Emotional social support and job burnout among high‐school teachers: is it all due to dispositional affectivity?

The authors investigated whether the relationship between the contents of emotional social support and job burnout among high‐school teachers is spurious because of the role of dispositional positive and negative affectivity. A national sample of 339 teachers was surveyed via a web‐based procedure. Hierarchical regression analyses did not support spuriousness; emotional social support was uniquely predictive of three dimensions of burnout controlling for affectivity. As positive emotional social support increased, emotional exhaustion and cynicism decreased, and professional efficacy increased. As negative emotional social support increased, emotional exhaustion and cynicism also increased. Commonality analyses based on the present data and data reported by K. L. Zellars and P. L. Perrewé (2001; Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 459–467) provided additional support for the unique role of emotional social support on burnout, but these analyses suggest a greater role of affectivity than emotional social support. These findings have implications for research on burnout as well as the prevention of burnout among teachers. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Staff burnout in a psychiatric hospital: A cross-lagged panel design

Previous research has shown that burnout in staff members at psychiatric hospitals is significantly associated with state anxiety and collegial support. The directionality of these relationships may be inferred using a cross-lagged panel design. To do this, 35 staff members representing various clinical disciplines completed measures of burnout, support, and anxiety twice, eight months apart. Burnout comprised three factors: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. Findings from one cross-lagged panel suggested that emotional exhaustion causes state anxiety. The second panel showed that lack of collegial support caused depersonalization. Understanding causes and effects of burnout for inpatient psychiatric staff may lead to training and resource development that will improve the quality of their work environment.     

Patterns of burnout among managers and professionals: a comparison of models

Using structural equation modeling, this paper compares the intertemporal sequences of the burnout components proposed by Maslach (1982) and Golembiewski (1989) using responses from 354 human resource professionals. The relationship between the burnout components and several critical variables that are theoretically linked to the phenomenon are also investigated. Studying human resource professionals allows us to examine the generalizability of burnout. This group of employees provides a range of services to a largely internal client group, and thus experience strain from interpersonal interactions. Results support Maslach's three-factor sequential model of burnout, although its superiority over the Golembiewski sequential model is not definitive. A post hoc analysis reveals a significant path between emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment, and an insignificant path between depersonalization and personal accomplishment. Investigation of the relationship between the burnout components and several critical, theoretically linked variables indicates significant paths between (a) role overload and emotional exhaustion, (b) noncontingent punishment and depersonalization, and (c) contingent rewards and personal accomplishment. The work documents the generalizability of burnout to managers and professionals in corporate settings. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A further examination of managerial burnout: Toward an integrated model

A model of managerial burnout was examined among 148 human service supervisors and managers. The findings suggest that emotional exhaustion plays a central mediating role in the burnout process. Social support and direct control were associated with exhaustion through role stress. Job and life satisfaction, and time spent with clients and subordinates were also related to exhaustion. In turn, exhaustion was related to depersonalization, professional commitment, and turnover intentions. An expected reciprocal relation between exhaustion and helplessness was not found, as the former had only a weak impact on the latter. Implications for stress coping are discussed.     

Correlates of burnout among public service lawyers

Several hypotheses suggested by the theoretical literature on burnout were empirically tested in an attempt to identify the organizational conditions associated with employee burnout. Public service lawyers in the U.S. (N= 391) completed a survey designed to assess (a) three components of burnout, namely, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feelings of low personal accomplishment; (b) perceptions of several job conditions predicted to be associated these three components of burnout, including workload, role conflict, social support, decision-making policies, and autonomy; and (c) organizational commitment. Results indicate that emotional exhaustion is most strongly associated with role conflict and quantitative workload. Feelings of personal accomplishment were associated with supervisory social support and job level. Depersonalization was associated with role conflict and decision-making policies. Finally, each burnout component is significantly related to organizational commitment.     

Patient demands,lack of reciprocity,and burnout: a five‐year longitudinal study among general practitioners

This study among a sample of 207 general practitioners (GPs) uses a five‐year longitudinal design to test a process model of burnout. On the basis of social exchange and equity theory, it is hypothesized and found that demanding patient contacts produce a lack of reciprocity in the GP–patient relationship, which, in turn, depletes GPs' emotional resources and initiates the burnout syndrome. More specifically, structural equation analyses confirmed that—both at T1 and T2—lack of reciprocity mediates the impact of patient demands on emotional exhaustion. Emotional exhaustion, in turn, evokes negative attitudes toward patients (depersonalization), and toward oneself in relation to the job (reduced personal accomplishment). Moreover, this process model of burnout was confirmed at T2, even after controlling for T1‐scores on each of the model components. Finally, T1 depersonalization predicted the intensity and frequency of T2 patient demands, after controlling for T1 patient demands. This major finding suggests that GPs who attempt to gain emotional distance from their patients as a way of coping with their exhaustion, evoke demanding and threatening patient behaviors themselves. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

