ARE GOOD MORALS OFTEN RECIPROCATED? PERCEPTIONS OF ORGANIZATIONAL VIRTUOUSNESS AND OPTIMISM AS PREDICTORS OF WORK ENGAGEMENT

The study employed the cross-sectional survey design to examine whether perceptions of organizational virtuousness and optimism could predict work engagement among bank workers in Nsukka and Enugu capital city, southeastern Nigeria. A total number of 222 employees (127 males and 95 females) randomly sampled from 12 commercial banks completed measures of organizational virtuousness, optimism and work engagement. Employees’ immediate supervisors provided additional report on their subordinates’ level of work engagement. As expected, the results of the hierarchical regression analyses showed that both perceptions of organizational virtuousness and optimism significantly predicted work engagement. Findings have been discussed in the light of typical Nigeria work organizations, wherein it is recommended that practitioners should consider organizational virtuousness and optimism as two critical factors that could spell success to organizations.