The moderating role of Self Determination Theory's general causality orientations in the relationship between the job resources and work engagement of outsourcing sector employees

The aim of the study was to investigate the role of general causality orientations in the motivational impact of job resources on work engagement. Drawing on predictions from the Self Determination Theory and the Job Demands-Resources model, we hypothesized that autonomous, controlled and impersonal causality orientations would separately moderate the relationship between job resources and work engagement. The data was obtained from 1,020 outsourcing sector employees working in Poland. The autonomous and impersonal orientations were shown to moderate the relationship between job resources and work engagement; the positive relationship was weaker for both highly autonomy-oriented and highly impersonal-oriented individuals. The interaction between controlled orientation and job resources was insignificant. The study advances the literature and research that investigates the motivational process of the JD-R by taking into account the individual differences perspective.