Attribution style and self-esteem as correlates of work engagement of librarians in university libraries in South-East, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined attribution style and self-esteem as correlates of work engagement among librarians in federal university libraries in South-East, Nigeria. Three research questions guided the study and three hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance. A correlational research design was adopted for the study. The population consisted all 154 librarians in federal university libraries in South-East, Nigeria. Due to the manageable size of the population, census sampling technique was adopted, which involved studying the entire population. Data were collected using three instruments: the “Librarians’ Attribution Style Scale (LASS)”, “Librarians’ Self-Esteem Scale (LSES)’, and “Librarians’ Work Engagement Scale (LWES)”. The instruments were validated by three experts from the Faculty of Education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. Their reliability was determined using the Cronbach’s alpha method, yielding coefficients of 0.73 for LASS, 0.80 for LSES, and 0.78 for LWES. Data collected were analyzed using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and regression analysis. The findings revealed a low positive but insignificant relationship between attribution style and the work engagement of librarians. However, a high positive and significant relationship was found between self-esteem and the work engagement of librarians. Based on the findings, it was recommended, among others, that Library administrators should endeavour to provide orientation and competency-building programmes to boost librarians’ engagement independent of their attributions.