Psychological capital and work engagement and the mediating role of work team flow: A survey study among employees from three different continents

The purpose of this paper is to test the association between psychological capital and work engagement, and the potential mediating role of work team flow in this relationship. Unlike previous studies, not only the total core constructs of psychological capital and work engagement are examined, but also the unique relationships between each specific dimension of psychological capital and of work engagement. The study is based on survey data from 217 employees from different organizations in various industries based on multiple continents. Results confirm positive associations between employees’ psychological capital and their work engagement. Moreover, our findings reveal that this association is partly mediated by work team flow. This study contributes to the research on psychological capital and work engagement by unravelling associations between the different dimensions of these constructs. In addition, it extends research on mediators of the relationship between psychological capital and its outcomes, which is still nascent. Finally, it advances the scarce research on work team flow by examining this phenomenon in a real-life organizational setting. The findings illustrate that the outcomes of psychological capital affect multiple organizational levels, and they underline the importance of employees’ psychological capital. This should inspire organizations to provide their employees with opportunities to develop and sustain their level of psychological capital to the maximum.