Empowerment, stress and satisfaction: an exploratory study of a call centre

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between stress, satisfaction and the four dimensions of psychological empowerment (meaning, impact, self‐determination and competence) within a call centre. The occupational stress indicator and Spreitzer’s empowerment measure were used to collect data from a north west (UK) call centre (n=49). The study found the call centre agents were more stressed, less satisfied and reported poorer mental and physical health than the general working population. In addition the sample perceived themselves as less empowered than other workers in a traditional office environment. The empowerment dimensions of meaning, impact and particularly self‐determination, seem to directly influence job satisfaction, but not health.