Integrity as a Personal Resource: The Mediating Role of Work Engagement in the Relationship between Integrity and Job Performance among Malaysian Civil Servants

Enhancing job performance has become an important priority in the Malaysian public service, aimed at strengthening organizational effectiveness. Given the significance of integrity in public service, understanding how integrity contributes to employees’ work engagement and job performance is particularly relevant. This study explores the relationships between integrity, work engagement, and job performance among Malaysian civil servants, using the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory. A quantitative cross-sectional design was utilized, with data gathered through an online questionnaire survey that yielded 406 usable responses from professional and managerial group officers across six federal ministries in Malaysia. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that integrity has a significant positive relationship with both work engagement and job performance, while work engagement is also positively related to job performance. Moreover, work engagement mediates the relationship between integrity and job performance. These results support the concept of integrity as a value-based personal resource within the JD-R theory, demonstrating that integrity affects job performance both directly and indirectly through work engagement. Therefore, this study expands the JD-R resource perspective by integrating an ethical and character-based personal resource within the Malaysian public service context.