Work attitudes and work ethic as predictors of work engagement among Polish employees

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between work engagement and the psychological traits of employees, such as attitudes towards work and work ethic. Additionally, the study included demographic characteristics of employees and organizational characteristics. Research was conducted using the Polish adaptations of two well known methods: Multidimensional Work Ethic Profile and Utrecht Work Enagagement Scale, as well as the Work Attitude Questionnaire (WAQ)-a new Polish method. 360 adult employees of two large Polish regions took part in the study. The analysis showed a significant influence of hedonic-autotelic attitude, as well as four dimensions of work ethic on work engagement. It seems to be an important conclusion that work engagement turned out to be far more determined by the subject's psychological traits than demographic and organizational ones. These results, indicating the special role of the perception of work as a central value, can be used only in the area of attitudes towards work formed during adolescence (e.g., at school, in career counseling) but also in the area of motivating the employees by the organization.