Handbook of Management Scales/Meaning

Meaning (alpha = 0.85, 0.85)

Description

Based on a thorough scale development and validation process, the author presents a multidimensional measure of psychological empowerment in the workplace. It consists of four dimensions: meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact.

Definition

Empowerment is defined as increased intrinsic task motivation manifested in a set of four cognitions reflecting an individual's orientation to his or her work role: meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact (Thomas and Velthouse, 1990).

The meaning dimension of empowerment is defined as the value of a work goal or purpose, judged in relation to an individual's own ideals or standards (Thomas and Velthouse, 1990).

Items

• The work I do is very important to me.
• My job activities are personally meaningful to me.
• The work I do is meaningful to me.

Source

• Spreitzer (1995): Psychological Empowerment in the Workplace: Dimensions, Measurement, and Validation. Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 38, No. 5, pp. 1442–1465

Comments

The mean values of all items were above five. Given that a 7-point scale was used, future researchers could slightly adapt the items in order to shift the mean values close to the center (e.g., by using terms like "very meaningful" instead of "meaningful"). The items might be too similar.

Related Scales

• Psychological empowerment in the workplace: meaning, competence, self-determination, impact