The Six Challenges for Personality, Intelligence, Cognitive Skills, and Life Outcomes Research: An Introduction to the Special Issue.

Understanding how personality [...].

Toward an understanding of occupational burnout among employees with autism - the Job Demands-Resources theory perspective.

This article aims to gain insight into the phenomenon of occupational burnout among employees with autism based on the theoretical framework of the Job Demands-Resources theory and the literature on employees with autism in the workplace. Firstly, we argue that although the resources and demands of the neurotypical and neurodivergent employees might be different, the theoretical mechanism of occupational burnout formation remains similar among the neurotypical and neurodivergent employees, leading to the similar burnout experience. Next, we distinguish key demands that might drain neurodiverse employees' energy, and spark burnout, and propose a set of resources that might foster their achievement of work goals and mitigate demanding working conditions. We emphasise that the nature of job demands/resources that may cause burnout is not universal but might depend on how employees evaluate them, thus neurotypical and neurodiverse workers who evaluate the same work characteristics differently might complement each other, increasing organisational diversity without losing productivity. Our conceptual elaboration contributes to the theory and practice of healthier workplaces by providing tools and inspiration to managers, policymakers, and all stakeholders interested in creating a diverse and productive workplace. Moreover, our work might spark a much needed debate on occupational burnout among employees with autism and encourage conducting further empirical studies.

One, two or three dimensions of work engagement? Testing the factorial validity of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale on a sample of Polish employees.

Work engagement, as conceptualized by the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), is a work-related positive state of mind that is characterized by vigour, dedication and absorption; however, it still remains unclear how many dimensions work engagement comprises. This study tested the factorial validity of 11 different UWES factorial models that are available in the literature using a confirmatory factor analysis approach on a large sample of multi-occupational Polish employees (N = 1420). The two-factor UWES-6, comprising vigour and dedication, was found to be reliable and remained invariant across samples drawn from four different organizational positions. It also presented a better fit than the three-factor UWES-9, which is a scale used as a standard in contemporary research on work engagement. The findings suggest that the three-factor UWES-9 might not be an optimal measure of work engagement in Poland.

All employees need job resources ­ Testing the Job Demands­Resources Theory among employees with either high or low working memory and fluid intelligence

BACKGROUND: The Job Demands­Resources Theory (JD-R) is one of the most influential theoretical frameworks for explaining work engagement. The JD-R postulates the existence of a health impairment process in which job demands lead to strain, and of a motivational process in which job resources lead to work engagement. Although cognitive functions are among the most important characteristics of employees related to job, still little is known about its moderating role in JD-R processes; hence in this study we make a novel attempt to test the invariance of JD-R propositions among employees at different levels of cognitive functioning. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A group of 383 multioccupational employees completed a set of questionnaires measuring job resource: co-worker support, supervisor support, performance feedback; job demands: emotional demands, occupational constraints, work-home interferences; Utrecht Work Engagement Scale; Oldenburg Burnout Inventory along with 2 working memory and 3 fluid intelligence tests. RESULTS: The multigroup invariance analysis with latent variables revealed that both the health impairment process and the motivational process as postulated by JD-R are invariant across groups of employees with either high or low levels of fluid intelligence and working memory capacity. CONCLUSIONS: This result provides the first piece of evidence for JD-R robustness among employees at different levels of cognitive functioning. Our findings counterintuitively suggest that employees with high cognitive functioning are not more resistant to job demands than employees with low cognitive functioning and that in order to be work-engaged they need job resources, no less than their colleagues with low cognitive functioning. Med Pr 2018;69(5):483­496

Do we all agree on how to measure work engagement? Factorial validity of Utrecht Work Engagement Scale as a standard measurement tool - A literature review.

Work engagement as a predictor of health is an emerging concept in occupational science and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) is the most popular work engagement measurement tool. However, despite its popularity, the UWES is not free from controversy concerning its factorial validity. In this paper, 21 research studies on both UWES-9 and UWES-17 factorial validity within the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) approach have been reviewed in order to answer the question as to which of the UWES factorial structures displays greater validity. The originally proposed threefactor structure of the UWES has been recognized as superior in 6 studies. In further 6 studies, the UWES structure with 1 general factor has been found to be superior. In 8 studies, the authors have concluded that the one- and three-factor structures could be considered equivalent. One study has failed to confirm either the one- or three-factor structure of the UWES. These ambiguous results from studies focusing on the UWES factorial validity are puzzling because they not only indicate a lack of validity for the UWES as a measurement tool but might also challenge the whole concept of work engagement as a three-factor structure of dedication, vigor and absorption. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(2):161-175.