Perceptions Of Psychological Empowerment Research Articles

The effect of practice environments and psychological empowerment perceptions of nurses on their care behaviours: A cross-sectional study.

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of professional and individual characteristics, practice environments and psychological empowerment perceptions of nurses on their care behaviours. The study used a cross-sectional research design following the STROBE guidelines. The sample of this descriptive and correlational study consisted of 584 nurses working in a university hospital in Turkey. The data were collected between January and June 2023 using the Nursing Information Form, the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI), the Psychological Empowerment Scale (PES), and the Caring Behaviours Scale-30, and analysed using descriptive statistics, Spearman's correlation and multiple linear regression. It was determined that PES-NWI, PES andCaring Behaviours Scale(CBI-30) scores of nurses were higher than the average. The study revealed that certain professional and individual characteristics of nurses, practice environments and psychological empowerment perceptions had an effect on their care behaviours. The results of the study showed that nurses' PES-NWI, PES and CBI-30 scores were higher than the average, and that certain professional and individual characteristics of nurses, practice environments and psychological empowerment perceptions had an effect on care behaviours. Nursing service managers, in particular, are required to understand the importance of this relationship and create appropriate working conditions which are integrated with psychological empowerment to improve caring behaviours of nurses.

The Effect of Psychological Empowerment on Job Satisfaction: Regulatory role of generations X and Y

The objective of this study is to determine the moderator role of generation gap in the effect of psychological empowerment perception on job satisfaction. The population (N: 200) and sample (n=136) of the study consists of health professionals working in the Karaman Provincial Health Directorate, Türkiye. In the research data were collected with a questionnaire technique and the hypotheses were tested through the SPSS Macro Process program. The significance of the regulatory role (statistically) was calculated by the bootstrap test. As a result of the analyzes made, it was found that the moderator effect of psychological empowerment perception on job satisfaction differed between the X and Y generations. While the effect of the psychological empowerment perceptions of the X Generation employees on job satisfaction did not show a statistically significant difference, this effect was found to be statistically significant in the Y Generation employees. It has been found that generations have a moderator effect on the effect of psychological empowerment perceptions of health workers on job satisfaction (X and Y).

The Effect of Resonant Leadership on the Perception of Psychological Empowerment: A Study on Airline Employees

Sivil havacılık gibi rekabetin yoğun yaşandığı, çevresel ve teknolojik değişimlerin hızlı görüldüğü sektörlerde nitelikli çalışanları elde tutmak, örgütler açısından oldukça önemlidir. Çalışanların işteki başarısı ve örgüte olan katkısı, örgütün performans ve verimliliğine de katkı sağlamaktadır. Bu da örgüt açısından rekabet avantajı yaratmaktadır. Dolayısıyla çalışanların liderleri tarafından psikolojik olarak güçlendirilmeleri, çalışanların örgütsel katkısını arttıran bir unsurdur. Bu durum, çalışanların fikir ve eleştirilerini rahatlıkla söyleyebilmeleri, yaptıkları işle ilgili kontrol sahibi olmaları, özgür, bağımsız ve özerk davranabilmeleri ile mümkündür. Aynı zamanda baskıcı olmayan, çalışanlarını kararlara dahil eden ve çalışanlarına ilham veren resonant liderlik tarzı, çalışanların işlerini benimsemelerine yol açmaktadır. Bu çalışmada resonant liderliğin havayolu çalışanlarının psikolojik güçlendirme algısı üzerindeki etkisi incelenmiştir. Elde edilen veriler yapısal eşitlik modellemesi ile test edilmiştir. Yapısal eşitlik modellemesi sonucuna göre resonant liderlik ile psikolojik güçlendirme arasında pozitif yönde ve anlamlı bir ilişki olduğu görülmüştür. Sonuç olarak araştırmaya dahil olan havayolu çalışanlarının bağlı bulundukları yöneticilerinin resonant liderlik özelliklerinin, bu çalışanların psikolojik güçlendirme algılarında olumlu artışa yol açtığı söylenebilir.

