Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES)

Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) is a nine-item questionnaire that assesses the level of energy and psychological resilience at work, as well as feelings of importance, inspiration, pride, demandingness and concentration at work. These are consistent with three dimensions of work commitment: vigor (items 1, 2, 5), dedication (items 3, 4, 7) and absorption (items 6, 8, 9).

Length of filling

Filling out the entire questionnaire will take approximately 5 minutes.

Individualized feedback for the respondent

The respondent learns about himself to what extent he is engaged in his work.

Keywords

Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, UWES, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, engagement, vigor, dedication, absorption, work

Scoring and interpretation

It is possible to calculate the total score for each dimension separately by adding the items of the given dimension and dividing by the number of these items, or the total score for the entire scale using a similar procedure. It therefore ranges from 0-6, with a higher score indicating a higher level of work engagement.

Response scale

The respondent evaluates individual statements on a Likert scale, which reflects how often a person experiences these feelings at work: 0=never; 1=almost never/a few times a year or less; 2=rarely/once a month or less; 3=sometimes/several times a month; 4=often/once a week; 5=very often/several times a week; 6=always/daily.

References

Domínguez-Salas, S., Rodríguez-Domínguez, C., Arcos-Romero, A. I., Allande-Cussó, R., García-Iglesias, J. J., & Gómez-Salgado, J. (2022). Psychometric Properties of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9) in a Sample of Active Health Care Professionals in Spain. Psychology research and behavior management, 15, 3461–3472. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S387242

Mills, M. J., Culbertson, S. S., & Fullagar, C. J. (2012). Conceptualizing and measuring engagement: An analysis of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. Journal of Happiness Studies: An Interdisciplinary Forum on Subjective Well-Being, 13(3), 519–545. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-011-9277-3

Schaufeli, W. and Bakker, A. (2004) UWES Utrecht Work Engagement Scale Preliminary Manual. Occupational Health Psychology Unit Utrecht University, Utrecht. https://www.wilmarschaufeli.nl/publications/Schaufeli/Test%20Manuals/Test_manual_UWES_English.pdf

Schaufeli, W. B., Bakker, A. B., & Salanova, M. (2006). The Measurement of Work Engagement With a Short Questionnaire: A Cross-National Study. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66(4), 701–716. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164405282471