Psychological empowerment as a multidimensional construct: A test of construct validity

The construct validity of scores on Spreitzer's Psychological Empowerment s cale was examined. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of data from a sample of 160 nurses showed substantial support for Spreitzer's four empowerment dimensions: meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact. In contras t to Spreitzer's findings, the results of this study indicated that self-de termination is a precursor of impact. This finding was cross-validated with data from a subset of the same sample 1 year later, after implementation o f a job redesign program. In addition, results from structural equation mod eling (SEM) demonstrated job characteristics to relate differentially to th e empowerment dimensions, providing evidence for both convergent and discri minant validity of scores on the four empowerment dimensions. Finally, this study found that the four empowerment dimensions differentially related to organizational commitment and career intentions, providing evidence for th e predictive validity of the Empowerment scale scores.