The Relationship Between Supportive Behaviors of School Administrators and Psychological Empowerment According to Teacher Perceptions

This study aims to determine the relationship between school administrators' supportive behaviours and psychological empowerment according to teacher perceptions, relational survey model as a quantitative research method was used. The population of the study consisted of 400 teachers working at primary schools in central Bolu, Turkey in the 2020-2021 academic year. As data collection instruments, Administrator Support Scale (PSS) and Psychological Empowerment Scale (PES) were used. Since the data showed normal distribution, parametric tests were employed in the analysis of the data. According to the results of the study, the fact that the teachers' perceptions of the supportive behaviors of the school administrators in terms of emotional and educational support are at the level of slightly agree shows that school administrators are inadequate at supporting teachers emotionally and educationally. Since the school administrators who should be the closest source of information in the professional development of the teachers have supervision and guidance duties, it should be taken into consideration that they are incapable of supporting the teachers in educational sense. That the teachers’ perceptions of psychological empowerment in the dimension of self-determination are at the moderate level is also a striking result. There is a positive and highly significant relationship between the supportive behaviours of school administrators and teachers' perceptions of psychological empowerment. Supportive behaviors of school administrators are a significant predictor of teachers' perceptions of psychological empowerment

High performance work systems and employee mental health: The roles of psychological empowerment, work role overload, and organizational identification

AbstractEmployee mental health is a central issue in today's global workplace. This paper analyzes the effect of high performance work systems (HPWSs) on employee mental health. We integrate HPWS concepts with job demands‐resources (JD‐R) theory to examine competing theoretical perspectives—a positive HPWS influence and a negative HPWS influence on employee mental health. We examine employees' perceptions of psychological empowerment as an indicator of the motivational pathway of the JD‐R and work‐role overload as an indicator of the strain pathway to explain the differential effect of HPWSs on mental health. We also incorporate organizational identification theory to demonstrate how one's identification with the organization can either accentuate or attenuate feelings of both psychological empowerment and work‐role overload. Findings from a study of 999 employees in 174 South Korean organizations indicate that HPWSs are positively associated with employee mental health via employee perceptions of empowerment and that HPWSs are negatively associated with employee mental health through perceptions of work‐role overload. Furthermore, the study finds that organizational identification attenuates the relationship between HPWS and both empowerment and overload. Practice‐level post hoc analyses also reveal that the job design characteristics, pay level, and participative decision‐making are linked to empowerment. In addition, participative decision‐making is most strongly associated with work overload.

The Prediction Level of Teachers' Perceptions of Psychological Empowerment on Job Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

The purpose of this study is to determine the prediction level of teachers' psychological empowerment perceptions on their job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviors. The research is designed in the relational survey model. 400 teachers working in primary schools in Bolu, Turkey participated in the study and out of 356 teachers participating in the study voluntarily, 314 scales were delivered back and evaluated. Psychological Empowerment Scale, Job Satisfaction Scale and Organizational Citizenship Scale were used as data collection instruments. The findings indicated that teachers’ perceptions of psychological empowerment were moderate in self-determination, and high in other dimensions and the whole scale. The moderate level of teachers’ perceptions of job satisfaction and organizational citizenship is a striking and concerning result. When teachers do not have high level of job satisfaction, their performance will decrease, and it will be difficult for these teachers to exhibit organizational citizenship behavior. In the study, that the teachers’ perceptions of psychological empowerment affect both job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviors necessitates the importance of psychological empowerment in increasing teachers' job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviors. In this sense, it is an important finding that teachers’ job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviors will be increased by means of them having self- determination over their work, increasing their competence, making them influential by allowing to think, talk about and intervene the incidents that occur in the school, and ensuring their participation in work-related decisions. The finding indicating that teachers’ perceptions of psychological empowerment play an important role in increasing their job satisfaction and organizational citizenshipBehavior reveals the authenticity of the research.

