Employee Empowerment: An Integrative Psychological Approach

Abstract

An integrative psychological approach to employee empowerment was developed based on the premise that the psychological experience of power underlies feelings of empowerment. This research extends existing perspectives on empowerment by incorporating the empowering effect of valued goals, such as those provided by transformational leadership. Goal internalisation was identified as a major component of the psychological experience of empowerment, in addition to the two traditional facets of perceptions of control over the work environment and perceptions of self‐efficacy or competence. Standard measure development procedures using a sample of employed individuals from Quebec, Canada and subsequent validation with an organisational sample from Ontario, Canada yielded a three‐factor scale of psychological empowerment corresponding to these three dimensions. The implications of defining empowerment as a psychological state and the need for multiple measures of empowerment are also discussed.