Psychosocial risks and job satisfaction in Argentinian scholars: Exploring the moderating role of work engagement

Abstract

The increasing psychosocial risks imposed on today’s scholars have turned their profession into a highly stressful career path. Drawing on evidence collected in a sample of 177 scholars from an Argentinian public university, this study explores the buffering role of work engagement in the relationship between perceived exposure to six work-related psychosocial risk factors, namely psychological demands, insufficient autonomy, lack of social support and leadership, insufficient esteem, double presence, and job insecurity, and job satisfaction. Hierarchical regression analyses resulted in three out of six possible interaction effects, revealing that work engagement indeed moderates the effects of psychological demands, lack of social support and leadership, and insufficient esteem on scholars’ job satisfaction. We discuss the findings in relation to directions proposed for future research.