Gender Perceptions of Psychological Empowerment in The Workplace: A Comparative Analysis from Two Cultures

This study investigates how female and male workers perceive feelings of Psychological Empowerment (PE), using respondents from two different countries with dissimilar cultural power dynamics. Two hundred ten non-managerial bank workers from Nigeria and the United States were selected for this study. A comparative quantitative method was used for this study. Statistical analyses were performed using both spreadsheets and SPSS. My key research question is designed to determine if there are differences in how female and male employees perceive Psychological Empowerment. Data analysis indicates that in both countries combined, and individually, there is a statistically significant difference in the perception of PE between the female and male respondents. Hence, I propose that the first step toward achieving power equity amongst both genders is to first understand how women and men perceive empowerment at a personal level (Psychological Empowerment).

Psychological empowerment of health professionals

ABSTRACT Objective: To assess whether there are differences in psychological empowerment between different health professionals working in a teaching hospital. Method: A comparative, quantitative, and cross-sectional study carried out with 165 professionals selected at random and who worked in a teaching hospital in the inland of the state of São Paulo. The participants were divided into three groups: 1) nurses, 2) physicians, and 3) other professionals (physiotherapists, psychologists, pharmacists, speech therapists, social workers, and nutritionists). For data collection, a form was used to characterize the sample, as well as the Brazilian version of the Psychological Empowerment Instrument. To compare the scores between the three groups, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used, followed by Dunn' post-test. Results: Nurses, physicians, and other professionals scored 71.4; 69.3, and 71.1 points (p=0.5959), respectively, in the total score of the instrument Conclusion: There are no statistically significant differences in the perception of psychological empowerment of different health professionals. Conclusion: There are no statistically significant differences in the perception of psychological empowerment of different health professionals.

Work Fatigue Profiles: Nature, Implications, and Associations With Psychological Empowerment.

The present study examined the distinct configurations, or profiles, taken by work fatigue dimensions among samples of military (n = 1,436) and civilian (n = 2,477) employees. We also tested profile similarity across these two samples of employees. In addition, this research documented the relations between the identified work fatigue profiles, one predictor variable (psychological empowerment), and a series of attitudinal outcomes (job satisfaction, career satisfaction, and turnover intentions) among military employees. Six profiles of employees characterized by different levels of global and specific (emotional, physical, and mental) work fatigue were identified using latent profile analyses: Low Fatigue, Physically and Emotionally Depleted, Emotionally Depleted, Globally and Mentally Depleted, Globally and Emotionally Depleted, and Balanced. In both samples, employees corresponding to the Balanced profile displayed average levels of global and specific work fatigue. However, this profile slightly differed across sample, as indicated by the observation of work fatigue levels that were slightly higher among the military than among civilians. Militaries’ perceptions of psychological empowerment were significantly related to their likelihood of belonging to all profiles. In turn, militaries’ career satisfaction, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions were also found to differ as a function of profile membership.

Psikolojik Güçlendirme İle Benimsenmiş Ulusal Kültürel Değerler Arasındaki İlişki: İstanbul İlinde Bir Alan Araştırması

