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Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES)3

Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) Test

Gauge how engaged someone feels at work in about 4 minutes. In 17 quick items, it pinpoints energy, dedication, and focus so you can target morale and performance wins.

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Questions: 174 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

32,502 views

2,190 completions

1,823 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

4/6

Absorption (A)

Measures how fully a person becomes immersed and focused in their work, including a sense of flow and reduced awareness of time.

Low absorption

Moderate absorption

High absorption

0 – 2: Low absorption | 3 – 4: Moderate absorption | 5 – 6: High absorption

A score of 4 indicates moderate absorption, suggesting they often feel focused and engaged in tasks, though the full flow state may not be consistent.

example score

3/6

Enthusiasm (E)

Measures how strongly a person feels enthusiastic, proud, and psychologically connected to their work.

Low

Moderate

High

0 – 2: Low | 3 – 4: Moderate | 5 – 6: High

A score of 3 suggests a moderate level of enthusiasm, indicating some sense of meaning and pride in the work with room to strengthen commitment and inspiration.

example score

4/6

Vigor (V)

Energy measures how much vigor and mental stamina a person brings to work, including readiness to invest effort and persist under difficulty.

Low energy

Moderate energy

High energy

0 – 2: Low energy | 3 – 4: Moderate energy | 5 – 6: High energy

A score of 4 indicates moderate energy, suggesting generally good work capacity and persistence with some room to strengthen reserves and resilience.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

HR and People Ops

41%OF USERS

They use it to gauge team energy and motivation, spot engagement risks early, and shape targeted improvements.

Team Leads and Managers

34%OF USERS

They take it to understand how their team experiences day-to-day work and where focus or enthusiasm is slipping.

Employees and Job Seekers

25%OF USERS

They use it for self-checks on burnout risk and to decide what changes could make work feel more engaging.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Preoccupation (P)

Average

4.2

Normal range

3.4 — 5.1

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Enthusiasm (E)

Average

4.2

Normal range

3.1 — 5.2

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Energy (E)

Average

2.2

Normal range

1.3 — 3.2

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Please indicate how often you experience the feelings and states listed below. For each statement, select one response that best reflects the frequency of your thoughts and experiences.

- Never
- Very rarely
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Very often
- Every day
- Never
- Very rarely
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Very often
- Every day
- Never
- Very rarely
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Very often
- Every day

These are 3 of the 17 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) Test - Symptoms and Signs

arrange

passion

This measure is used to assess work-related engagement as experienced by employees. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) is a self-report questionnaire designed to capture typical engagement-related states in occupational contexts.

It consists of 17 items and takes about 4 minutes to complete. Items are rated to reflect the respondent’s perceived energy, enthusiasm, and absorption in work activities. The instrument is commonly used in organizational and occupational assessment to support monitoring of engagement levels over time and to inform workplace interventions, as described by W.B. Schaufeli and A. B. Bakker. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) is intended to characterize subjective engagement rather than objective performance outcomes.

Author: A. B. Bakker, W.B. Schaufeli

Literature: Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. Job burnout. Annual Review of Psychology. 2001.; Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. Work engagement: The measurement of a concept. Gedrag & Organisatie. 2004.