PhD defence A.M. (Andrea) Reina Tamayo

Work engagement is a positive state, where one is feeling energetic, enthusiastic, and concentrated towards one's work. This experience is important for organizations, as it has been linked to higher performance, proactivity, and resourcefulness. In this dissertation, I aim to investigate how much does the state of work engagement fluctuate within a working day and what are its more proximal correlates. The findings show that the state of work engagement is quite volatile providing insights into the dynamic nature of work engagement at the momentary level. We found that work engagement can change from one work activity to the next. For example, one can feel highly engaged in a meeting and a couple of hours later less engaged during an administrative task. Our findings also showed that having resources during a work activity, such as feedback, autonomy, or social support can increase one's engagement during that activity.  Additionally, these resources can help employees when they are confronted with challenge and hindrance demands (e.g., an unclear task or a hassle) during the task. Finally, employees also felt they performed well during a work activity when they were more engaged.

The public defence will take place at the Senatehall, 1st floor of the Erasmus Building, Campus Woudestein. The ceremony will begin exactly at 13.30 hrs. In light of the solemn nature of the ceremony, we recommend that you do not take children under the age of 6 to the first part of the ceremony.