The relationship between professional competence and work engagement among Chinese biomedical laboratory technicians: a moderated mediation model.

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Learn more: PMC Disclaimer | PMC Copyright Notice BMC Psychol . 2026 Apr 22;14:813. doi: 10.1186/s40359-026-04560-z The relationship between professional competence and work engagement among Chinese biomedical laboratory technicians: a moderated mediation model Rui Chen 1, 2, 3, 4 , Dan Ming 5 , Cuiying Fan 2, ✉ , Min Zhao 1, 3, 4, ✉ Author information Article notes Copyright and License information 1 School of Medical Humanities, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, China 2 Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China 3 Hubei Health Industry Development Research Center, Wuhan, China 4 Hubei Shizhen Laboratory, Wuhan, China 5 Research Institute of Nuclear Power Operation, Wuhan, China ✉ Corresponding author. Received 2025 Mar 18; Accepted 2026 Apr 13; Collection date 2026. © The Author(s) 2026 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ . PMC Copyright notice PMCID: PMC13231622  PMID: 42015319 Abstract Background Biomedical laboratories in China face severe staffing challenges. The shortage of highly engaged technicians hinders the progress of biomedical research and education. Although professional competence may relate to work engagement, its underlying mechanism in this population remains unclear. This study examines the psychological pathway between professional competence and work engagement among Chinese biomedical laboratory technicians, testing psychological empowerment as a mediator and perceived organizational support as a moderator. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 425 biomedical laboratory technicians in China ( M age = 37.95 years, SD age = 7.64). Well-validated self-report measures were administered to assess professional competence, psychological empowerment, perceived organizational support, and work engagement. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test a moderated mediation model in which psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between professional competence and work engagement, with perceived organizational support moderating the relationship between psychological empowerment and work engagement. Results These findings demonstrated that professional competence was significantly positively associated with work engagement among biomedical laboratory technicians in China. Psychological empowerment emerged as a partial mediator between professional competence and work engagement. Perceived organizational support acted as a moderator in the latter half of the mediation pathway. Specifically, the association between psychological empowerment and work engagement was greater for technicians with higher perceived organizational support than those with lower perceived organizational support. Conclusions This study enhances our understanding of the internal mechanisms linking professional competence to work engagement among biomedical laboratory technicians in China. The findings provide both a theoretical framework and empirical evidence to inform initiatives aimed at building a supportive work culture in biomedical laboratories, which can promote biomedical laboratory technicians’ work engagement. Keywords: Professional competence, Psychological empowerment, Perceived organizational support, Work engagement, Laboratory technicians Background Biomedical laboratories in China are undergoing rapid transformation, driven by advances in biotechnology, technological innovation, and evolving societal needs. These factors have led to continuous shifts in team composition and functional demands [ 1 , 2 ]. Laboratory technicians play a vital role in analytical testing, equipment maintenance, and sample processing, with their work being crucial to both the smooth operation of research facilities [ 3 , 4 ] and the foundational development of laboratories [ 5 ]. However, China’s accelerated biotechnology advancement has also created new challenges. While this progress has expanded access to cutting-edge equipment and techniques [ 6 ], it has simultaneously imposed stringent requirements for high-quality, stable technicians capable of effectively applying innovations in research and education [ 7 , 8 ]. The growing demand has resulted in a pronounced shortage of proficient technicians, which now constitutes a critical bottleneck for national scientific research and biomedical education initiatives [ 9 ]. This shortage is largely due to inadequate focus on technicians’ professional development and a lack of research on their workplace engagement. Developing high-quality, stable technicians depends fundamentally on their professional growth [ 8 ]. Critically, achieving sustainable development in contexts of high-speed technological iteration requires technicians to possess both intrinsic motivation and sustained work engagement. Intrinsic motivation may support autonomous skill renewal, while sustained work engagement may enable continuous, goal-directed effort [ 10 , 11 ]. Thus, work engagement serves as both a key performance indicator and a mechanism for maintaining stability during technological change [ 12 ]. The concept of “work engagement” has been defined through multiple theoretical lenses, yet a consensus exists on its multidimensional nature [ 13 , 14 ]. Recent conceptualizations describe work engagement as the integrated investment of cognitive, emotional, and physical resources into professional practice [ 15 ]. Empirical evidence suggests that highly engaged employees exhibit enhanced productivity, contributing to organizational goal attainment [ 16 ] and demonstrating autonomous task execution [ 17 ]. However, the underlying mechanisms of work engagement among biomedical laboratory technicians remain underexplored. Given the uniquely high-stress, precision-dependent operational environment of these laboratories, technicians frequently encounter issues such as occupational burnout, turnover intentions, and work-related stress [ 2 , 3 ]. Alleviating these issues hinges on enhancing and maintaining the level of work engagement among technicians [ 16 ]. Thus, understanding the factors that promote work engagement in this population is essential. To our knowledge, few studies have examined the relationship between professional competence and work engagement among Chinese biomedical laboratory technicians, particularly in terms of the mediating role of psychological empowerment and the moderating role of perceived organizational support. By focusing on this understudied occupational group, our research addresses this gap, offering new theoretical insights and evidence-based strategies to improve technician retention and support the sustainable development of China’s biomedical research and education infrastructure. Professional competence and work engagement Considering the inadequacy of laboratory technicians’ work engagement and their vital role in the high-quality development of biomedical research and education, identifying malleable factors of laboratory technicians’ work engagement is imperative. Existing literature has identified individual traits, work requirements, and leadership style as antecedents of work engagement [ 18 – 20 ]. However, meta-analyses suggest that only about half of the proposed factors show significant associations [ 21 ], indicating theoretical inconsistencies. Within this contested landscape, professional competence emerges as a theoretically robust yet empirically neglected predictor. Defined as “an integrated entity of knowledge, skills, and attitudes manifested through professional task execution” [ 22 ], professional competence is critical in specialized expertise-dependent roles, such as teachers and technicians [ 23 ]. However, research on the relationship between professional competence and work engagement among biomedical laboratory technicians remains limited. Existing studies predominantly examine isolated aspects, such as skills or knowledge, rather than integrated professional competence constructs [ 22 ]. Moreover, studies on teachers’ competence and work engagement [ 24 , 25 ] may not fully account for technicians’ unique workplace stressors, such as biohazard exposure and precision-critical autonomy constraints. Crucially, the psychological pathways between professional competence and work engagement in this population are not well understood, as extant frameworks often fail to model context-appropriate psychological processes [ 15 ]. These limitations highlight the need for a framework that identifies both the mediating mechanism linking competence to engagement and the contextual conditions shaping this process. The job demands-resources (JD-R) model [ 26 ] offers an optimal theoretical framework to address these synergistic gaps, given its dual capacity