高危岗位矿工工作倦怠影响因素的结构方程模型

为探索高危岗位矿工工作倦怠形成机制,寻求合理的干预对策,在文献研究和实地调研基础上,提出矿工工作倦怠假设模型。采用多阶段分层随机抽样法,对1 800名高危岗位矿工进行问卷调查,并借助结构方程模型(SEM)技术验证假设模型。研究表明:组织管理和角色压力均正向影响工作倦怠,工作特征仅正向影响生理疲乏;社会支持是工作压力源到工作倦怠的中介变量;消极应对是工作压力源到工作倦怠的部分中介变量,其中介效应较社会支持大很多;工作压力源通过影响社会支持再影响应对方式进而正向影响工作倦怠。通过有效干预组织管理和角色压力可减缓工作倦怠。     

The costs and benefits of working with one's spouse: A two‐sample examination of spousal support,work–family conflict,and emotional exhaustion in work‐linked relationships

Although the prevalence of employees working within the same workplace or occupation with their spouse has increased, relatively little research has examined their experiences. On the basis of the boundary and conservation of resources (COR) theories, we argue that higher levels of work–family role integration among work‐linked couples will lead to higher levels of spousal support resources and lower levels of work–family conflict. This will, in turn, lead to lower emotional exhaustion among employees in a work‐linked relationship. Among two samples of employees in a variety of occupations, we found that being in a work‐linked relationship was associated with both higher spousal instrumental support as well as different forms of work–family conflict. The interaction between spousal support and work–family conflict was associated with emotional exhaustion. We discuss the implications of these findings for boundary and COR theories in terms of movement of resources across work–family boundaries and resource relevance in the strain process. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Personal need for structure as a boundary condition for humor in leadership

Recent research has established a positive relationship between humor in leadership and organizational behavior variables. However, neither the mechanisms nor the boundary conditions of the positive effects of humor in leadership are completely understood. In this study, we contribute to these questions by investigating the relationship between humor in leadership and follower commitment and burnout in more detail. We propose that these relationships unfold via a relational process and specified this relational process in terms of leader–member exchange. Moreover, we assume that these relationships depend on followers' personal need for structure. We tested the hypothesized moderated‐mediation model in a two‐wave survey study with 142 employees. Our results support the proposed model. We found the predicted indirect effect of humor on commitment and disengagement to be stronger for followers low in need for structure. However, we did not find the proposed effects for emotional exhaustion. We discuss implications for leadership theory, humor theory, and for leadership training and practice. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Good relationships at work: The effects of Leader–Member Exchange and Team–Member Exchange on psychological empowerment,emotional exhaustion,and depression

Emotional exhaustion and depression pose a threat to employees' psychological health. Social relationships at work are important potential buffers against these threats, but the corresponding psychological processes are still unclear. We propose that the subjective experience of high‐quality relationships with supervisors (i.e., Leader–Member Exchange [LMX]) is one of the protective factors against psychological health issues at work and that this effect is mediated by psychological empowerment. We tested these assumptions with two studies (one cross‐sectional and one time lagged) on diverse samples of employees from different organizations. The first study employed emotional exhaustion as the outcome measure; the second used depression. Results from both studies support the proposed process by showing that LMX positively affects empowerment, which negatively affects emotional exhaustion (Study 1) and depression (Study 2). Additionally, Study 2 also showed that Team–Member Exchange is as important as LMX for preventing psychological health issues among employees. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Burnout and sense of coherence among residential real estate brokers

Burnout is a multidimensional syndrome that occurs primarily in professions where practitioners are subjected to stress associated with direct interpersonal contact with clients. Previous research indicates that working as a real estate broker is a particularly stressful form of work. Considering the potentially harmful effect of burnout on real estate brokers, resulting in a range of negative impacts, it is important to identify those factors emanating from either the individual or their work environment that contribute to this syndrome. The paper presents a study that used a questionnaire survey to determine the individual demographics, work and intrapersonal characteristics that affect burnout in real estate brokers. A sample of 305 real estate brokers was obtained in Western Australia. Hierarchical regression was then employed to identify predictors of burnout (i.e. emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and personal accomplishment) and sense of coherence (SOC). The analysis revealed the following: emotional exhaustion was associated with lower age, higher numbers of hours worked, and lower SOC; higher depersonalisation was associated with lower age and SOC; higher personal accomplishment was associated with a greater number of visits to clients per week, the presence of postgraduate qualification and a high SOC. The results provide insight to guide health promotion for real estate brokers so as to enhance their psychological and physical well-being, thus making a contribution to improving their overall performance levels and effectiveness.     

