Work Engagement
Summary: A positive, work-related motivational state characterised by vigor, dedication, and absorption — distinct from job satisfaction (attitude) and from workaholism (compulsion without positive affect).
Sources: raw/Daily_use_of_self-leadership_strategies_and_employ.pdf
Last updated: 2026-05-10
Work engagement (Schaufeli et al., 2002) is defined along three components:
- Vigor: high energy and mental resilience at work
- Dedication: sense of significance, enthusiasm, and challenge
- Absorption: deep, focused involvement where time passes quickly
Unlike job satisfaction (which can be passive contentment), engagement implies active investment. Unlike workaholism, it is driven by intrinsic motivation rather than compulsion.
Engagement as a daily state
Research increasingly treats engagement as fluctuating within individuals day-to-day (state engagement), not just as a stable trait. The same person is more or less engaged depending on what strategies they use and where they work. This within-person variability is what Patterer et al. (2024) exploit to identify what actually moves the needle on a given day. See patterer-self-leadership-remote-work.
What predicts daily engagement
- Self-leadership strategies — self-goal setting, self-reward, visualization on a given day
- Job resources — autonomy, feedback, supervisor support, per the JD-R model
- Social support in the work environment — see patterer-coworking-creativity
What does not predict engagement: self-punishment, which reliably reduces it.