to explain both demand-induced strain and resource-driven engagement pathways [ 15 ]. Biomedical laboratory technicians face uniquely intensifying cognitive-physical work demands from precision-critical technologies (e.g., histological staining variability). This evolving landscape necessitates continuous skill enhancement to ensure sustained operational proficiency and compliance [ 1 , 6 ]. However, escalating demands deplete physical/mental resources through the health erosion path, triggering negative psychological experiences that undermine engagement [ 27 , 28 ]. Conversely, professional competence acts as a personal resource. For instance, when technicians successfully troubleshoot issues like analyzer calibration drift, they gain peer recognition and technical mastery confidence, which enhances self-efficacy and professional identity through the motivational path, thereby boosting engagement [ 29 ]. Consequently, professional competence could facilitate demand management in several ways [ 30 ]. It may reduce error-induced stressors, optimize person-job fit through capability-challenge alignment, and enhance engagement via motivational gains [ 31 ]. This perspective helps clarify how professional competence may buffer strain while transforming technical successes into sustained engagement. Additionally, scholars have reported that work engagement is consistently reflected in the integration of employees’ professional identity and self-efficacy within workplace settings [ 32 ]. Professional competence encompasses a set of attributes that distinguish high-performing individuals from those with merely basic qualifications, serving as a key metric for evaluating work effectiveness [ 33 ]. Technicians with higher professional competence are more likely to achieve work goals efficiently, and this success may strengthen their professional identity and self-efficacy, thereby contributing to increased work engagement [ 34 ]. Building on this reasoning, several scholars have explored the predictive role of professional competence in work engagement [ 35 – 37 ]. Collectively, this evidence suggests a positive association between professional competence and work engagement among biomedical laboratory technicians, though the underlying processes warrant further investigation. However, the specific psychological mechanism linking this resource to engagement in biomedical laboratories remains to be explicated. We propose psychological empowerment as this mediating mechanism. Unlike general motivational states, psychological empowerment captures technicians’ internalization of their professional competence into meaning, self-determination, and impact, dimensions particularly salient in laboratory settings requiring autonomous, high-stakes decisions under pressure [ 15 ]. The mediating role of psychological empowerment Despite mounting evidence connecting professional competence and work engagement [ 34 , 38 ], the mediating mechanisms underlying this association among biomedical laboratory technicians remain unclear. Integrating the JD-R model [ 26 ] and psychological empowerment theory [ 39 ], we propose that psychological empowerment is a key mechanism through which professional competence translates into work engagement in biomedical laboratory contexts. In these high-stakes, precision-dependent settings, technicians frequently face situations requiring autonomous judgment under pressure, such as adjusting diagnostic protocols or troubleshooting equipment failures [ 40 ]. Psychological empowerment, comprising meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact, captures the internalization of technical expertise into a motivational state that enables technicians to act with confidence and initiative [ 41 ]. As an internal motivational resource, it pertains to having control over assigned tasks [ 42 ]. For technicians in biomedical laboratories, this internal motivational resource could enhance their work engagement through multiple dimensions, particularly perceived competence and self-determination [ 43 ]. Although direct evidence linking professional competence to psychological empowerment in biomedical laboratory technicians remains limited, cross-domain studies reveal robust associations [ 44 , 45 ]. Healthcare research suggests that technical proficiency reduces procedural anxiety through successful task execution (e.g., minimizing staining errors), thereby building psychological empowerment [ 46 , 47 ]. Parallel findings in education indicate that decision-making autonomy mitigates workflow rigidity by granting operational discretion (e.g., calibrating tolerance thresholds), which in turn fuels psychological empowerment [ 48 , 49 ]. Technical agility, such as rapid analyzer recalibration, has been shown to elevate empowerment [ 42 ], while competence has been identified as a key antecedent to procedural independence [ 50 ]. Consequently, these findings collectively suggest a positive association between professional competence and psychological empowerment. This association manifests as enhanced strategic flexibility (e.g., multi-method troubleshooting) and strengthened executive agency (e.g., protocol optimization), which jointly establish the necessary motivational conditions for work engagement development [ 47 ]. Building on these empowerment-derived conditions, Spreitzer’s psychological empowerment theory [ 39 ] positions psychological empowerment as a predictor of work engagement among biomedical laboratory technicians. This theoretical claim is supported by consistent positive associations between psychological empowerment and critical individual outcomes, including organizational commitment [ 41 ], job satisfaction [ 51 ], and notably work engagement [ 52 ]. This predictive capacity is reflected in behavioral activation mechanisms. Empowered technicians engage in resource acquisition, such as advocating for advanced diagnostic equipment, to optimize job resources [ 53 ]. They also initiate problem-solving, for instance, developing contingency protocols for analyzer failures, to generate task mastery experiences that reinforce self-efficacy [ 54 ]. These pathways collectively enhance work engagement by rebalancing demand-resource dynamics and fulfilling core psychological needs for competence and autonomy [ 47 ]. Given the potential role of psychological empowerment in shaping work engagement within high-stakes laboratory environments, this construct may plausibly mediate the relationship between professional competence and work engagement. It could help translate technicians’ objective capabilities into active engagement with operational challenges. To our knowledge, this study is among the first to empirically examine this mediating mechanism among biomedical laboratory technicians, providing new perspectives on how competence translates into sustained engagement in precision-dependent, high-risk settings. The moderating role of perceived organizational support Notwithstanding, psychological empowerment may mediate the relationship between professional competence and work engagement among biomedical laboratory technicians. However, high psychological empowerment does not invariably translate into positive work engagement. Thus, it is important to investigate moderating factors that may reinforce or attenuate these associations. As Bronfenbrenner noted [ 55 ], individual development is embedded within interconnected environmental systems. Our study focuses on the Chinese biomedical laboratory organizational context, which is characterized by several features, including the financial allocation practices of public laboratories, restricted autonomy under high power distance, and staffing discrimination [ 1 ]. In such a setting, the association between organizational context and technicians’ work engagement warrants attention. Prior studies have applied the JD-R model and trait activation theory to investigate the role of perceived organizational support in shaping employees’ beliefs, abilities, and behaviors within their organization [ 56 , 57 ]. However, these studies fail to capture the institutional singularities of Chinese biomedical laboratories. We propose perceived organizational support as a theoretically compelling moderator in this context, not merely as another general job resource, but specifically because it addresses the psychological safety concerns inherent in high-accountability laboratory environments. In settings where technical errors can have serious consequences, the assurance that the organization values technicians’ contributions and cares for their well-being provides a safety net that enables empowered technicians to act on their internal motivation without fear of repercussions. According to the JD-R model, perceived organizational support serves as a key resource that employees seek to bolster resilience against job stress. It embodies the assurance of