Home> Archive> 2016> Volume 6 Number 9 (Sep. 2016)
IJSSH 2016 Vol.6(9): 672-676 ISSN: 2010-3646
doi: 10.18178/ijssh.2016.6.9.730

Validation of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) in the Malaysian Context

Wan Shahrazad Wan Sulaiman and Nur Aisyah Zahoni

Abstract—Individuals’ performance at work is determined to a certain extent on how engaged they are with the work they are doing. Hence a reliable and valid instrument must be used to accurately measure work engagement. This study aims to test the validity and reliability of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) in the Malaysian culture. The scale consists of three subscales which are vigor, dedication and absorption. This study involved 205 respondents who worked as salespersons in urban area in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They answered the UWES and three other questionnaires that assess job performance, turnover intention and job meaningfulness. The analysis showed that the validity using exploratory factor analysis managed to extract three factors. However, the factor structures of these three dimensions were slightly different than the original version. Reliability of the scale was satisfactory. The findings also showed significant relations with other criteria namely job performance, job meaningfulness and turnover intention. This study provided initial evidence that the instrument that can be used to measure work engagement in Malaysia. Some limitations and suggestions were recorded for the purpose of improvement for future research and guidance to organizations in developing effective work engagement.

Index Terms—Work engagement, reliability, validity, factor analysis.

The authors are with the School of Psychology and Human Development, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia (e-mail: shara@ukm.edu.my).

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Cite: Wan Shahrazad Wan Sulaiman and Nur Aisyah Zahoni, "Validation of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) in the Malaysian Context," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity vol. 6, no. 9, pp. 672-676, 2016.

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