Psychological Determinants of Employee Adaptation: A Novel and Robust Learnability Quotient–Based Fuzzy Decision Framework for Organizational Learning

Psychological Determinants of Employee Adaptation: A Novel and Robust Learnability Quotient–Based Fuzzy Decision Framework for Organizational Learning | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Psychological Determinants of Employee Adaptation: A Novel and Robust Learnability Quotient–Based Fuzzy Decision Framework for Organizational Learning Şenay Çaylan, Serhat Yüksel, Merve Acar, Serkan Eti, Hasan Dinçer This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8554371/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In contemporary work environments, employees’ psychological capacity to adapt to continuous economic, technological, and cultural change has become a central concern within organizational and applied psychology. While constructs such as adaptability, learning orientation, and cognitive flexibility have been widely discussed, there remains limited consensus on which psychological components of learnability most strongly influence employee adaptation and how adaptation-oriented strategies can be systematically evaluated under uncertainty. Moreover, existing research often lacks integrative analytical frameworks that link individual cognitive–behavioral characteristics with strategic organizational learning outcomes. To address this gap, the present study conceptualizes Learnability Quotient as a multidimensional psychological construct encompassing cognitive flexibility, questioning behavior, openness to experience, and reflective learning tendencies. Building on expert-based psychological evaluations, a novel fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making framework is proposed by integrating spherical fuzzy sets, a newly developed COWEB weighting technique, and the MUNRA ranking approach. This integrated model enables the simultaneous assessment of the relative importance of learnability-related psychological indicators and the prioritization of employee adaptation strategies. Empirical results demonstrate that questioning and inquiry and mental flexibility emerge as the most influential psychological dimensions of learnability, highlighting the critical role of critical thinking, cognitive openness, and adaptive mental processes in effective organizational learning. Furthermore, the stability of strategy rankings across multiple scenarios supports the psychological robustness and methodological reliability of the proposed framework. By bridging cognitive–behavioral psychology and decision science, this study offers both theoretical contributions to organizational learning psychology and practical insights for designing psychologically informed adaptation strategies in contemporary organizations. Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing Biological sciences/Psychology Social science/Psychology Learnability Quotient Employee Adaptability Organizational Learning Culture Fuzzy Multi Criteria Decision Making Strategic Management Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 22 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 21 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 08 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Apr, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 06 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 06 Apr, 2026 Editor invited by journal 16 Jan, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 14 Jan, 2026 First submitted to journal 14 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8554371","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":619555297,"identity":"0fc6d362-a77d-48bb-b0b9-581590785d84","order_by":0,"name":"Şenay Çaylan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Istanbul Medipol University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Şenay","middleName":"","lastName":"Çaylan","suffix":""},{"id":619555299,"identity":"7c9b1752-c1eb-4684-bd7e-4bf21154d83b","order_by":1,"name":"Serhat Yüksel","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABFUlEQVRIie3RPUvDQBjA8ScUziXgeiUN+QonGURS/SwXhMsSdweRQCAuxq4pAfstMl94IC6Bro5x6eSQ0YJY89KhSGIdHe4/HLf8uJcHQKX6n5FupQCarJslajcAkyOEdwTypCfQE/IHgnpDgmPEeog31fYD3eUCJV76c/PJCKWEW8cNrLgaIqx8OT975OimVHC8yYQdzQouofTcgJywQUIFoXpDnqnOGoJuRH0mtQgbMnwza7Uh08+WnK5rvMh2e/I1TuCVEKM9JQUfUMvkngTjhJWCGDPh2ctEsDzOrvu38MKzIyJGfqwg0/e5YyZrfKu22ZW5SsO8qu8cczEphi/WFx7s2wlx+G2SXfc/iEqlUqkO+garHmbJFHTQZAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Istanbul Medipol University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Serhat","middleName":"","lastName":"Yüksel","suffix":""},{"id":619555301,"identity":"718fd46e-226c-474b-9678-908641022db3","order_by":2,"name":"Merve Acar","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Istanbul Medipol University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Merve","middleName":"","lastName":"Acar","suffix":""},{"id":619555304,"identity":"dab68e9e-68fa-428e-986e-e82beaf640eb","order_by":3,"name":"Serkan Eti","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"IMU Vocational School, Istanbul Medipol University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Serkan","middleName":"","lastName":"Eti","suffix":""},{"id":619555306,"identity":"55f626d9-bcd3-4ed6-8648-14560b24dea3","order_by":4,"name":"Hasan Dinçer","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Istanbul Medipol University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hasan","middleName":"","lastName":"Dinçer","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-08 18:23:30","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8554371/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8554371/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":106725879,"identity":"84707f41-b3ce-4de3-b85c-4ab38de0f125","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-12 18:34:15","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":729231,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscriptLQ.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8554371/v1_covered_2292b662-00ac-4427-b59c-62254235e394.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Psychological Determinants of Employee Adaptation: A Novel and Robust Learnability Quotient–Based Fuzzy Decision Framework for Organizational Learning","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Learnability Quotient, Employee Adaptability, Organizational Learning Culture, Fuzzy Multi Criteria Decision Making, Strategic Management","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8554371/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8554371/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eIn contemporary work environments, employees\u0026rsquo; psychological capacity to adapt to continuous economic, technological, and cultural change has become a central concern within organizational and applied psychology. While constructs such as adaptability, learning orientation, and cognitive flexibility have been widely discussed, there remains limited consensus on which psychological components of learnability most strongly influence employee adaptation and how adaptation-oriented strategies can be systematically evaluated under uncertainty. Moreover, existing research often lacks integrative analytical frameworks that link individual cognitive\u0026ndash;behavioral characteristics with strategic organizational learning outcomes. To address this gap, the present study conceptualizes Learnability Quotient as a multidimensional psychological construct encompassing cognitive flexibility, questioning behavior, openness to experience, and reflective learning tendencies. Building on expert-based psychological evaluations, a novel fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making framework is proposed by integrating spherical fuzzy sets, a newly developed COWEB weighting technique, and the MUNRA ranking approach. 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