organizational resource provision [ 58 , 59 ]. As posited by Eisenberger et al. [ 60 ], perceived organizational support represents employees’ perception of employers’ appreciation for their contributions and concern for their welfare. It functions as a cornerstone of employer-organization reciprocity associations [ 61 ]. Empirical studies suggest that perceived organizational support cultivates critical personal resources, notably domain-specific self-efficacy. For example, technicians may gain confidence in executing standardized protocols for genomic sequencing, which buffers job strain by reframing technically complex challenges as manageable [ 16 , 62 ]. Such resource gains are particularly important in biomedical laboratories, where technical precision and high-consequence decisions demand exceptional confidence. Crucially, perceived organizational support strengthens technical agency, which is observable in technicians’ autonomous judgment during high-stakes scenarios, such as dynamically adjusting cancer biomarker thresholds during diagnostic procedures or recalibrating digital pathology algorithms to address anomalous tissue samples [ 63 , 64 ]. These examples indicate that perceived organizational support may foster a proactive orientation toward initiative-taking, which in turn can contribute to higher work engagement [ 65 ]. Additionally, this study draws on trait activation theory [ 66 ], which posits that situational cues trigger latent individual traits, and examines how perceived organizational support functions as a situational cue in biomedical laboratories. In this high-stakes environment, characterized by complex technical requirements and stringent regulatory standards, perceived organizational support acts as a trait-relevant situational cue that varies in intensity and availability, modulating technicians’ work behaviors [ 65 , 67 ]. Critically, psychological empowerment is conceptualized as a malleable trait [ 39 ], comprising intrinsic motivation and perceived control, which can be activated by supportive contextual signals. In this context, perceived organizational support serves a function distinct from generic job resources such as autonomy or feedback. While those resources may enhance motivation broadly, perceived organizational support specifically provides the psychological security that allows technicians to exercise their empowered agency without defensive restraint, a function particularly important in high-stakes biomedical settings where errors carry significant consequences. Empirical evidence also suggests that technicians with higher perceived organizational support exhibit enhanced proactive behaviors, role ownership, and sustained performance when granted autonomy [ 68 , 69 ]. This aligns with the theory’s premise that supportive situational cues prompt individuals to utilize their trait-based capabilities more effectively. Specifically, within biomedical laboratories’ high-stakes environment, perceived organizational support strengthens psychological security perceptions, thereby activating latent self-determination capacity [ 65 ], a core dimension of psychological empowerment. This activation process could enable self-regulated work behaviors that leverage job resources to sustain engagement. Crucially, recent literature demonstrated that psychological empowerment alone fails to yield positive outcomes without adequate perceived organizational support [ 64 , 70 ]. This finding underscores perceived organizational support’s contextual enabling function. Importantly, perceived organizational support is distinct from other organizational factors, such as supervisory control or compensation. Its uniqueness lies in its direct role in mitigating high-stakes environmental threats through psychological security provisions [ 62 ]. This distinct function makes perceived organizational support a theoretically appropriate moderator for the empowerment-engagement link in this occupational context, as it determines whether the motivational gains from psychological empowerment can be safely expressed and sustained [ 64 ]. Thus, we posit that perceived organizational support positively moderates the relationship between psychological empowerment and work engagement among Chinese biomedical laboratory technicians. To our knowledge, this study offers an early empirical examination of this moderating role within this specialized occupational context, offering perspectives on how organizational support shapes engagement pathways in high-risk, precision-driven settings. Current study Prior literature has suggested possible correlations between employees’ professional competence, psychological empowerment, perceived organizational support, and work engagement. However, questions remain regarding how these factors are related and their implications for the work roles of employees, particularly biomedical laboratory technicians, in the context of high-quality development in China’s biotechnology research and education landscape. Specifically, further investigation is needed to understand how these factors relate to work engagement among biomedical laboratory technicians. We developed an analytical framework by examining the interrelationships among potential predictors and exploring their associations with work engagement, which may help understanding of workplace behaviors and offer insights for crafting potential intervention strategies. To our knowledge, this is among the first studies to empirically examine this specific moderated mediation model among biomedical laboratory technicians. Drawing on theoretical and empirical perspectives, the current study constructed a moderated mediation model (see Fig. 1 ). We employed a cross-sectional design and structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the connection between professional competence and work engagement among biomedical laboratory technicians, together with the role of psychological empowerment and perceived organizational support. As such, we investigated whether psychological empowerment mediates the association between professional competence and work engagement and, if so, the extent to which individual differences in perceived organizational support might moderate the indirect path. Thus, we propose the following hypotheses: Fig.1. Open in a new tab Proposed moderated mediation model Hypothesis 1: Biomedical laboratory technicians’ professional competence is positively correlated with their work engagement. Hypothesis 2: Psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between biomedical laboratory technicians’ professional competence and work engagement. Hypothesis 3: Perceived organizational support moderates the positive relationship between biomedical laboratory technicians’ psychological empowerment and work engagement. Methods Participants and procedures A cross-sectional design with convenience sampling was used to collect data from January to May 2024. The study received ethical approval from the Ethics Committee of Central China Normal University (No. CCNU-IRB-202312050b). The study’s participants were biomedical laboratory technicians from universities and hospitals in Hubei, Sichuan, and Chongqing, China. Eligibility criteria included: (a) registered and full‑time employment as a biomedical laboratory technician, and (b) proficiency in reading Chinese. Recruitment was facilitated through institutional administrators, who distributed study invitations to eligible technicians; interested individuals were then contacted by the research team to schedule data collection sessions. The study was conducted by trained researchers majoring in psychology. All data collectors received standardized training prior to data collection. They visited participating institutions and administered printed questionnaires during in-person sessions to minimize data entry errors and enhance response authenticity. Participation was voluntary, and all participants provided informed consent after being informed of the study purpose and their right to withdraw at any time. Standardized instructions were provided to emphasize honest and thoughtful responses. The questionnaire consisted of two sections. Section A collected demographic information. Section B assessed the key study variables: professional competence, psychological empowerment, perceived organizational support, and work engagement. All measurement instruments were adapted from well-established scales. Foreign-language questionnaires underwent a standardized forward–backward translation procedure followed by expert panel review to ensure conceptual equivalence and cultural appropriateness for the Chinese context. Prior to distribution, three psychology experts reviewed the questionnaire for cultural relevance and potential participant burden. To ensure strict confidentiality, participants were instructed to return the completed questionnaires