Psikolojik güçlendirme anlam, yetenek, otonom ve etki olmak üzere dört boyuttan meydana gelen ve çalışanlara işi sahiplendirme felsefesine dayanan bir kavramdır. Anlam, bireyin kendi işine biçtiği değer; yetenek bireyin o işi yapabilmek için kendi kapasitesine olan inancı; otonom, bireyin yaptığı işte özerk davranabilmesi, kullanacağı yöntem ve teknikleri kendinin seçebilme hissi; etki ise bireyin yaptığı işin genel sonucu etkilediği ve varlığının, bulunduğu işletme için bir önem arz ettiğini hissetmesi olarak açıklanabilmektedir. Benimsenmiş ulusal kültürel değerlerin temel olarak dört alt boyutta toplanan bileşenleri, bireycilik- toplulukçuluk, güç mesafesi, belirsizlikten kaçınma ve erillik-dişilik şeklindedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı İstanbul ilinde bulunan banka çağrı merkezi çalışanlarının psikolojik güçlendirme algıları ile benimsenmiş ulusal kültürel değerleri arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemektedir. Bu amaçla üç kamu bankasından 359 çalışana anket uygulanarak veri toplanmıştır. Veriler, frekans, korelasyon, Kruskal Wallis ve çapraz tablo analizlerine tabi tutulmuştur. Elde edilen bulgulara göre, yetenek seviyesi arttıkça, çalışanların güç mesafesi aralıklarında azalma, belirsizlikten kaçınma seviyelerinde artma, toplulukçuluk anlayışına yatkınlık görülmüştür. Otonom düzeyi arttıkça çalışanların toplulukçuluk eğilimde artış; etki düzeyi arttıkça, belirsizlikten kaçınma eğilimlerinde azalış, güç mesafelerinde artış; yeteneklerinde artış ve daha toplulukçu kültürü benimseme eğiliminde oldukları görülmüştür.

EFFECT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT PERCEPTION ON SYNERGISTIC CLIMATE PERCEPTION IN HEALTH EMPLOYEES

Araştırmada, sağlık çalışanlarında psikolojik güçlendirme algısı ile sinerjik iklim algısı arasındaki ilişki ve psikolojik güçlendirme algısının sinerjik iklim algısına etkisinin belirlenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Araştırma, kamu hastanesinde görev yapan sağlık çalışanları ile yapılmıştır. Veriler anket formu ile toplanmış ve eksiksiz yanıtlanan 227 anket değerlendirmeye alınmıştır. Verilerin analizinde, SPSS for Windows 23.0 paket programı kullanılmıştır. Katılımcıların puanları incelendiğinde, genel psikolojik güçlendirme algısı puanının yüksek (3,842±0,046) ve genel sinerjik iklim algısı puanının orta düzeyde (3,198±0,050) olduğu bulunmuştur. Katılımcıların psikolojik güçlendirme algısı ile sinerjik iklim algısı arasında pozitif yönlü anlamlı bir ilişki saptanmıştır. Araştırmada, katılımcıların psikolojik güçlendirme algısının sinerjik iklim algısını etkilediği belirlenmiştir. Olumlu sinerjik iklim örgütsel başarıyı arttırmaktadır. Dolayısıyla çalışanların psikolojik olarak güçlendirilmesi önemli olmaktadır.

Leader-Member Exchange, Work Engagement, and Psychological Withdrawal Behavior: The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment.

Perceptions of psychological empowerment play a vital role in the way an individual perceives things at the workplace. In spite of this, there is scant research on the antecedents and consequences of psychological empowerment. This study is an attempt to fill this gap by analyzing the mediating role of psychological empowerment on the relationship between its antecedents (leader–member exchange) and its consequences (work engagement and psychological withdrawal behavior). Data were collected from 454 employees working in the Research and Development (R&D) departments of the information technology (IT) and pharmaceutical sectors operating in India. Results suggest that employees who have a high-quality relationship with their leader have high psychological empowerment, they are highly engaged at work, and their psychological withdrawal behavior is also low. In addition to this, high levels of psychological empowerment have a positive impact on their engagement toward work, which further leads to a low psychological withdrawal behavior. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Mentoring strategies and their impact on social workers’ attitudes

