General Engagement: Conceptualization and Measurement with the Utrecht General Engagement Scale (UGES)

Abstract

There is no compelling psychological reason why psychological engagement should be restricted to employees. For instance, sports, volunteering, hobbies, leisure activities, and education can also be pursued with energy and determination. Hence, the current study introduced the concept of general engagement and its measurement with the Utrecht General Engagement Scale (UGES) - the general version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). Using a representative sample of the Dutch population (N = 3970) the discriminant validity of the UGES (and the UWES) vis-à-vis positive and negative affectivity as well as life satisfaction was demonstrated. Like work engagement, the overlap of general engagement with Big-5 personality factors is less than 10%. Mean scores on the UGES for employees and volunteers are highest, whereas scores for the work incapacitated or unemployed are lowest. It is concluded that the UGES can be used in future research on engagement in daily, non-work activities.