Primary Investigator: mgr Konrad Kulikowski

1. RESEARCH AIM The Job Demands–Resources theory (JD-R) explains work engagement through the complex relationship between job resources, personal resources and work demands. Recently, experts’ attention has been attracted especially by personal resources  employee's physical, psychological or cognitive characteristics that refer to control and ability to impact one's work environment successfully, and help to deal with job demands. But, despite the evidence of the crucial role of cognitive abilities for work environment control, JD-R theory completely ignores effects of employee's cognitive characteristics on work engagement. One of the most important human's cognitive characteristic is working memory capacity (WMC). WMC allows storing, processing, maintaining and updating information needed to support complex cognition processes. Thus, it might be considered as a personal resource. In the context of JD-R, high WMC may be considered as a personal resource which improves job performance and enables employees a better control over the work environment. The main aim of the planned research is to answer the question: How is WMC, as a personal resource, related to work engagement, in the framework of the JD–R theory? Based on the assumptions of the JD-R theory and contemporary knowledge of WMC role for job performance, four research hypotheses have been put forward: hypothesis 1. WMC is directly related to the level of work engagement, hypothesis 2. Job demands are moderators of relationship between WMC and work engagement, hypothesis 3. Relationship between WMC and work engagement is mediated by job resources, hypothesis 4. WMC moderates the relationship between job demands and work engagement.

2. METHODOLOGY Reliable and valid psychological tools will be used to assess work engagement, job demands, job resources, WMC and fluid intelligence: work engagement - Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and Shirom Melamed Vigor Scale; job demands - workload, interpersonal conflicts, organizational constraints - Spector & Jex questionnaires; job resources - social support, support from the supervisor, tasks' variety - Job Content Questionnaire; WMC - processing and storage component - computer's cognitive tasks: AutoOspan, Symmetry Span and N-back; intelligence - Standard PL Raven Progressive Matrices test. Additionally, background information will be collected: sex, tenure, wage, company size and position in company. To verify the research hypotheses, structural equation modeling (SEM) with latent variables, multiple regression analysis and confirmatory factor analysis will be conducted. It is planned to carry out two studies. During the first study, hypotheses will be tested and initial good fitting to data SEM model will be established. In the second study, it is planned to replicate previous findings from the first study, but on a different sample. To ensure an adequate power of statistic test, each of the study will be carried out on a group of minimum 200 working adults.

3. THE EXPECTED RESULTS IMPACT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE, CIVILIZATION AND SOCIETY The study presents novel and innovative approach, because the role of WMC in JD-R framework and in other human's workplace functioning theories has not been examined so far. In the literature we can find reports about the relationship between WMC and job performance, optimism or motivation, but not with work engagement. The results of the study will provide new and original knowledge which helps us better understand the nature of human functioning in a professional environment. The expected results may enrich the JD-R theory by inclusion of cognitive personal resources which are now widely neglected. Furthermore, empirical demonstration of linkage between WMC and work engagement may open up new research possibilities in employee's well-being studies. Moreover, the results of proposed study in a long perspective might contribute to the design of more engaging work environment. Understanding, how cognitive characteristics of employee influence work engagement, can help to maximize the engagement and increase the chances for original and innovative work outcomes. In the long term, results of proposed study might be applied to affect the development of society as a whole, because this development takes place mainly due to the efforts of engaged employees.