Summary This study explored different mentoring strategies: simulations and case studies regarding ethical dilemmas involved with employment of intellectual developmental disability workers in supported employment using questionnaires of psychological empowerment, self-efficacy, and attitudes toward employing intellectual developmental disability workers in the free market. Participants were 83 social workers and 60 employers and were divided into simulations, case studies, and control groups. All participants in the simulations and case studies groups attended nine mentoring sessions throughout one year, where they completed questionnaires at the beginning, the end, and six months after mentoring. Findings The level of employers’ psychological empowerment and their positive attitudes toward employment of individuals with intellectual developmental disability in their organizations were higher than among the social workers, but the social workers’ self-efficacy level was higher. In addition, we found that mentoring using simulations had more influence than the case studies. The study findings showed that the more dynamic the mentoring, the greater the changes in psychological empowerment perceptions, self-efficacy, and attitudes toward employing intellectual developmental disability workers, both during the study and subsequently. Applications There is considerable importance in developing in-service training and active mentoring for all those involved in the challenges of supported employment. Simulations with participation of actors among social workers and employers, regarding ethical challenges in supported employment are the recommended mentoring methods, as compared to the case studies tested in the current study. Therefore, the study findings encourage the development of advanced mentoring processes among social workers and employers based on simulations, for coping with ethical challenges in supported employment.

Effect of Psychological Empowerment on Nurses Burnout

Objective:The health industry needs motivated and satisfied nursing staff to provide quality health services to medical tourists, as well as in other sectors. This study aimed to examine the effects of psychological empowerment on the dimensions of burnout among the Malaysian nursing staff, as well as exploring the role of age, gender, experience, and marital status on the perception of burnout dimensions.Methods:This survey used a sample of 432 nursing staff, using measures of the perception of empowerment and comparing variables with another measure of burnout, collectedviaa self-reported questionnaire. Data were analyzed using PLS-SEM. Moreover, the group analysis in PLS-SEM estimated the differences among the nursing staff’s perception of psychological empowerment on burnout factors.Results:The findings reveal that psychological empowerment reduces the impact of burnout symptoms. Moreover, gender and age are different for depersonalization by the perception of psychological empowerment among the nursing staff in Malaysia. The Malaysian nursing staff’s marital status influences the relationships between psychological empowerment and depersonalization, as well as emotional exhaustion and personal unfulfillment. Moreover, the experience of the nursing staff influences the perception of personal unfulfillment in a significant manner.Conclusion:This study offered important managerial implications, such as considering the nursing staff’s needs according to age, gender, material status, and working experience to address burnout issues of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal unfulfillment. Moreover, it is important to note that the different factors of burnout are perceived differently by the nursing staff based on their attributes. There is a need to utilize the provision of psychological empowerment needs.

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT AND ORGANISATIONAL IDENTIFICATION

Bu çalışmada psikolojik güçlendirme ve örgütsel özdeşleşme ilişkisi bir yerel yönetim birimi çalışanları üzerinde incelenmiştir. Bu çerçevede bu iki kavram arasındaki ilişki Gaziantep Büyükşehir Belediyesi çalışanlarından oluşan 4.458 kişilik evren içerisinden 555 kişilik bir örneklemle anket yapılarak incelenmiştir. Araştırmada tabakalı örnekleme metodu kullanılmıştır. Yapılan analizler sonucunda psikolojik güçlendirmenin örgütsel özdeşleşme üzerinde olumlu etkisi olduğu belirlenmiştir. Ayrıca demografik ve bireysel özellikleri de içeren alt hipotezler ile bağımlı ve bağımsız değişkenler arasında farklı ilişkiler tespit edilmiştir. Bu sonuçlara göre, katılımcıların psikolojik güçlendirme algıları ile eğitim düzeyi arasında anlamlı ve negatif bir ilişki belirlenmiştir. Özdeşleşme algıları ile eğitim durumları arasında anlamlı ve negatif, çalışma süreleri (kıdem) ile anlamlı ve pozitif ilişkiler saptanmıştır. Öte yandan evli katılımcıların özdeşleşme algılarının bekâr olanlara nazaran daha yüksek olduğu saptanmıştır.

