Conscientiousness, Public Service Motivation, Resilience, and Work Engagement among Volunteers in Lebanon

Psychiatr Q. 2025 Jan 31. doi: 10.1007/s11126-025-10115-z. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

We conducted a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study using an online survey to explore the personality traits of volunteers in Lebanon and examine their relationship with work engagement, psychological status, resilience, and public service motivation. A total of 270 volunteers were recruited through social media platforms. The survey included general questions about volunteering, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-9 items (UWES-9), the Big Five Personality Inventory-10 (BFPI-10), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), the Public Service Motivation (PSM), and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-2 (CD-RISC2). The results revealed that agreeableness and conscientiousness levels were significantly lower among volunteers with low work engagement compared to those with high work engagement. Work engagement was positively correlated with agreeableness and conscientiousness and negatively correlated with neuroticism. Logistic regression showed that being single with a low level of conscientiousness, public service motivation, and resilience predicted low work engagement. Mediation analysis showed that conscientiousness, public service motivation, and resilience directly influenced work engagement, and depression mediated the relationship of conscientiousness and resilience with work engagement. This study highlights the importance of personality traits, mental health, and motivation in understanding work engagement among volunteers, which can help in designing strategies to enhance volunteers’ experiences, well-being, and productivity.

PMID:39888530 | DOI:10.1007/s11126-025-10115-z