directly to the researchers on-site. Participants were given sufficient time to reflect on their responses to ensure the data’s accuracy. A priori power analysis was conducted using G*Power 3.1 to determine the required sample size, with the following parameters: two-tailed test, Effect size = 0.2, α err prob = 0.05, Power (1- β ) = 0.95, which indicated a minimum required sample of 376. A total of 530 surveys were distributed and 471 were completed by the participants. The response rate was 88.9%. Prior to analysis, all 471 returned questionnaires were screened. First, 46 surveys were excluded due to indicators of insufficient effort, such as straight-lining (i.e., selecting identical responses across multiple items), inconsistent answers, or other signs of careless responding, resulting in a final analytic sample of 425 valid responses. Subsequently, the missing data within this valid sample were examined. The overall item-level missing rate was minimal (< 5%). In alignment with best practices for structural equation modeling, Full Information Maximum Likelihood (FIML) estimation was employed to handle these missing data points. This approach utilizes all available information from the raw data for model estimation, thereby preserving statistical power and yielding unbiased parameter estimates under the missing at random (MAR) assumption. The participants’ age ranged from 25 to 54 years ( M = 37.95, SD = 7.64). Of the 425 valid respondents, 47.1% were females (age: M = 34.71, SD = 6.62) and 52.9% were males (age: M = 39.80, SD = 8.24). Regarding the educational level, 56.5% of the participants had a master’s degree, 29.2% had a doctoral degree, and 14.3% had a bachelor’s degree. Regarding the marital status, 62.0% of the participants were married and 38.0% were single. Regarding the professional titles, 51.5% of the participants had intermediate professional titles, followed by 29.2% senior professional titles and 19.3% junior professional titles. Regarding the length of work experience, 29.0% of the participants had worked for 0–5 years, 44.5% for 6–10 years, 18.3% for 11–15 years, and 8.2% for 15 years or more. Measures Professional competence To assess biomedical laboratory technicians’ professional competence, we developed a new scale based on item generation and refinement, expert validation, and pilot testing to ensure content validity. The item pool was constructed from available literature on professional competence in the context of biomedical laboratory technology [ 71 , 72 ]. The refined items include four dimensions of knowledge literacy, professional skills, professional attitude, and personality characteristics to promote technicians’ professional development and enhance their performance in biomedical laboratory settings. Three psychology experts’ feedback was systematically integrated to refine item semantics, ensuring precise alignment with the theoretical underpinnings of each aspect. The participants who took part in the pilot testing were asked to review the items in terms of clarity, potential ambiguity, and bias. An exploratory factor analysis supported the proposed four-factor structure. The scale consists of 21-items and each item was rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = not at all true of me, 5 = very true of me). Higher scores represent a higher level of self-assessment of professional competencies among biomedical laboratory technicians. Sample items are “I can apply measures in response to laboratory accidents/incidents” and “I can demonstrate effective teamwork skills”. It should be noted that this scale is newly developed and validated only within the current sample, and its psychometric properties require further replication and cross-validation in independent populations. In this study, the Cronbach’s alpha value of this scale was 0.86. A confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the model fit indices were: χ 2 /df = 2.35, CFI = 0.92, TLI = 0.90, RMSEA = 0.06, and SRMR = 0.05. Psychological empowerment This variable was measured by the psychological empowerment scale developed by Spreitzer [ 39 ], which includes four dimensions of psychological empowerment: meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact. In Spreitzer’s study, the Cronbach’s alpha value for this scale was 0.72. This scale assesses participants’ beliefs and perceptions of empowerment in their organization with 12 items (e.g., “I have significant autonomy in determining how I do my job.”). Participants indicated their level of agreement on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). Higher scores indicated a higher level of psychological empowerment. The Cronbach’s alpha value of this scale in this study was 0.93. A confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the model fit indices were: χ 2 /df = 3.17, CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.91, RMSEA = 0.06, and SRMR = 0.06. Perceived organizational support This variable was measured using the shortened version of the perceived organizational support scale revised by Settoon et al. [ 73 ], which was originated from the 36-item Scale of Perceived Organizational Support developed by Eisenberger et al. [ 74 ]. The Cronbach’s alpha value of the former was 0.94, while that of the latter was 0.97. This scale was found to have good reliability and predictive validity in prior studies among Chinese employees [ 62 ]. This scale assesses employees’ perceptions of the organizations with 8 items (e.g., “The organization strongly considers my goals and values”). Participants indicated their level of agreement on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). A higher score on this scale was indicative of a greater degree of perceived organizational support. The Cronbach’s alpha value of this scale in this study was 0.91. A confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the model fit indices were: χ 2 / df = 2.85, CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.92, RMSEA = 0.06, and SRMR = 0.05. Work engagement This variable was examined with the 18-item work engagement scale developed by Rich et al. [ 75 ]. In their study, the Cronbach’s alpha value for this scale was 0.95. This scale assesses three aspects of the variable: physical, emotional, and cognitive (6 items for each aspect), on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). Higher scores represent a higher level of simultaneous investment of physical, emotional, and cognitive energies into role performance. Sample items are “I work with intensity on my job” and “I am enthusiastic about my job”. The Cronbach’s alpha value of this scale in this study was 0.83. A confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the model fit indices were: χ 2 / df = 3.24, CFI = 0.92, TLI = 0.91, RMSEA = 0.07, and SRMR = 0.06. Statistical analysis All statistical analyses were implemented utilizing SPSS25.0 and Mplus8.3 [ 76 ]. Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, Harman’s single‑factor test, and multicollinearity test were performed in SPSS 25.0. The unmeasured latent method factor analysis and the main hypotheses were tested via structural equation modeling (SEM) in Mplus 8.3 to examine the relationships among professional competence, psychological empowerment, perceived organizational support, and work engagement. Given its capacity to estimate direct, indirect, and moderating associations simultaneously, SEM was selected as the primary analytic approach [ 77 ]. Model parameters were estimated using Maximum Likelihood (ML) or Maximum Likelihood with robust standard errors (MLR), depending on data distribution. Indirect associations were evaluated using bias-corrected bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples [ 78 , 79 ], and latent interaction terms were included to test moderation model [ 76 ]. Model fit was assessed using a combination of indices: χ 2 /df , CFI, TLI, RMSEA, and SRMR. A model was considered to have an acceptable fit if χ 2 /df was less than 5.0, CFI and TLI values were greater than or equal to 0.90, RMSEA and SRMR values were less than or equal to 0.08 [ 80 ]. Furthermore, Gender and age were included as control variables based on prior evidence of their associations with the study constructs [ 13 , 38 , 62 , 72 ]. Results Common method bias and multicollinearity test As responses in this study were self-reported, there might be an issue of common method variance. To assess this, we employed two complementary approaches. First, we utilized Harman’s single-factor test to assess the extent to which the correlations among the variables in this study could potentially originate from common method variance [ 81 ]. The results implied that there were 13 factors with eigenvalues higher than 1 and the first factor accounted for 25.36% of the variance. Second, we conducted an unmeasured latent method factor analysis [ 82 ]. The baseline measurement