Uma proposta de medição de felicidade no trabalho em universidades públicas federais brasileiras

Abstract

The present research aimed to develop a specific measurement scale to assess happiness at work among employees of Brazilian federal public universities, filling a gap in the literature that lacked instruments suited to the particularities of Brazilian Public Administration in the university context. While many studies have focused on the negative aspects of work, there has been a dearth of publications dedicated to evaluating positive aspects such as workplace happiness. To achieve this objective, theoretical analyzes were carried out, resulting in the selection of 72 questions capable of covering multiple levels of assessment, including personal, transitional and organizational levels. These questions were adapted to suit the context of the public sector and the university environment, reformatting them as statements with response options on a Likert scale ranging from 1 to 6 points. After approval by the ethics committee for research involving human beings, a pre-test was carried out to ensure understanding and objectivity of the statements, as well as to evaluate the time required to complete the questionnaire. Subsequently, the questionnaire was applied to the main sample, made up of Administrative and Academic employees from the campuses of the Federal Technological University - Paraná (UTFPR) located in the western region of the state of Paraná, Brazil, on the campuses of Medianeira, Santa Helena and Toledo. In total, 303 participants contributed their data to the study. Data analysis began with the examination of the sociodemographic profile using descriptive statistics. The quantitative data then underwent exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, resulting in the identification of 37 questions grouped into five main factors considered most relevant. These factors were named as follows: 1) relationship with superiors; 2) relationships with colleagues; 3) commitment to work; 4) remuneration; and 5) workload. The indices obtained in these analyzes demonstrated the validity and reliability of the proposed scale. The main results included Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega values for the dimensions, ranging from 0.84 to 0.97, indicating satisfactory internal consistency. The total variance explained was 66%, demonstrating the relevance of the selected factors in evaluating happiness at work. Furthermore, model fit indices, such as the Comparative Fit Index (CFI) of 0.937, the Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) of 0.930 and the Root Mean Square Error of approximation (RMSEA) of 0.058, were also considered satisfactory. In summary, this research successfully achieved its main objective by presenting a proposal for a final model of a scale to measure happiness at work adapted specifically for employees of Brazilian federal public universities. Furthermore, it provided additional insights into the level of happiness of employees on UTFPR campuses in the Western region of Paraná. The findings have significant implications for understanding happiness at work in the context of Public Administration and can inform more effective human resource management practices in federal higher education institutions.