Actitudes y engagement en el trabajo como antecedentes del comportamiento altruista.

Given the acknowledgment of the benefits of altruistic behavior for employees and organizations, an understanding of the factors that encourage this type of behavior is needed. This paper pursues two objectives: a) to analyze the relationships between overall job satisfaction and affective commitment with altruistic behavior and b) to explore whether work engagement increases the explained variance in altruism beyond such attitudes. To fulfill these objectives, cross-sectional research was conducted on a sample of 472 employees from 25 Spanish public higher education centers. The hypotheses were tested through hierarchical regression analysis. Results indicate that a higher level of affective commitment, particularly of work engagement, is associated with an increase in altruistic behavior. Especially relevant is the contribution of work engagement to explaining incremental variance in altruistic behavior beyond commitment. To reinforce this type of discretionary behavior, management should implement interventions that encourage both a greater connection of the employees with their job roles and a greater commitment to the organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]