model showed good fit ( χ 2 /df = 2.17, CFI = 0.94, RMSEA = 0.05). When a common method factor was added, the fit did not improve substantially (ΔCFI = 0.003, ΔRMSEA = 0.001), suggesting that common method variance is unlikely to severely bias the observed relationships. Additionally, the variance inflation factor (VIF) values of all predictors ranged from 1.17 to 1.35 (all below the recommended threshold of 5), and tolerance values ranged from 0.74 to 0.85 (all above the recommended threshold of 0.1) [ 83 ], suggesting that multicollinearity is unlikely to pose a severe concern to the validity of the study’s results. Preliminary analysis Table 1 presented the descriptive statistics and correlation matrix for all core observed variables. The correlations among the variables were consistent with our expectations. Specifically, professional competence was positively correlated with psychological empowerment, perceived organizational support and work engagement ( r = 0.32, p < 0.001; r = 0.34, p < 0.001; r = 0.34, p < 0.001). Psychological empowerment was positively correlated with perceived organizational support and work engagement ( r = 0.47, p < 0.001; r = 0.54, p < 0.001). Perceived organizational support was positively correlated with work engagement ( r = 0.58, p < 0.001). Notably, the correlations among the four core variables were all positive, significant, and fell within the medium to large range according to Cohen’s guidelines for a meaningful relationship in psychological research [ 84 ], particularly the strong link between perceived organizational support and work engagement. This pattern of associations provides preliminary support for the relationships specified in our theoretical model. Table 1. Descriptive statistics and correlations between variables Variables M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 Gender — — — 2 Age 37.95 7.64 −0.03 1 3 PC 1.41 0.69 −0.07 −0.07 1 4 PE 2.85 0.72 0.02 −0.06 0.32*** 1 5 POS 3.44 0.96 −0.12* −0.06 0.34*** 0.47*** 1 6 WE 1.65 0.81 −0.06 0.03 0.34*** 0.54*** 0.58*** 1 Open in a new tab N = 425 Gender was dummy coded with 0 for male participants and 1 for female participants M mean , SD standard deviation PC professional competence PE psychological empowerment , POS perceived organizational support WE work engagement *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 Measurement model Before examining the structural model, the measurement model was evaluated to confirm sufficient internal consistency reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity [ 85 , 86 ]. As shown in Table 2 , all constructs met the established criteria. Composite Reliability (CR) values exceeded the conventional cutoff of 0.70, indicating robust internal consistency. All indicator R 2 values were above 0.36, and Average Variance Extracted (AVE) for each construct surpassed 0.50, confirming that the majority of the variance in the measured items stemmed from their corresponding latent construct rather than from random error [ 85 ]. Table 2. Reliability and convergent validity results Construct CR AVE Estimate Range R 2 Range PC 0.88 0.56 0.72–0.80 0.52–0.64 PE 0.94 0.63 0.77–0.84 0.59–0.71 POS 0.92 0.64 0.78–0.85 0.61–0.72 WE 0.86 0.54 0.71–0.78 0.50–0.61 Open in a new tab PC professional competence, PE psychological empowerment, POS perceived organizational support, WE work engagement, CR composite reliability, AVE average variance extracted Discriminant validity was assessed using the Fornell-Larcker criterion [ 86 ] to ensure that each latent construct reflects a distinct concept. This approach compares the square root of the AVE for each construct with its correlations with other constructs. As shown in Table 3 , the square root of the AVE for each construct was greater than its correlations with all other constructs, indicating that every construct explains more variance in its own indicators than in those of others, thereby supporting discriminant validity and reinforcing the conceptual distinctiveness of the latent variables. Table 3. Discriminant validity results Construct Estimate Range CR AVE PC PE POS WE PC 0.72–0.80 0.88 0.56 0.75 PE 0.77–0.84 0.94 0.63 0.36 0.79 POS 0.78–0.85 0.92 0.64 0.39 0.52 0.80 WE 0.70–0.78 0.86 0.54 0.38 0.64 0.69 0.73 Open in a new tab Diagonal elements represent the square roots of AVEs PC professional competence, PE psychological empowerment, POS perceived organizational support, WE work engagement, CR composite reliability, AVE average variance extracted Structural model After confirming the measurement model’s reliability and validity, we estimated a structural model to test the hypothesized relationships among latent constructs and evaluate the explanatory power of the theoretical framework [ 86 ]. A baseline model without latent interactions showed acceptable fit: χ 2 / df = 2.85, CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.91, RMSEA = 0.06, and SRMR = 0.05, supporting its use for hypothesis testing. Subsequently, a latent interaction term was incorporated to determine whether model fit could be further enhanced. Given that the Latent Moderated Structural (LMS) method implemented in Mplus 8.3 utilizes a nonlinear likelihood estimation procedure and does not rely on the assumption of multivariate normality, traditional model fit indices ( χ 2 /df , CFI, TLI, RMSEA, and SRMR) cannot be computed. Therefore, model selection was guided by Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) [ 87 ]. As summarized in Table 4 , the model including the interaction term showed a lower AIC value (1121.13) compared to the baseline model (1126.50). This reduction in AIC indicates that adding the interaction term improved the model’s representation of the data without introducing unnecessary complexity, providing initial support for the moderation hypothesis and warranting further inspection of the interaction role. Table 4. Model comparison based on AIC Model AIC ΔAIC Baseline Model 1126.50 Latent Interaction Model 1121.13 −5.37 Open in a new tab A lower AIC indicates a better balance of model fit and parsimony AIC Akaike Information Criterion ΔAIC is calculated relative to the Baseline Model Indirect and direct associations testing To investigate potential underlying pathways, indirect associations were estimated as the product of the relevant path coefficients and tested for significance using bias-corrected bootstrapping (5,000 resamples). While the cross-sectional nature of this study precludes definitive causal inference, this analytical approach allows for the assessment of direct and indirect associations, thereby offering insights into the proposed relationships. Psychological empowerment was tested as a mediator between professional competence and work engagement. As shown in Table 5 , the path from professional competence to psychological empowerment was statistically significant (Estimate = 0.28, p < 0.001), with bias-corrected confidence intervals not including zero, suggesting that more professional competence was associated with higher psychological empowerment. Similarly, psychological empowerment was positively associated with work engagement (Estimate = 0.48, p < 0.001) with confidence intervals excluding zero. The indirect association from professional competence to work engagement through psychological empowerment was also statistically significant (Estimate = 0.13, p < 0.001), with confidence intervals excluding zero. These findings suggest the presence of a significant indirect association, providing preliminary evidence that psychological empowerment may serve as a potential pathway through which professional competence is linked to work engagement. Meanwhile, the direct association from professional competence to work engagement was also statistically significant (Estimate = 0.21, p < 0.001), with confidence intervals excluding zero. Therefore, H1 and H2 were supported. Table 5. Indirect and direct associations testing results Path Estimate SE Est./SE p Bias-corrected 95%CI PC → PE 0.28 0.05 5.62 < 0.001 [0.18, 0.38] PE → WE 0.48 0.05 9.57 < 0.001 [0.36, 0.54] Indirect 0.13 0.03 4.33 < 0.001 [0.07, 0.19] Direct 0.21 0.05 4.24 < 0.001 [0.11, 0.31] Open in a new tab PC professional competence, PE psychological empowerment, WE work engagement, SE standard error, CI confidence interval The moderating role of perceived organizational support The moderating role of perceived organizational support was examined in the relationship between psychological empowerment and work engagement. The results in Table 6 show that professional competence was significantly and positively associated with psychological empowerment (Estimate = 0.28, p < 0.001). Psychological empowerment was also significantly and positively associated with work engagement (Estimate = 0.36, p < 0.001). Meanwhile, the direct association from professional competence to work engagement was also statistically significant (Estimate = 0.22, p < 0.001). These results are consistent with the indirect and direct associations testing, which indicated that psychological empowerment could potentially serve as a pathway linking professional competence and work engagement. Similarly, perceived organizational support was significantly associated with work engagement (Estimate = 0.42, p < 0.001), and the interaction term between psychological empowerment and perceived organizational support was statistically significant, with a relatively modest effect size (Estimate = 0.09, p < 0.01), suggesting that perceived organizational support may moderate the association between psychological empowerment and work engagement. Specifically, the positive sign of the interaction suggests that as employees’ perceived organizational support increased, the positive association between psychological empowerment and work engagement became stronger. This pattern suggests that the positive association between personal psychological empowerment and work engagement is stronger when perceived organizational support is higher. Table 6. Hypothesis testing results DV IV Estimate SE Est./SE p PE PC 0.28 0.05 5.62 < 0.001 WE PC 0.22 0.05 4.48 < 0.001 WE PE 0.36 0.04 8.93 < 0.001 WE POS 0.42 0.04 10.46 < 0.001 WE POS × PE 0.09 0.03 3.15 < 0.01 Open in a new tab PC professional competence, PE psychological empowerment, POS perceived organizational support, WE work engagement, DV dependent variable, IV Independent variable, SE standard error While this interaction coefficient is numerically smaller than the main associaitons, the simple slope tests reveal its practical significance [ 88 ]. The conditional indirect associations vary depending on the level of perceived organizational support, highlighting that the relationship between psychological empowerment and work engagement is contingent upon the organizational context. As shown in Fig. 2 , For technicians with higher perceived organizational support ( M + 1 SD ), psychological empowerment had a stronger positive predictive association with work engagement ( b simple = 0.44, p < 0.001). For technicians with lower perceived organizational support ( M −1 SD ), the positive association of psychological empowerment on work engagement is still significant, though the magnitude was weaker ( b simple = 0.27, p < 0.001). The results indicate that the positive relationship between psychological empowerment and work engagement is strengthened as perceived organizational support increases. This pattern suggests that perceived organizational support moderates the relationship between psychological empowerment and work engagement, such that the positive association is stronger when organizational support is high. Therefore, H3 was supported. Fig.2. Open in a new tab Perceived organizational support moderates the relationship between psychological empowerment and work engagement Discussion In the context of rapid technological advancement, integrating novel technologies at work is often associated with employees’ psychological concerns [ 89 ]. This is especially evident in Chinese biotechnology research and education, where laboratory technicians may feel detached from their jobs when faced with advanced equipment and techniques [ 1 ]. As biotechnology progresses, technicians will play a key role in shaping the future of biomedical laboratories. Their work engagement is therefore crucial, as it is closely linked to individual career development and laboratory construction [ 15 , 90 ]. Evidence has accumulated on the relationship between professional competence and work engagement [ 36 , 37 ]. However, research specifically examining this link among biomedical laboratory technicians remains limited. To address this gap, we developed a theoretical model to examine the relationship between these constructs, focusing on the mediating role of psychological empowerment and the moderating role of perceived organizational support. This study contributes to the literature on technicians’ psychological dynamics by offering an analytical framework for examining how technical competencies and organizational contexts are jointly associated with technicians’ behaviors in Chinese biomedical laboratories. Professional competence and work engagement The results confirmed the hypothesized positive relationship between professional competence and work engagement among biomedical laboratory technicians (H1). This finding is consistent with the JD-R model and prior empirical findings [ 35 , 36 , 91 ]. In China’s high-stakes biomedical laboratories, the specialized nature of work requires technicians to undergo extensive professional training, which fosters advanced skills in technical operation, problem-solving, and interpersonal management. This continuous development process inherently requires substantial time and cognitive investment [ 92 ]. These investments may help explain why technicians with higher professional competence report elevated work engagement across emotional, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions. From a theoretical perspective, professional competence can be viewed as a work resource within the JD-R framework [ 93 ]. Such resources are posited to facilitate goal attainment and be linked to intrinsic motivation [ 12 , 94 ]. This finding is consistent with previous studies that have reported associations between skill development and work engagement [ 34 , 95 ]. Practically, the results highlight the potential value of strengthening front-line technicians’ professional competence through targeted skill development programs. Such initiatives could help optimize their work engagement, potentially enhancing individual and organizational performance in biomedical research and education settings. However, the cross-sectional design precludes establishing the direction of this association. It is also plausible that highly engaged technicians may develop more favorable self-assessments of their professional competence through mastery experiences or positive affect. Moreover, this finding resonates with job-person fit theory [ 96 ]. It suggests that congruence between technicians’ emotions, work motivation, and their jobs is associated with higher work engagement. Previous literature has also suggested that professional proficiency may enable employees to conduct a thorough exploration of the workplace environment, which may help them devise well-informed strategies to cope with assigned tasks, thereby contributing to work engagement [ 97 , 98 ]. The underlying reason may be that the extent of cognitive, affective, and behavioral engagement among front-line technicians is closely related to the effective utilization of their professional competence [ 95 ]. Specifically, biomedical laboratory technicians who possess the capabilities to meet escalating job demands are more likely to tap into their full potential and report optimal work engagement. In sum, our study contributes to existing research by highlighting that organizational investment in enhancing the professional competence of biomedical laboratory technicians is associated with their work engagement. Psychological empowerment as a mediator Regarding H2, the results suggest that psychological empowerment partially mediates the relationship between professional competence and work engagement among biomedical laboratory technicians. This finding aligns with psychological empowerment theory by conceptualizing psychological empowerment as a proximal pathway linking distal professional competence resources to work engagement [ 39 , 47 ]. By identifying these two distinct yet interconnected factors, our study offers perspectives on how technical expertise relates to enhanced work engagement, contributing to the understanding of previously unmapped processes in biomedical laboratory contexts. Given the cross-sectional design, however, the directionality of this mediated relationship should be interpreted with caution. It is also plausible that work engagement enhances psychological empowerment through experiences of mastery or positive affect, suggesting potential reciprocal reinforcement between the two constructs over time. Our findings on the positive link between professional competence and psychological empowerment align with previous research [ 48 , 99 ]. Consistent with psychological empowerment theory [ 39 ], professional competence is associated with a stronger sense of work value, autonomy, and organizational impact among biomedical laboratory technicians. This enhanced sense of empowerment may be linked to their pursuit of organizational goals with greater confidence [ 47 ]. This, in turn, is correlated with positive emotions and higher psychological empowerment [ 45 ]. Prior literature has also suggested that an individual’s belief in workplace self-efficacy is related to motivation, performance, and proactive behavior [ 100 ]. Our study further