Evaluation of Nurses’ Job Engagement as an Outcome of Experienced Compassion in the Workplace, Using the Lens of Affective Event Theory

Abstract

This study examined an integrated model encompassing supervisor undermining, experienced compassion, state optimism, regulatory emotional self-efficacy, and job engagement using the affective event theory. We tested the propensity toward supervisor undermining as an environmental factor to trigger a compassionate response in the workplace, viewing the resulting effects of compassion as a form of job engagement. We also examined the mediating role of state optimism in the relationship between experienced compassion and job engagement, and the moderating role of regulatory emotional self-efficacy between experienced compassion and state optimism. We collected data in four-time lags from 406 nurses in public sector hospitals in Pakistan. The findings indicate that supervisor undermining triggers compassionate responses in the workplace. Furthermore, the results show that experienced compassion in the workplace increases job engagement, which is mediated through state optimism. Regulatory emotional self-efficacy moderated the relationship between experienced compassion and state optimism. Implications and future directions are highlighted.