Construct Dimensionality of Engagement and its Relation With Satisfaction

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Engagement-a persistent and positive affective-motivational state of fulfillment characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption (W. B. Schaufeli, M. Salanova, V. González-Roma, & A. B. Bakker, 2002)-has become a popular subject among academic and industry researchers. Following suggestions in the recent literature calling for further examination of the underlying factors comprising the construct of engagement, the authors investigated the factor structure of W. B. Schaufeli et al.'s measure of engagement and academic engagement's relation to academic satisfaction. Previous researchers found a 3-factor structure of engagement that comprises vigor, dedication, and absorption. The authors administered to a sample of university students a questionnaire on their level of engagement in academic work and various other measures. The results did not confirm the 3-factor structure. The present authors found engagement and satisfaction to be highly related constructs.

An Examination of Psychological Meaningfulness, Safety, and Availability as the Underlying Mechanisms linking Job Features and Personal Characteristics to Work Engagement

“…In addition to ensuring that a single overall engagement factor emerged in my study's sample, this research also performed an analysis to address a popular debate in the work engagement literature. As discussed in Chapter I of the dissertation, researchers have argued over whether or not engagement is distinct from organizational commitment and/or job satisfaction (Christian, Garza, & Slaughter, 2011;Wefald & Downey, 2009 Rich et al (2010), job satisfaction is just one aspect of engagement. Specifically, they assert that employees can allocate themselves cognitively (i.e., degree to which individuals allow their jobs to take part in their lives in order to maintain a work-related identity), affectively (i.e., emotional reactions to the job associated with the human desire to maintain happiness), and physically (i.e., physically exerting oneself on the job in order to maintain autonomy and control) towards their job.…”

“…Researchers also argue that workaholism differs from engagement in that workaholics spend a great deal of time working and thinking about work not necessarily because they enjoy it as engaged workers do, but because they are obsessed with it Schaufeli, Taris, & Bakker, 2006;Scott, Moore, & Miceli, 1997;Taris, Schaufeli, & Shimazu, 2010). Finally, perhaps the most conceptually similar to work engagement, flow can be distinguished from engagement on the basis that it is a more acute state that lasts for a shorter period of time and is potentially of a more intense nature, whereas work engagement is a persistent positive affective-cognitive state of mind toward one's work (Wefald & Downey, 2009).…”

Opening up the Pandora's box of sustainability league tables of universities: a Kafkaesque perspective

“…Furthermore, behavior and values learnt whilst at university have long-lasting impacts on graduates throughout their lives. However, much of the focus is on institutional practices such as an annual Environment Week; whilst these may be important influences on engagement, they do not represent the psychological state of engagement (Wefald and Downey 2009). By focusing only on elements that the institution can control, a wide range of other explanatory variables are excluded, such as student motivation, expectations and emotions.…”

The Effects of Social Exchange Perspective on Employee Creativity: A Multilevel Investigation

“…In practical terms, engagement may be viewed as an energized satisfaction (Warr & Inceoglu, 2011). The correlation between employee engagement and job satisfaction have examined in nursing context (e.g., Giallonardo, Wong, & Iwasiw, 2010;Simpson, 2009), non-specific research context (e.g., Saks, 2006), and undergraduate students at Kansas State University and Midwestern public university (e.g., Alarcon & Lyons, 2011;Wefald & Downey, 2009). Although the previous studies do tend to support the hypothesis that engagement and job satisfaction are distinct, however, it remains unclear how an established employee engagement scale relates to job satisfaction, which is mostly ignored to examine in high-tech industry research.…”