Personal Characteristics Related to Engagement Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Personal resources influence professionals’ relationships with their work and impact their engagement. Thus, we investigated whether the relationships between personality traits and meaningful work with engagement showed differences before and during the pandemic. The sample comprised 963 professionals with 828 participants, with a mean age of 35.5 years (SD = 10.7 years) before the COVID-19 pandemic, and 135 professionals with a mean age of 42.1 years (SD = 8.1 years) during the pandemic. The participants’ personality traits, meaningful work, and work engagement were assessed. Differences in the relationships between personal resources and engagement were investigated through network analysis. No significant differences were observed in the relationships investigated before and during the pandemic. Significant work was related to personality traits and played a central role in the network, evidencing its importance in promoting engagement at work.