Task engagement at work: Characteristics, antecedents and consequences

In this thesis existing theory is extended by combining work engagement and flow research to generate the concept of task engagement, which focuses on episodes of peak performance at work. Using a critical incident methodology in Study 1, task engagement was found to have three key characteristics (i.e., distortion of time; complete absorption in the task; and is a state of high cognitive efficiency). Both situational (i.e., high challenge/high skills, control, and proximal feedback) and psychological antecedents (i.e., safety, availability, meaning and self-efficacy) were also identified. In Study 2, a longitudinal diary study, study 1 findings were replicated and extended by examining duration and frequency of task engagement episodes at work, and their positive impact on employee well-being. Overall, task engagement was found to be a temporal and dynamic construct, involving the interplay of person and situation, which has implications for employee task performance and well-being.