Too Stressed To Be Engaged? The Role of Basic Needs Satisfaction in Understanding Work Stress and Public Sector Engagement

Abstract

This article explores employee engagement by linking stress, motivation, and employee engagement theory and testing this across 30 countries and eight public sector occupations. First, it is argued that work stress will be negatively related to engagement. Self-determination theory is then used as a basis for exploring the positive link between basic needs satisfaction (BNS) and engagement. It argued that BNS will moderate the relationship between stress and engagement due to the impact that BNS has on coping strategies. These claims are tested using the 2015 wave of the European Working Conditions Survey. Results show stress and engagement are negatively related, whereas BNS and engagement are positively related. Moderation analyses revealed that the detrimental relationship between stress and engagement is lessened for individuals who have strong interpersonal relations at work. This suggests that social relationships play an important role in managing stressful work environments.