Vigorous, dedicated, and absorbed: Factor structure, reliability, and validity of the polish version of the sport engagement scale

Abstract

The concept of sport engagement, emerging from the application of major ideas of positive psychology in sport science, has become a valuable conceptual and practical addition to understanding athlete burnout. The present article reports the major results of an attempt to develop a Polish version of the Sport Engagement Scale, a brief metric created to measure athletes' engagement for both research and practical purposes. Study 1, conducted on a sample of Polish athletes (N = 214) supports the original threefactor structure of engagement comprising the dimensions of Vigor, Dedication, and Absorption. A single-factor model also fit the data well, suggesting that calculating a general engagement factor is also justifiable. The internal consistency of the scale, as well as its associations with athletic burnout, competition anxiety, personality traits, declared sport level, and number of hours spent in training, provide evidence for sufficient concurrent criterion validity and the reliability of the scale for both research and applied purposes. Study 2, conducted on a sample of athletes taking part in a half marathon run (N = 135), provides evidence for the scale's predictive criterion validity with respect to objective performance: greater engagement, particularly scores in the Vigor subscale, predicted significantly better running performance. In the discussion, we summarize the present findings, commenting on their limitations and highlighting future research paths for the phenomenon of sport engagement.

The reliability and validity of the sport engagement instrument in the Finnish dual career context

“…Although there is a consensus that engagement is a multidimensional construct that encompasses multiple components (Alrashidi et al, 2016;Fredricks et al, 2004), previous instruments measure sport engagement primarily as a psychological resource of the individual (De Francisco et al, 2018;Guillén & Martínez-Alvarado, 2014;Martins et al, 2014;Stolarski et al, 2020). The SpEI allows for studying engagement as a more tangible process including personal and interpersonal relationships, which assert their influence on negative and positive outcomes through underlying psychological processes (Podlog et al, 2015).…”

“…The Sport Engagement Scale (SES) presents another viable option for measuring sport engagement along three dimensions: absorption, dedication, and vigour (Guillén & Martínez-Alvarado, 2014;Stolarski et al, 2020). The SES originates from the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (Schaufeli et al, 2002).…”

“…Moreover, there is evidence that motivation mediates the association between psychological needs and engagement (Podlog et al, 2015). Thus, although both instruments have shown good psychometric properties in different sociocultural contexts and across competitive levels (De Francisco et al, 2018;Guillén & Martínez-Alvarado, 2014;Martins et al, 2014;Stolarski et al, 2020), they fail to account for significant interpersonal relationships as a part of the engagement construct (Lawson & Lawson, 2013).…”

Protean and Boundaryless Career Attitude as Determinants of Well-being Among Indian IT Temporary Agency Workers

“…Vigour measures high levels of energy as well as desire and capacity to invest effort in work, dedication feeling of relevance, pride and challenge directed towards work, absorption where the person is totally concentrated, involved with job that he/she loses the notion of time. Employee's level of participation and commitment improve by vigour, determination and absorption (Stolarski et al, 2020).…”

Promoting Sports Engagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic via Virtual Reality Games

“…Sports engagement is a bond between an individual and sport-related activities that is marked by positive cognition, attitudes, and emotion bringing about a feeling of immersion [ 1 ] leading to positive health and well-being not just physically but also emotionally and mentally [ 2 ]. Despite the health advantages of engaging in sport, a survey done by England's Department of Culture, Media, and Sport (2012) found a negative correlation between the number of individuals who engage in sports and age.…”