Examining the Effect of Teachers’ Perception of Psychological Empowerment on the Stress Level They Perceive

The aim of this study is to find out if there is a correlation and what kind of a correlation there is between how primary, secondary, and high school teachers perceive psychological empowerment provided for them and their perception of stress. The data for this study are based on the opinions of 680 teachers who wereselected by random sampling among the teachers lecturing in the city of Malatya, Turkey,during the 2017-2018 school year. The “Psychological Empowerment Scale” which was developed by Spreitzer (1995) and adapted into Turkish by Gümüşlüoğlu & Karakitapoğlu (2009), and the “Perceived Stress Scale” which was developed by Cohen, Kamarck & Mermelstein (1983), and adapted into Turkish by Eskin & Harlak, Demirkıran & Dereboy (2013) have been employed as data collection tools.After analyzing the data obtained during the study, it has been revealed that the average of all the dimensions on the perceived stress scale corresponds to the ‘moderate’ level, or ‘sometimes’, while the average of all the dimensions on the psychological empowerment scale corresponds to the high level, or ‘very often’. It has been found that there is a significant correlation between the ‘gender’ variable and the ‘self-determination’ dimension. Another significant correlation has been observed between ‘seniority’ variable and ‘competence’ dimension and psychological empowerment ‘in general’. In additionto evaluating the values of the dimension of ‘self-determination’ on the empowerment scale based on the ‘gender’ variable, it has been found that the average of male teachers’ perception is higher than of female teachers’. Finally, it has been concluded that the teachers’ perception of ‘impact’ significantly predicts their perception of ‘insufficient competence’.

Interactive Effects of Multi-Foci Justice Climates on Teams’ Psychological Empowerment

Psychological empowerment refers to the degree in which an employee feels that he controls events in the organization. This construct is studied on a group level as well, as a team members’ common experience. Team empowerment is a multidimensional construct that includes the collective belief about freedom, independence and discretion in decision-making (autonomy), teams’ effectiveness (potency), the importance and value of teams’ work (meaningfulness), and the contribution of the teams’ work to organizational performance (impact). Organizations are interested in empowering individuals and teams because empowerment relates to positive work outcomes. Justice climate, as an important component of the overall experience of the working environment, greatly determines psychological empowerment. The aim of this study is to verify the interactive effects of organizational, supervisory and peer justice climate on teams’ psychological empowerment. We analyzed data collected from 196 work teams from different organizations. Results of polynomial regression combined with response surface methodology show that with the increase of the level of congruence between multi-foci justice climates, teams’ psychological empowerment increases as well. Misalignment between different sources of justice climate, a situation in which one source is fair while the other is unfair, does not affect the team members’ joint perception of psychological empowerment. As long as the team perceives one source of justice as fair, the teams’ psychological empowerment is high, regardless of the injustice of another source. Although the cross- sectional study design does not allow inferring causality, the theoretical implications of the results for the application of the congruence theory in the organizational context in understanding the effects of (mis)alignment between different sources of justice climate, as well as the practical applicability of the results in human resource management, are discussed. Keywords: teams’ psychological empowerment, multi-foci justice climate

Leader Empowering Behaviors and Psychological Empowerment as Perceived by Young Hospital Staff Nurses: A Pilot Study

Introduction: Empowerment has become an important concept in nursing that has gained acknowledgment in theories and practice of leadership and management. A positive organization espouses empowerment to attract and retain employees. While it is not new to nursing, there is little published research on empowerment among nurses in the Philippines. This study aimed to measure young staff nurses’ perception of leader empowering behaviors and psychological empowerment.Methods: This study used a cross-sectional survey design participated by 44 conveniently chosen staff nurses in a private teaching and training hospital in Iloilo City, Philippines. The participants were asked to answer 5-point Likert scale questions utilizing adopted instruments. Descriptive and non-parametric statistical stools were used with Mann-Whitney U test to determine differences and Spearman’s rank correlation to establish relationship between variables.Results: Overall, young staff nurses perceived their leaders’ behaviors to be highly empowering (M=3.89). Staff nurses also had a high level of psychological empowerment (M=4.07). Leader empowering behaviors was significantly related to staff nurses’ perception of psychological empowerment (p=.001). Staff nurses’ level of psychological empowerment were significantly different in terms of employment status (p=.020) and years of work experience (p=.014).Conclusion: This study highlights the positive influence of the empowering behaviors of leaders in enhancing staff nurses’ level of psychological empowerment. It is vital for nurse managers to continually demonstrate leadership behaviors that empower staff nurses at the unit level.

