Marie Barbier

Performance expectations, personal resources, and job resources: How do they predict work engagement?

Research on work engagement has mainly focused on the role of job and personal resources and has ignored the possible impact of personal demands workers develop with regard to their work. The aim of our study was to test the reciprocal relationships that job resources, personal resources, and personal demands, operationalized as performance expectations, share with work engagement. Three-wave longitudinal data were collected in a Belgian public institution (N = 473). Results confirm the causal effects of job resources, personal resources, and performance expectations on work engagement. Reciprocal relationships are not significant. Results are discussed with regard to the impact of changes in job and personal resources and performance expectations on work engagement. Practical implications including reinforcement of Human Resources practices such as appraisal interviewing and career management are also discussed.

A longitudinal test of the Job Demands-Resources model using perveived stigma and social identity

In occupational psychology, the Job Demands–Resources (JDR) model is considered as a compelling model to explain burnout and work engagement. Despite its robustness, it can be addressed two main criticisms, namely a lack of three-wave longitudinal studies and an exclusive focus on work-related predictors of well-being. The aims of our study are (1) to test the JDR model using a three-wave longitudinal design, and (2) to test the JDR model using predictors reflecting intergroup relationships within the work context. Structural equation modelling analyses were performed on data collected in a Belgian public institution (N = 473). Results indicate that burnout and work engagement are respectively predicted by perceived stigma against ones occupational group and by group identification. Moreover, group identification moderates the relation between perceived stigma and work engagement. Results are discussed in terms of the role of group identification as a coping strategy, as well as with regards to potential effects of what has been called “dirty work”.

Learning and motivation to transfer after an e-learning programme: impact of trainees’ motivation to train, personal interaction and satisfaction

While e-learning appears to be increasingly present in training and education, the systematic evaluation of its effectiveness remains understudied. In this paper, we determine the mediating role of satisfaction between motivation to train and personal interaction, on the one hand, and learning and motivation to transfer, on the other hand. A particularity of this study is that we distinguish between different dimensions of satisfaction – enjoyment, utility, difficulty and take into account lack of personal interaction as a variable influencing satisfaction. Results of structural equation modelling analyses show an impact of the enjoyment dimension on learning, and of the utility and difficulty dimensions on motivation to transfer. The results also stress the importance of interaction opportunities, as these have an indirect effect on learning and motivation to transfer.