49

In a context of ongoing transformation within public services, work engagement and adaptive performance represent strategic issues for executives and managers. Using the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) theoretical framework, this study explores the role of dispositional optimism and perceived competence in their work engagement and adaptive performance. The results of a survey of 293 executives and managers highlight a mediating effect of perceived competence between dispositional optimism and engagement on the one hand, and a similar effect between dispositional optimism and adaptive performance on the other. These results underscore the importance of taking psychological resources into account in human resource management policies.