A New Concept of Work Engagement Theory in Cognitive Engagement, Emotional Engagement, and Physical Engagement

Stanley Y B Huang; Chien-Hsiang Huang; Tai-Wei Chang

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.663440

A New Concept of Work Engagement Theory in Cognitive Engagement, Emotional Engagement, and Physical Engagement

Front Psychol. 2022 Feb 14:12:663440. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.663440. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Stanley Y B Huang¹, Chien-Hsiang Huang², Tai-Wei Chang³

Affiliations

¹ Master Program of Financial Technology, School of Financial Technology, Ming Chuan University, Taipei City, Taiwan.
² General Education Center, Chihlee University of Technology, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
³ Graduate School of Resources Management and Decision Science, National Defense University, Taipei City, Taiwan.

Abstract

The concept of work engagement (WE) has aroused the interest of many scholars. However, there has been limited academic research in examining how authentic leadership (AL) can influence WE, which consequently influences organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and task performance (TP). In particular, this study divides WE into cognitive engagement, emotional engagement, and physical engagement to fully reflect the engagement theory. This study introduces three dimensions of WE and tests the theoretical model to validate cognitive engagement, emotional engagement, and physical engagement. Empirical testing using a survey of 151 employees of retail travel agencies in Taiwan revealed that the AL can influence cognitive engagement, emotional engagement, and physical engagement, and also OCB and TP. These analysis results can assist vendors to implement OCB and TP through WE and AL.

Keywords: authentic leadership; latent growth model; organizational citizenship behavior; task performance; work engagement.