How psychological empowerment impacts task performance: The mediation role of work engagement and moderating role of age

Abstract

This paper presents a mediation–moderated model of the relationship between psychological empowerment, work engagement, age, and task performance. I seek to provide a more nuanced understanding of the mediating role of work engagement in the positive effect of psychological empowerment on task performance. Further, I explore employee age as a moderating factor in this mediation. I used online surveys among a sample of Latin American textile industry employees to capture individual perceptions about psychological empowerment, work engagement, and task performance. I modeled a mediation–moderated model using Hayes’ Process macro. The results confirm that the positive impact of employee psychological empowerment on task performance is partially mediated by work engagement. In addition, age was a significant moderator of the mediation effect. This study expands knowledge about how the psychological empowerment–work engagement relationship can predict task performance, including age as a boundary condition. Following the Job Demands–Resources theory, I also prove that conceptualizing psychological empowerment as a personal resource can benefit the integration of psychological empowerment and the work engagement stream of research. Moreover, the findings may help human resources management (HRM) researchers and practitioners acknowledge contextual differences in understanding the combined effects of psychological empowerment and work engagement. For instance, textile industry human resources managers can develop specific age–based human resource systems that empower and engages employees from emerging economies.

The relationship among idiosyncratic deals, psychological empowerment, and internal locus of control: A moderated mediation model

“…Consequently, they think, feel, and behave positively and favorably for their organization (Qurrahtulain et al, 2020), thereby enhancing their PE. This PE as a personal resource fosters academics' WE (Shams et al, 2021;Juyumaya, 2022).…”

“…Consequently, they think, feel, and behave positively and favorably for their organization ( Qurrahtulain et al, 2020 ), thereby enhancing their PE. This PE as a personal resource fosters academics’ WE ( Shams et al, 2021 ; Juyumaya, 2022 ). In alignment with the JD-R theory, personal resources such as iLOC help an individual to interpret the effectiveness of external environmental factors (such as TWR I-deals and FLX I-deals) that subsequently affect their behavior at work (i.e., WE) ( Schaufeli and Taris, 2014 ).…”

“…Several studies have revealed that PE fosters employees’ dedication and energy (i.e., engagement) for their jobs ( Aggarwal et al, 2020 ; Towsen et al, 2020 ; Shams et al, 2021 ; Juyumaya, 2022 ). PE, as an employee’s psychological state resulting from empowerment practices at work, is worth paying attention to comprehending the means to elevate the academics’ positive feelings of energy, passion, and enthusiasm (i.e., WE).…”

A managers’ work engagement framework for the digital tasks

“…Traditionally, the JD-R model has been used to predict some positive organizational effects of traditional jobs on employees, such as motivation, organizational commitment, work engagement, and task performance ( Schaufeli and Salanova, 2007 ; Christian et al, 2011 ; Juyumaya, 2022 ), juxtaposed to adverse organizational outcomes, like stress, exhaustion, burnout, sickness, absenteeism ( Schaufeli et al, 2008 ; Crawford et al, 2010 ; Breevaart et al, 2015 ). JD-R model analyzes job characteristics into two categories: job demands and job resources.…”

Effects of transformational leadership and work engagement on managers’ creative performance

“…When a leader showed more transformational leadership behaviors, followers reported more job resources (e.g. autonomy, feedback, growth opportunities, support) (Juyumaya, 2022). These bundles of resources will contribute to followers' engagement and task performance by increasing managers' motivation levels.…”