Directionality of the associations between psychological empowerment and behavioural involvement: A longitudinal autoregressive cross‐lagged analysis

Many cross‐sectional studies have suggested that psychological empowerment ( PE ) – a higher‐order motivational construct – is related to employees' in‐role and extra‐role behavioural involvement ( BI ). The objective of this study was to assess the directionality of the longitudinal relationships between PE and employees' BI . Based on theories, three alternative causal directions are examined: two unidirectional models ( PE → BI , BI → PE ) and one reciprocal model including effects in both directions. A total of 818 health care workers completed self‐report questionnaires at three time points, equally spaced by a 1‐year lag. The results from autoregressive cross‐lagged fully latent structural equation models showed that on the construct level, PE significantly predicts subsequent BI , while the reverse causality was not supported. However, the exploration of relationships at the dimension level of PE suggests the existence of reverse and reciprocal relationship between some PE and BI dimensions. Consistent with previous longitudinal studies, levels of PE especially, but also BI , appeared to be very stable over time. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Practitioner points Psychological empowerment – as a global motivational state where all dimensions are present (meaning, competence, self‐determination, and impact) – appears to be a useful lever for lasting and pervasive effects on behavioural involvement. Organizational interventions could therefore prioritize the development of these critical cognitions to empower employees to subsequently perform in‐role and extra‐role behaviours. Encouraging behavioural involvement at the organizational level (e.g., asking an individual to participate and voice on organization issues) could alternatively be the best strategy to increase subsequent level of three PE cognitions (e.g., competence, self‐determination, and impact). The stability of the psychological empowerment and behavioural involvement constructs could indicate the importance of appropriate selection and work environment sustaining employees' empowerment.