Scale library · HRM & organizational behavior
Work engagement (UWES-9): Schaufeli et al. (2006)
The UWES measures work engagement, a positive state with three aspects: vigor, dedication and absorption. Schaufeli and Bakker built a 17-item version, which Schaufeli, Bakker and Salanova (2006) shortened to 9 items, 3 per aspect, validated with data from 10 countries. The short version is popular in employee surveys and suits theses on leadership, job resources, burnout and the performance of healthcare workers, teachers and bank staff.
Cite the original, not the blog.
- Model or scale: UWES-9
- Constructs: 3
- Items: 9
Original English items
Items marked (R) are reverse-coded: recode them before computing reliability or scale scores. Replace bracketed placeholders such as [system] with the name of the system, brand or organization you study.
Vigor (VI, 3 items)
| Code | Item wording | Reverse-coded |
|---|---|---|
| VI1 | At my work, I feel bursting with energy. | No |
| VI2 | At my job, I feel strong and vigorous. | No |
| VI3 | When I get up in the morning, I feel like going to work. | No |
Dedication (DE, 3 items)
| Code | Item wording | Reverse-coded |
|---|---|---|
| DE1 | I am enthusiastic about my job. | No |
| DE2 | My job inspires me. | No |
| DE3 | I am proud of the work that I do. | No |
Absorption (AB, 3 items)
| Code | Item wording | Reverse-coded |
|---|---|---|
| AB1 | I feel happy when I am working intensely. | No |
| AB2 | I am immersed in my work. | No |
| AB3 | I get carried away when I'm working. | No |
Response scale
7-point frequency scale from 0 to 6: 0 = Never, 1 = Almost never (a few times a year or less), 2 = Rarely (once a month or less), 3 = Sometimes (a few times a month), 4 = Often (once a week), 5 = Very often (a few times a week), 6 = Always (every day). Each aspect score is the mean of its 3 items.
Licence and permission
According to Wilmar Schaufeli's website, the UWES is free for non-commercial academic use (dissertations, scientific articles); other uses require a contract with the author. Users agree to share part of their data (raw scores, age, gender, occupation) with the author for validation purposes.
Sources (APA 7)
- Jurek, P., Lac, A.-N. T., Le, B.-T. N., Olech, M., & Różycka-Tran, J. (2026). Uncovering latent profiles of multidimensional work attitudes: Cross-cultural evidence from Poland and Vietnam. Frontiers in Psychology, 17, 1749901. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1749901
- Sasaki, N., Imamura, K., Tran, T. T. T., Nguyen, H. T., Kuribayashi, K., Sakuraya, A., Bui, T. M., Nguyen, Q. T., Nguyen, N. T., Nguyen, G. T. H., Zhang, M. W., Minas, H., Sekiya, Y., Watanabe, K., Tsutsumi, A., Shimazu, A., & Kawakami, N. (2021). Effects of smartphone-based stress management on improving work engagement among nurses in Vietnam: Secondary analysis of a three-arm randomized controlled trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(2), e20445. https://doi.org/10.2196/20445
- Schaufeli, W. B., Bakker, A. B., & Salanova, M. (2006). The measurement of work engagement with a short questionnaire: A cross-national study. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66(4), 701–716. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164405282471
- Schaufeli, W., & Bakker, A. (2004). Utrecht Work Engagement Scale: Preliminary manual (Version 1.1). Occupational Health Psychology Unit, Utrecht University.
- Tran, T. T. T., Watanabe, K., Imamura, K., Nguyen, H. T., Sasaki, N., Kuribayashi, K., Sakuraya, A., Nguyen, N. T., Bui, T. M., Nguyen, Q. T., Truong, T. Q., Nguyen, G. T. H., Minas, H., Tsustumi, A., Shimazu, A., & Kawakami, N. (2020). Reliability and validity of the Vietnamese version of the 9-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. Journal of Occupational Health, 62(1), e12157. https://doi.org/10.1002/1348-9585.12157
- Tran, V. D., Le, M. T. L., Nguyen, T. H., Nguyen, P. N. T., Tran, M. V., & Nguyen, H. T. (2026). Authentic leadership and organizational citizenship behavior: The mediating role of work engagement in a Confucian cultural context. Frontiers in Psychology, 17, 1901087. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1901087
Vietnamese translation
A Vietnamese translation of every item, with sample-size advice and studies that used the scale, is on the Vietnamese page for this scale.