Discerning the antecedents determining empowerment of life insurance agents: an empirical examination

The purpose of the study is to examine the determining factors which influence empowerment amongst life insurance agents in the Indian context. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted amongst 409 life insurance agents. Principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed to identify and validate dimensions and antecedents of employee empowerment. Later, using multivariate multiple regression analysis, the relative importance of these factors in influencing psychological empowerment is empirically tested. The results of analysis indicate that rewards work as an important antecedent for building psychological empowerment, followed by self-efficacy and self-esteem. Even though access to information is reported as a significant antecedent, it was found to be the least important one in determining psychological empowerment. Insights generated in this paper provide guidelines in understanding critical antecedents of psychological empowerment amongst life insurance agents and also suggest implications for better managerial practice.