HR & organizational behavior
Psychological empowerment scale: how to measure
- Concept
- Psychological Empowerment
- Field
- HR & organizational behavior
- Scales in the library
- 4
- Items
- 12
Spreitzer (1995) defines psychological empowerment as intrinsic motivation expressed through four cognitions about work: meaning, competence, self-determination and impact. Unlike structural empowerment (delegation, decentralization), this concept measures the employee's own perceptions. In Vietnam, psychological empowerment often appears in studies of empowering leadership, satisfaction, engagement, job performance and employee innovative behavior.
Comparing the scales
| Scale | Author (year) | Items | Response format | When to use it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meaning (ME) Psychological empowerment scale | Spreitzer (1995) | 3 | Likert 7-point | Meaning: work that matters to oneself (3 items). |
| Competence (CO) Psychological empowerment scale | Spreitzer (1995) | 3 | Likert 7-point | Competence: confidence in doing the job well (3 items). |
| Self-determination (SD) Psychological empowerment scale | Spreitzer (1995) | 3 | Likert 7-point | Self-determination: autonomy in how to work (3 items). |
| Impact (IM) Psychological empowerment scale | Spreitzer (1995) | 3 | Likert 7-point | Impact: influence on the department's outcomes (3 items). |
Items of each scale
Original English wording from the published source. Replace placeholders such as [system] or
[brand] with what your study is about, and pilot the questionnaire with 20 to 30 respondents first.
Meaning (ME) · Psychological empowerment scale
| Code | Item |
|---|---|
| ME1 | The work I do is very important to me. |
| ME2 | My job activities are personally meaningful to me. |
| ME3 | The work I do is meaningful to me. |
Source: Spreitzer (1995). Response scale, licence and APA reference: Psychological empowerment scale.
Competence (CO) · Psychological empowerment scale
| Code | Item |
|---|---|
| CO1 | I am confident about my ability to do my job. |
| CO2 | I am self-assured about my capabilities to perform my work activities. |
| CO3 | I have mastered the skills necessary for my job. |
Source: Spreitzer (1995). Response scale, licence and APA reference: Psychological empowerment scale.
Self-determination (SD) · Psychological empowerment scale
| Code | Item |
|---|---|
| SD1 | I have significant autonomy in determining how I do my job. |
| SD2 | I can decide on my own how to go about doing my work. |
| SD3 | I have considerable opportunity for independence and freedom in how I do my job. |
Source: Spreitzer (1995). Response scale, licence and APA reference: Psychological empowerment scale.
Impact (IM) · Psychological empowerment scale
| Code | Item |
|---|---|
| IM1 | My impact on what happens in my department is large. |
| IM2 | I have a great deal of control over what happens in my department. |
| IM3 | I have significant influence over what happens in my department. |
Source: Spreitzer (1995). Response scale, licence and APA reference: Psychological empowerment scale.
Tips
- You can model it as a second-order construct with 4 components; in PLS-SEM, specify the higher-order model and explain how you did it.
- Each component has only 3 items, so check loadings carefully; dropping an item leaves the component with 2 items.
- Distinguish psychological empowerment (employee perception) from empowering leadership (supervisor behavior).
- The original scale uses 7 points.
Once you have a scale, put the concept in the research model drawer to state your hypotheses, work out the minimum sample size, and after data collection check reliability with the Cronbach's alpha calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How many components does psychological empowerment have?
Four: meaning, competence, self-determination and impact, each with 3 items in Spreitzer's (1995) scale.
Should I treat psychological empowerment as one variable or four?
It depends on your hypotheses. If they concern empowerment in general, use a second-order construct; if you want to know which component has the stronger effect, keep the four variables separate.
How does psychological empowerment differ from work motivation?
Psychological empowerment is a form of intrinsic motivation tied to four specific cognitions about work; work motivation is a broader concept that also includes extrinsic motivation such as pay and rewards.
References
- Spreitzer, G. M. (1995). Psychological empowerment in the workplace: Dimensions, measurement, and validation. Academy of Management Journal, 38(5), 1442–1465. https://doi.org/10.2307/256865