Understanding how perceived support dimensions and autonomy affect work engagement and organization engagement differently

This article explores the underlying mechanisms affecting two distinct states of employee engagement: work engagement and organization engagement. Integrating Self-Determination Theory with the Job Demands–Resources model, the research model examines how four dimensions of perceived support—organizational, managerial, social, and professional—impact these two states of engagement, with autonomy acting as a mediating factor. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was conducted in three chronological waves with the participation of 352 employees from various Israeli private and public sector organizations, leading to a mediation model analysis within a structural equation modeling framework. The findings indicate that greater satisfaction with autonomy is linked to higher work engagement, but not to overall organization engagement. Additionally, of the four dimensions of perceived support, only organizational, managerial, and social actually support enhanced work engagement through the mediation of an individual's autonomy. Autonomy, however, was not found to mediate the effects on organization engagement. By adopting a multi-focus perspective on employee engagement, this article suggests that differentiating work engagement from organization engagement is essential to identifying the distinct psychological–motivational mechanisms underlying each construct. Understanding which job resources enhance each state of engagement is valuable for contemporary management research and practice, as it helps determine effective interventions.