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American psychologist, 44(3), 513.

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