Leader Empowering Behaviors and Psychological Empowerment as Perceived by Young Hospital Staff Nurses: A Pilot Study

Introduction: Empowerment has become an important concept in nursing that has gained acknowledgment in theories and practice of leadership and management. A positive organization espouses empowerment to attract and retain employees. While it is not new to nursing, there is little published research on empowerment among nurses in the Philippines. This study aimed to measure young staff nurses’ perception of leader empowering behaviors and psychological empowerment.Methods: This study used a cross-sectional survey design participated by 44 conveniently chosen staff nurses in a private teaching and training hospital in Iloilo City, Philippines. The participants were asked to answer 5-point Likert scale questions utilizing adopted instruments. Descriptive and non-parametric statistical stools were used with Mann-Whitney U test to determine differences and Spearman’s rank correlation to establish relationship between variables.Results: Overall, young staff nurses perceived their leaders’ behaviors to be highly empowering (M=3.89). Staff nurses also had a high level of psychological empowerment (M=4.07). Leader empowering behaviors was significantly related to staff nurses’ perception of psychological empowerment (p=.001). Staff nurses’ level of psychological empowerment were significantly different in terms of employment status (p=.020) and years of work experience (p=.014).Conclusion: This study highlights the positive influence of the empowering behaviors of leaders in enhancing staff nurses’ level of psychological empowerment. It is vital for nurse managers to continually demonstrate leadership behaviors that empower staff nurses at the unit level.

Work Place Empowerment: An Assessment for the Omani Civil Service Agencies

Human resources are the most valuable assent of any organization. However, in general are the least utilized asset in the organizations. Due to economic constraints, organizations are striving to maximize the utilization of their human resources through empowering of their employees. Through empowerment, an organization allows its employees to take the initiative without compromise, and to serve the whole organizational interest with no detailed supervision. Work place empowerment is a combination of the Social Structure Empowerment (SSE) that provides the fundamental climate of empowerment and PE that is associated with individuals’ cognitive process. This study focus is psychological empowerment (PE) because it has an active role in overall work place empowerment. Even so, there is a tendency to overlook PE by the organizations since it is not part of the formal organizational process of empowerment and only affects the psychological statues of the employees to their work role. SSE, however, is clearly stipulated in the organizational process and employees terms of reference. Finally, the lack of PE studies in Oman called for further investigation on this variable. Based on quantitative methodology, 458 heads of sections of the Oman Civil Service Agencies (OCSA) completed this study survey. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) for Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The overall results indicated that the heads of sections of OCSA have a high level of the overall PE. In the subscales analysis, the results indicated that competence is the highest state of psychological empowerment as perceived by the heads of sections. Meaning is the second most perceived dimension of PE. Self-determination is the third dimensions of psychological empowerment and Impact is the least perceived subscale of psychological empowerment in this study. However, as revealed by this study, and as compared to the previous studies’ findings that, the levels of perception of psychological empowerment by the employee are not equal. Thus, the degree of contribution and influencing of work outcomes is also expected to vary. These results have important theoretical and practical implications for both the researchers and practitioners. For the academic, the results give a picture of the existence of the variables in this area of research. For the practitioners, the results may be used to indicate the areas that require improvement and sustainably by establishing a continuing process of assessment, feedback, and training in their organizations. This study provides recommendations to the Ministry of Civil Services as a practical contribution to the Omani National Plan for the Human Resources Development. The training and employee development plans should focus on employees’ empowerment and particularly PE. The Ministry of Civil Services may utilize this information to establish the ground rules for the training for the OCSA employees.