suggested that technicians with advanced professional competence tend to report a greater sense of task mastery, aligning with prior research that has identified technical proficiency, positive attitudes toward workplace tools, and self-efficacy expectations as factors correlated with psychological empowerment, particularly in the domains of perceived capability and self-determination [ 38 , 101 ]. Our findings also align with the JD-R model and the cognitive model of empowerment [ 39 , 102 ], suggesting that psychological empowerment is positively associated with work engagement among biomedical laboratory technicians. These theories describe the link between psychological empowerment and employees’ work engagement and performance. As prior studies have indicated [ 103 , 104 ], empowered employees tend to perceive greater meaning in their work, exhibit higher motivation, and contribute more effectively to organizational goals. One possible explanation is that psychological empowerment serves as a foundational resource, associated with employees’ work cognition and potentially linked to the connection between professional competence and workplace enthusiasm [ 105 ]. In this context, technicians with higher psychological empowerment are more likely to view their work as important, trust in their capabilities, feel autonomous in decision-making, and recognize their impact on the organization. This self-perception is associated with autonomous motivation, which is related to increased energy, dedication, and focus on tasks [ 106 ]. Thus, our findings suggest the relevance of psychological empowerment in understanding the link between professional competence and work engagement among biomedical laboratory technicians. Perceived organizational support as a moderator Further, this study is among the first to examine perceived organizational support as a moderator in the indirect association between professional competence and work engagement among biomedical laboratory technicians. Our findings suggest that perceived organizational support significantly moderates the mediating role of psychological empowerment. Specifically, lower levels of perceived organizational support are associated with a weaker positive association between psychological empowerment and work engagement, which supports H3. This insight offers a perspective on how organizational resources relate to frontline technicians’ motivational processes. Our study is consistent with the “protective factor–protective factor model” by suggesting that perceived organizational support is associated with a stronger protective link between psychological empowerment and technicians’ work engagement [ 64 ]. As an external resource-based protective factor, perceived organizational support is linked to a stronger positive relationship between psychological empowerment and work engagement [ 107 ]. This pattern suggests how organizational resources may facilitate the association between internal motivation and sustained behavioral engagement [ 108 ]. The observed synergy helps translate technicians’ intentions into behavior by linking intrinsic motivation to sustained task-focused actions. This finding sheds light on domain-specific motivational processes in biomedical laboratory contexts. Extending to the conservation of resources theory [ 109 ], employees’ perception of resource adequacy informs future behaviors. In biomedical laboratories, psychological empowerment may foster a sense of control and positive work orientation. However, technicians who perceive low organizational support may worry about resource loss due to job insecurity. These concerns may weaken self-efficacy and may increase the risk of burnout [ 64 , 110 ]. Such concerns are linked to a reduced likelihood of engaging in the work process [ 111 ]. Conversely, individuals with high perceived organizational support tend to leverage organizational resources to reinforce the competence dimension of psychological empowerment. This dimension refers to task-specific self-efficacy, and such reinforcement is particularly evident when they tackle work challenges [ 70 ]. In this context, perceived organizational support can be viewed as a contextual enabler, while psychological empowerment can be viewed as an autonomous motivator. Together, they are associated with positive work attitudes and more effective use of capabilities [ 61 ]. These findings suggest that interventions grounded in perceived organizational support may represent a potentially effective strategy. Such interventions may support technicians’ motivational drivers, mitigate job stress, and promote work engagement. While these insights are promising, the cross-sectional nature of the data means that causal ordering cannot be determined. The observed patterns could also reflect bidirectional effects, where engaged technicians both seek out and perceive greater organizational support. In sum, this study suggests that perceived organizational support moderates the relationship between psychological empowerment and work engagement among biomedical laboratory technicians. The positive association between psychological empowerment and work engagement is stronger under high perceived organizational support. This is consistent with the perspective that perceived organizational support is associated with higher psychological empowerment, particularly in relation to the competence facet, and is also associated with lower levels of resource-loss concerns [ 110 , 111 ]. Conversely, low perceived organizational support is linked to a weaker association. This may occur through amplifying job insecurity and disrupting motivational consistency [ 112 ]. Integrating the protective factor–protective factor model [ 64 ] and conservation of resources theory [ 109 ], this perspective underscores perceived organizational support as a key contextual enabler for the link between empowerment and sustained engagement. It is also possible that highly engaged technicians, due to positive affect or mood-congruent judgment, report more favorable perceptions of organizational support, which may inflate the observed moderation effect. The findings offer insights into how organizational resource perceptions relate to frontline motivation and offer empirical evidence for interventions targeting perceived organizational support to enhance technicians’ performance in high-stakes biomedical laboratory settings in China. While future longitudinal research is needed to test the directionality of these relationships. Implications and limitations Despite professional competence’s documented operational value, its behavioral implications for biomedical technicians remain theoretically underdeveloped [ 5 ]. To address this gap, we propose and test a link between professional competence and work engagement. Quantitative analyses suggest that higher competence is associated with greater task engagement motivation. Furthermore, we identify psychological empowerment as a significant mediator. This finding extends inquiry in this theoretical domain to technical high-stakes contexts. Notably, our findings offer a contribution to engagement research by introducing an environmental-systemic framework [ 15 , 113 ]. This framework conceptualizes behavioral consistency as an emergent property arising from the interaction of individual and organizational-contextual factors. This proposition is aligned with our moderated mediation model. Within this model, perceived organizational support functions as a contextual moderator of the competence-engagement pathway. These insights inform the JD-R model’s boundary conditions by illustrating how organizational support relates to motivation in high-stakes laboratory environments. Collectively, these contributions suggest that engagement drivers may be viewed as system-embedded processes rather than isolated traits. This study yields practical implications. Notably, the results highlight the observed association between high proficiency in technicians and their active engagement, highlighting their potential role in propelling biomedical laboratory development. Consequently, intervention strategies may consider prioritizing the enhancement of technicians’ knowledge, professional identities, and self-efficacy as possible avenues for supporting work engagement. As noted by Zhu et al. [ 1 ], effective professional training programs are critical and are characterized by active participation, sufficient duration, job-relevant contents, and post-training evaluations. Alrawahi et al. [ 114 ] further emphasized the importance of equipping technicians with task-specific skills through structured learning plans, learner-centered activities, and performance checklists. These approaches may reinforce motivation and value alignment. Building on this foundation, the mediating role of psychological empowerment identified in this study suggests that