Engaged, Committed and Helpful Employees: The Role of Psychological Empowerment

ABSTRACT

Although previous research has been focused on the relationship among personality, empowerment, and outcomes, little is known about the incremental effect of empowerment on positive work outcomes. This article aims at exploring the relation between personality factors (i.e., extraversion and conscientiousness) and positive work outcomes (i.e., work engagement, affective organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior), and at determining the incremental effect of psychological empowerment on these outcomes. A convenience sample from three organizations has been used for data collection (N = 258; 52% women, mean age 38.55 years, SD = 10.21). Hierarchical multiple regressions indicate that personality and psychological empowerment explain a significant amount of the variance in the positive organizational outcomes, and that psychological empowerment has a significant incremental value over demographics and personality for the studied outcomes.

Keywords:

• empowerment
• organizational citizenship behavior
• organizational commitment
• personality
• work engagement

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Irina Macsinga

Irina Macsinga is an associate professor at the West University of Timişoara. Her current research interests are implicit attitudes, organizational behavior, and tacit knowledge in organizations.

Coralia Sulea

Coralia Sulea is an assistant professor at the West University of Timişoara. Her current research interests are workplace mistreatment, employees’ well-being, and performance.

Paul Sârbescu

Paul Sârbescu is a researcher at the West University of Timişoara. His current research interests are dangerous driving, the Alternative Five Personality Model, and music performance anxiety.

Gabriel Fischmann

Gabriel Fischmann is a researcher at the West University of Timişoara and is also a PhD student at KU Leuven. His current research interests are workplace well-being, qualitative job insecurity, and interpersonal relationships at work.

Cătălina Dumitru

Cătălina Dumitru is an associate lecturer at the West University of Timişoara, Psychology Department. Her current research interests include employees’ emotional experience and workplace well-being.