Concluding remarks
With the globalization of occupational health psychology,
more and more researchers are interested in applying
employee well-being like work engagement to diverse
populations. This article addressed psychometric issues in
conducting cross-cultural studies in the field of occupational
health psychology. In comparing positive aspects of
well-being like work engagement between western countries
and Asian countries (at least Japan), we should take
into account the tendency to suppress the expression of
positive affect among Japanese as well as the tendency for
self-enhancement among westerners. Hence, for the time
being, we should be cautious when interpreting low
engagement scores among Japanese as well as high
engagement scores among western employees. Further
psychometric studies are needed to differentiate respondents
with low work engagement in Japan and other (east)
Asian countries as well as to differentiate those with high
work engagement in western countries. Ultimately, accurate
measurement contributes to our further understanding
and to the generalizability of the concept of work
engagement across different cultures.