Table 1_Appreciation should be EA-SI—demystifying the definition and operationalization of experienced appreciation at work by developing a new construct.pdf

In this article, we developed the new construct, Experienced Appreciation in Social Interactions (EA-SI), to reduce the inconsistency in defining and measuring experienced appreciation at work. The integrative theoretical model is based on the well-validated Stress as Offense to Self-theory. To operationalize the construct, we validated the EA-SI Work Scale in two independent German samples of employees. Colleagues and supervisors were investigated as potential sources of experienced appreciation. Study One included N = 231 participants. Study Two encompassed N = 391. In both studies, we applied a cross-sectional field-study design based on self-reported surveys. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the construct EA-SI turned out to be unidimensional. The Pearson product-moment correlations showed that the more employees felt appreciated, the higher their self-esteem and the lower their stress perception. The premises of the theoretical foundation were replicable. Higher experienced appreciation was related to more work satisfaction, life satisfaction, and work engagement, as well as lower emotional exhaustion. These relations were true for both groups of appreciators. When tested in hierarchical regressions, EA-SI added incremental prediction beyond the influence of social support in most of the analyses. The instrument's internal consistency and retest reliability were good to excellent. The results indicated the EA-SI Work Scale to be content, construct, and criterion valid. Based on these findings, the strengths and limitations of the article and possible implications for future research and practical use are discussed.本研究构建了全新构念——社交互动中的体验式感激（Experienced Appreciation in Social Interactions, EA-SI），以解决职场中体验式感激的定义与测量不一致问题。本整合性理论模型基于已得到充分验证的自我受冒犯压力理论（Stress as Offense to Self-theory）。为实现该构念的操作化，我们在两个独立的德国员工样本中对EA-SI工作量表开展了效度检验。研究将同事与上级作为体验式感激的潜在来源进行考察。研究一共纳入231名被试，研究二共纳入391名被试。两项研究均采用基于自我报告问卷的横断面实地研究设计。通过探索性与验证性因素分析，结果显示EA-SI构念为单维结构。皮尔逊积矩相关分析结果表明，员工感知到的感激程度越高，其自尊水平越高，压力感知越低。理论基础的预设得到了重复验证：更高的体验式感激与更高的工作满意度、生活满意度及工作投入度呈正相关，与更低的情绪衰竭程度呈负相关，且这一关系在两类感激来源群体中均成立。经层级回归分析检验发现，在多数分析中，EA-SI在社会支持的影响之外仍具备增量预测效力。该量表的内部一致性与重测信度均达到良好至优秀水平。研究结果表明，EA-SI工作量表具备良好的内容效度、结构效度与效标效度。基于上述发现，本文讨论了本研究的优势与局限，并展望了未来研究方向与实际应用的潜在启示。