Unpacking the role of job satisfaction in the psychological capital-work engagement link: evidence from ugandan public universities

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore how job satisfaction acts as a mediator in the relationship between work engagement and psychological capital. The research adopted a cross-sectional design to gather data from teaching staff at public universities in Uganda, using self-report questionnaires. A total of 270 responses were analysed through structural equation modelling to test the proposed relationships. The results indicate that psychological capital directly influences both job satisfaction and work engagement. Additionally, job satisfaction mediates the relationship between psychological capital and work engagement. These findings may assist management and policymakers in designing, adopting, and implementing strategies to enhance psychological capital, such as flexible work programmes, to boost work engagement. This research contributes to the literature on work engagement by identifying job satisfaction as an additional mediator between psychological capital and work engagement.