Abstract:

Work engagement is a positive, fulfilling state in which people can be highly focused and immersed within their tasks. High frequency of engagement at work contributes significantly to people’s well-being. The construct of work engagement has garnered attention both in business contexts and academic settings, and several approaches for understanding work engagement have been developed. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the current status of theory and research on work engagement. The origin and development of its various conceptualizations are summarized and comparisons are made with similar constructs, such as job involvement, flow, and mindfulness. Selected measures of work engagement, including the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and the Shirom-Melamed Vigor Measure, and different theoretical perspectives, including models with various factor structures, are presented. Antecedents and consequences of work engagement identified in recent studies are also discussed. An integrated approach to work engagement is presented, as are three directions for future research.

Key words: work engagement, involvement, factor structure, measurement of work engagement, antecedents, consequences