organizations may benefit from periodically assessing technicians’ levels of psychological empowerment and exploring work redesign where appropriate. For instance, implementing fair reward systems and enhancing access to information and resources represent potential human resource strategies. These strategies aim to optimize person-job fit and cultivate a supportive culture, doing so by incorporating technicians’ perspectives, expanding decision-making autonomy, and promoting self-driven initiative [ 115 ]. Complementing these strategies, the study offers preliminary guidance for enhancing perceived organizational support through targeted interventions, providing supervisors with a framework that may promote work engagement from a systemic perspective. However, given that work engagement may shape perceptions of support through affective or cognitive biases, the observed benefits of such interventions should be interpreted cautiously until longitudinal evidence clarifies directionality. Additionally, in the context of escalating task complexity, supervisors may leverage perceived organizational support to help sustain technicians’ engagement. As stated in prior research [ 62 ], enhancing perceived organizational support involves cognitive attribution processes. Specifically, shaping technicians’ perceptions through organizational practices such as public expressions of care, value for inputs, and acknowledgment of achievements can help mitigate the negative impacts of stressors. This line of thinking suggests that ensuring technicians possess both competence and confidence may be associated with sustained work engagement. Finally, the non-significant associations between demographic factors and work engagement or psychological empowerment suggest the limited efficacy of demographic-centric strategies. This points to the value of examining more intricate psychological and organizational dynamics in future research. Correspondingly, practitioners may shift their focus toward enhancing professional proficiency and cultivating a supportive organizational environment, though such recommendations remain tentative pending further causal evidence. This study has several limitations. First, the cross-sectional design precludes causal inference regarding the proposed pathways in our moderated mediation model. This design also means that alternative directional interpretations cannot be ruled out. While the model is grounded in theoretical reasoning about the relationships between the constructs, longitudinal or experimental designs are needed to establish temporal precedence and clarify the directionality of the observed associations among professional competence, psychological empowerment, perceived organizational support, and work engagement. Second, the exclusive reliance on self-report measures raises concerns about common method variance and social desirability bias. Although Harman’s single-factor test and an unmeasured latent method factor analysis suggested that common method variance is unlikely to be severe, these post hoc statistical procedures cannot fully eliminate the possibility that some associations may be inflated. A related concern involves the professional competence scale. Despite its good reliability and construct validity, both scale validation and hypothesis testing were conducted using the same sample, which increases the risk of overfitting or capitalizing on chance. In addition, because the scale is self-reported, it may reflect perceived rather than objectively verified proficiency. Therefore, findings involving this scale should be interpreted with caution. Future research should adopt multi-method, multi-source designs, such as using certification scores or performance records to assess professional competence, supervisor or peer ratings to measure work engagement, and archival organizational data to evaluate perceived organizational support. Such approaches would reduce method bias and provide more robust tests of the proposed relationships. Longitudinal or experimental studies would further strengthen causal inference regarding the mediating role of psychological empowerment. Third, the reliance on a regional convenience sample may affect the generalizability of the results. Future research should address this by employing more robust sampling designs to test the boundary conditions and cultural specificity of the model. Conducting nationally representative surveys using stratified random sampling across diverse provinces and types of institutions (e.g., public vs. private, hospitals vs. independent laboratories) would allow researchers to examine the moderating roles of contextual factors such as regional healthcare resource disparities, organizational cultures, and management practices. Moreover, cross-cultural comparative studies between Chinese technicians and their counterparts in other countries could illuminate the universal versus context-dependent aspects of the competence-empowerment-engagement linkage, enhancing the theoretical scope and practical relevance of the findings. Fourth, previous literature has revealed that perceived organizational support is correlated with objective organizational supportive measures [ 62 ], such as coworker support and supervisor support. This study mainly focused on the subjective perception of organizational support but did not investigate how objective support practices (e.g., resource allocation and institutional policies) affect technicians’ motivation and engagement. Integrating both subjective and objective support dimensions in future research would enhance the practical relevance of supportive interventions. Conclusions The study’s results indicate that professional competence is significantly and positively associated with work engagement among biomedical laboratory technicians. Furthermore, the mediation analysis reveals that psychological empowerment is one possible mechanism underlying this association. The moderated mediation analysis suggests that perceived organizational support moderated the relationship between psychological empowerment and work engagement among biomedical laboratory technicians. Particularly, the relationship between psychological empowerment and work engagement is greater for technicians with higher perceived organizational support than those with lower perceived organizational support. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank all participants in this study. Abbreviations JD-R Job Demands-resources Model FIML Full Information Maximum Likelihood MAR Missing at Random PC Professional Competence PE Psychological Empowerment POS Perceived Organizational Support WE Work Engagement SEM Structural Equation Modeling ML Maximum Likelihood MLR Maximum Likelihood with Robust Standard Errors CFI Comparative Fit Index TLI Tucker-Lewis Index RMSEA Root Mean Square Error of Approximation SRMR Standardized Root Mean Square Residual CR Composite Reliability AVE Average Variance Extracted AIC Akaike Information Criterion CI Confidence Interval SE Standard Error DV Dependent Variable IV Independent Variable LMS Latent Moderated Structural Equations Method Authors’ contributions RC: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Writing-original draft, Writing-review & editing. DM: Methodology, Writing-review & editing. CYF: Supervision, Funding acquisition. MZ: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Funding This study was supported by Research Program Funds of the Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality at Beijing Normal University, China [Grant Number: 2022–04-009-BZPK01]; Open Project by Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior(CCNU), Ministry of Education, China: The research of Mechanism of Internet Use on adolescents’ mental health [Grant Number: 2019B05]; Scientific Research Program of Hubei Provincial Department of Education [Grant Number: B2023084]; Hubei Province Higher Education Laboratory Research Project [Grant Number: HBSY2024-32]; Hubei Health Industry Development Research Center, China [Grant Number: 2024Y06]. Data availability The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding authors on reasonable request. Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate The present study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Central China Normal University (No. CCNU-IRB-202312050b). All procedures performed in the study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all participants/their parents/legal guardians included in the study. Consent for publication Not applicable. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests. Footnotes Publisher’s Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Contributor Information Cuiying Fan, Email: fancy@mail.ccnu.edu.cn. Min Zhao, Email: zhanmin027@163.com. References 1. Zhu G, Huang Q, Ding Y, Pi J, Zhan L, Wu S. 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