Validation of a Work Engagement Scale. Profiles associated with high Performance and Job Satisfaction

Authors

  • María Laura Lupano Perugini Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Buenos Aries. Argentina. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Palermo. Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Argentina
  • Guadalupe de la Iglesia Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Palermo. Argentina. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Palermo. Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Argentina
  • Alejandro Castro Solano Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Buenos Aries. Argentina. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Palermo. Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Argentina
  • Mercedes Fernández Liporace Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Buenos Aries. Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Argentina

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22235/cp.v11i2.1482

Keywords:

engagement, work satisfaction, performance, work psychology, organizational psychology

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to validate a scale to assess work engagement: a measure of a psychological aspect of the role that includes the attention, absorption and energy that the individual invests in his/her work tasks. Confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency estimation, and evidences of convergent and discriminant validity indicated that the Argentine Work Engagement Scale is a valid and reliable measure to be used in Argentinean population. Additionally, differences in work engagement levels were studied regarding individual and organizational variables. Higher levels of work engagement were found in younger individuals and in those who were in charge of personal. Lastly, some engagement profiles were found to be associated to higher performance and job satisfaction.

 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Alarcon, G. & Edwards, J. (2011). The Relationship of Engagement, Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intentions. Stress and Health Volume, 27(3), 294-298. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.1365

Albrecht, S.L., Bakker, A.B., Gruman, J.A., Macey, W.H. & Saks, A.M. (2015) Employee engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An integrated approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 2(1), 7-35. https://doi.org/10.1108/joepp-08-2014-0042

Allen, N. J. & Meyer, J. P. (1990). The Measurement and Antecedents of Affective, Continuance and Normative Commitment to the Organization. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 63, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8325.1990.tb00506.x

Avery, D. R., McKay, P. F., & Wilson, D. C. (2007). Engaging the aging workforce: The relationship between perceived age similarity, satisfaction with coworkers, and employee engagement. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(6), 1542-1556. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.92.6.1542

Bakker, A. B., Schaufeli, W. B. & Leiter, M. P. (2008). Work engagement: An emerging concept in occupational health psychology. Work & Stress, 22(3), 187-200. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678370802393649

Balzer, W. K., Kihm, J. A., Smith, P. C., Irwin, J. L., Bachiochi, P. D., Robie, C., Sinar, E. F., & Parra, L. F. (1997). User’s manual for the Job Descriptive Index (JDI; 1997 Revision) and the Job in General (JIG) Scales. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University.

Byrne, B.M. (2006). Structural Equation Modeling With EQS: Basic Concepts, Applications, and Programming, Second Edition. New York: Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328007sem1302_7

Cameron, K. S. & Spreitzer, G. M. (2012). The Oxford Handbook of Positive Organizational Scholarship. New York: Oxford University Press.

Cameron, K.S., Brigth, D. & Caza, A. (2004). Exploring the relationship between organizational virtuosness and performance. American Behavioral Scientist, 47(6), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764203260209


Cameron, K.S., Mora, C., Leutscher, T. & Calarco, M. (2011). Effects of positive practices on organizational effectiveness. The Journal of applied Behavioral Science, 47, 266-308. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886310395514

Christian, M. S., Garza, A. S. & Slaughter, J. E. (2011). Work Engagement: A Quantitative Review and Test of its Relations with Task and Contextual Performance. Personnel Psychology, 64, 89-136. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2010.01203.x
Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13

Freiberg-Hoffmann, A., Stover, J. B., de la Iglesia, G., & Fernández-Liporace, M. (2013). Correlaciones policóricas y tetracóricas en estudios factoriales exploratorios y confirmatorios. Ciencias Psicológicas, 7(2), 151-164. https://doi.org/10.22235/cp.v7i1

Goštautaitė, B. & Bučiūnienė, I. (2015). Work engagement during lifespan: the role of interaction outside the organization and task significance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 89, 1 9-119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2015.05.001
Hirschfeld, R.R. & Thomas, C.H. (2008). Representations of trait engagement: Integration, additions, and mechanisms. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1, 63–66. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1754-9434.2007.00011.x

Høigaard, R., Giske, R. & Sundsli, K. (2012). European Journal of Teacher Education, 35 (3), 347-357. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2011.633993

Innstrand, S.T. (2016). Occupational Differences in Work Engagement: A Longitudinal Study Among Eight Occupational Groups in Norway. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 57(4), 338-349. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12298

James, J. B., McKechnie, S., & Swanberg, J. (2011). Predicting Employee Engagement in an AgeDiverse Retail Workforce. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 32(2), 173-196. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.681

Jeung, C.W. (2011). The Concept of Employee Engagement: A Comprehensive Review from a Positive
Organizational Behavior Perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 24, 2, 49-69. DOI: 10.1002/piq.

Kahn, W. A. (1990). ‘Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work’. Academy of Management Journal, 33, 692–724. https://doi.org/10.2307/256287

Kahn, W. A. (1992). ‘To be fully there: psychological presence at work’. Human Relations, 45(4), 321–349. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872679204500402

Karatepe, O.M. & Karadas, G. (2015). Do psychological capital and work engagement foster frontline employees’ satisfaction?: A study in the hotel industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27 (6),1254-1278. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-01-2014-0028

Kline, P. (2000). Handbook of psychological testing. London: Routledge.

Liu, J., Cho, S. & Putra, E. D. (2017). The moderating effect of self-efficacy and gender on work engagement for restaurant employees in the United States. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 29(1), 624-642. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-10-2015-0539

Llaneza Álvarez, F. J. (2009). Ergonomía y Psicosociología Aplicada. Manual para la formación del especialista, 12ed. Valladolid: Lex Nova

Lupano Perugini, M.L. & Castro Solano, A. (2016). Perfiles de organizaciones positivas. Análisis de características percibidas según variables individuales, organizacionales y de resultado. Escritos de Psicología, 9(2), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.5231/psy.writ.2016.1103

Lupano Perugini, M.L. & Castro Solano, A. (2017). Influencia de las Virtudes Organizacionales sobre la performance laboral. Un estudio en organizaciones argentinas. Interdisciplinaria, en prensa.

Lupano Perugini, M.L. (2014). Organizaciones Positivas: un marco de referencia para su abordaje en Latinoamérica. Acta Psiquiátr. Psicol. Am. Lat., 60(4), 277-284.

Macey, W.H. & Schneider, B. (2008). The meaning of engagement. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1, 3–30. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1754-9434.2007.0002.x

Mache S., Vitzthum K., Klapp B.F., & Danzer, G. (2014) Surgeons’ work engagement: influencing factors and relations to job and life satisfaction. Surgeon, 12(4), 181–190. doi: 10.1016/j. surge.2013.11.015

Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B. & Leiter, M. P. (2001). ‘Job burnout’. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 397–422. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.397

Masson, R.C., Royal, M.A., Agnew, T.G. & Fine, S. (2008). Leveraging employee engagement: The practical implications. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1, 56–59. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1754-9434.2007.00009.x

Mastenbroek, N. J. J. M., Jaarsma, A. D. C., Demerouti, E., Muijtjens, A. M. M., Scherpbier, A. J. J. A. & van Beukelen, P. (2014). Burnout and engagement, and its predictors in young veterinary professionals: the influence of gender. Veterinary Record, 174(6), 144-152. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.101762

Muthén, B., & Kaplan D. (1985). A comparison of some methodologies for the factor analysis of non-normal Likert variables. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 38, 171-189. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8317.1985.tb00832.x

Nienaber, H. & Martins, N. (2014). An Employee Engagement Instrument and Framework Building on Existing Research. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(20), 485-496. https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p485

Nunnally, J., & Berstein, I. (1995). Psychometric theory. New York: Mcgraw-Hill.
Omar, A. (2005). La cultura organizacional de las empresas argentinas [The organizational culture of Argentine companies]. Rosario: Conicet.

Owens, B.P., Baker, W.E., Sumpter, D.M., & Cameron, K.S. (2016). Relational Energy at Work: Implications for Job Engagement and Job Performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(1), 35–49. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000032

Rich, B. L., LePine, J. A. & Crawford, E. R. (2010). 7. Job Engagement: Antecedents and Effects On Job Performance. Academy of Management Journal, 53 (3), 617-635. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2010.51468988

Robertson, I.T. & Cooper, C.L. (2010). Full engagement: The integration of employee engagement and psychological well-being. Leadership and Organizational Development, 31(4), 324–336. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437731011043348

Rodríguez-Montalbán, R., Martínez-Lugo, M., Sánchez-Cardona, I. (2014). Análisis de las propiedades psicométricas de la Utrecht Work Engagement Scale en una muestra de trabajadores en Puerto Rico. Universitas Psychologica, 13(4), 1255-1266. https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.UPSY13-4.appu

Rothbard, N. P. (2001). ‘Enriching or depleting? The dynamics of engagement in work and family roles’. Administrative Science Quarterly, 46, 655–84. https://doi.org/10.2307/3094827

Rothbard, N. P., & Patil, S. V. (2012). Being There: Work Engagement and Positive Organizational Psychology. En K. S. Cameron & G. M. Spreitzer (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Positive Organizational Scholarship (231-243). New York: Oxford University Press.

Rothmann, S. & Rothmann, S. (2010). Factors associated with employee engagement in South Africa. South African Journal of Industrial Psychology, 36(2), 925-937. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v36i2.925

Saks, A.M. (2006). Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21(6), 600-619. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940610690169

Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: A multi-sample study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25, 293–315. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.248

Schaufeli, W.B., Salanova, M., González-Romá, V. & Bakker, A. B. (2002). The measurement of engagement and burnout and: A confirmative analytic approach. Journal of Happiness Studies, 3, 71–92. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015630930326

Spector, P.E. (1997). Job satisfaction: Application, assessment, causes and consequences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Viljevac, A., Cooper-Thomas, H.D. & Saks, A. (2012). An investigation into the validity of two measures of work engagement. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23, 17, 3692–3709. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2011.639542

Zhang, Y., Rich, B. L. & LePine, J.A. (2009). Transformational leadership and job performance: The mediating role of job engagement. Presented in an interactive paper session at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management. Chicago, August 8-11.

Published

2017-11-08

How to Cite

Lupano Perugini, M. L., de la Iglesia, G., Castro Solano, A., & Fernández Liporace, M. (2017). Validation of a Work Engagement Scale. Profiles associated with high Performance and Job Satisfaction. Ciencias Psicológicas, 11(2), 127–137. https://doi.org/10.22235/cp.v11i2.1482

Issue

Section

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Similar Articles

<< < 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.