Identification and investigation of properties of social support

In response to the charge by House and Kahn (1985) that there is lack of specificity in conceptualization and measurement of the social support construct, this paper suggests the need to identify and specifically measure discrete properties of the previously identified dimensions (type and source) of social support. Properties are defined as what it is about combinations of source and type that needs to be measured. Based on literature reviews it is suggested that the relevant properties are amount of support, adequacy of support and number of providers of support. Measures are developed for each property. Data from 186 nurses were used to assess main and moderating effects of social support properties, workload and dying patients on emotional exhaustion and physical symptoms. As predicted, support adequacy was related to perceptions of lower workload. As single predictors, amount and adequacy of support reduced physical symptoms and emotional exhaustion. With amount and adequacy controlled, number of providers increased emotional exhaustion. Amount buffered the relationship between death and emotional exhaustion. Moderate levels of adequacy and number buffered the relationship between workload and exhaustion. Both adequacy and amount of support assisted in coping with patient death. In addition, a number of ‘reverse’ buffering and coping relationships were found. It was concluded that examination of different properties of social support increases our understanding of the impact of social support, and that further research needs to examine the simultaneous effects of various combinations of property, type and source of social support.     

基于ABMS的矿山监管Agent工作倦怠现象的仿真研究

基于Agent的仿真建模方法（Agent based modeling and simulation,ABMS）和资源保存理论(conservation of resource theory,COR),构建了多Agent仿真模型,通过确定监管Agent、决策支持Agent、职能配合Agent和矿工Agent及其属性,借助Netlogo仿真平台模拟决策支持力度、职能配合程度以及矿工行为选择对监管Agent工作倦怠的影响,可以输出情感耗竭、人格解体和个人成就3个维度下监管Agent的数量。研究表明:决策支持系数Sc对监管Agent工作倦怠现象影响最大、处理有效性系数Ec影响次之、职能配合系数Fc影响最小,多Agent仿真模型促进了矿山监管Agnet工作倦怠现象的量化分析研究,为矿山安全治理提供了有效的决策依据。     

Emotional exhaustion and job performance: The moderating roles of distributive justice and positive affect

In a field study among 241 shop assistants and their 59 supervisors in fashion chain stores in Mainland China and Hong Kong, we found a negative relationship between emotional exhaustion and four indicators of job performance (overall performance, emotional display, OCB‐O, and OCB‐I) when employees perceived high levels of distributive justice in the exchange relationship with the organization, whereas emotional exhaustion was unrelated to any of these performance types when employees perceived low levels of distributive justice. In addition, this negative two‐way interaction effect of emotional exhaustion by distributive justice on job performance was buffered when employees were high on positive affect and intensified when they were low on positive affect. We used the conservation of resources (COR) theory, the attribution model of justice, and the broaden‐and‐build theory of positive emotions to clarify and discuss the moderating roles of distributive justice and positive affect in the relationship between emotional exhaustion and job performance. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The ripple effect: A spillover model of the detrimental impact of work–family conflict on job success

Exploring the role of both the employee and supervisor, we tested a model of how cognition‐based work‐to‐family conflict manifests itself in the workplace, impacting employee job success. Based on conservation of resources theory and the concept of loss spirals, we hypothesized that when an employee's work interferes with family demands, the resulting work‐to‐family conflict spills over to the work domain via employee emotional exhaustion. We further argued that the behavioral manifestation of employee emotional exhaustion in the workplace is low employee engagement, as assessed by the supervisor. Drawing on signaling theory, we proposed that supervisor assessments of employee engagement are related to promotability, performance ratings, and salary. Work scheduling autonomy, as a boundary condition, is examined as a resource that attenuates these relationships. Data collected from 192 employee–supervisor dyads of a Fortune 1000 company, as well as performance ratings and salary obtained from company records 9 months later, indicated support for our conceptual model. Future research examining employee work–family conflict and job outcomes is discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Good acting requires a good cast: A meso‐level model of deep acting in work teams

This study proposes and tests a meso‐level model of deep acting in work teams that draws on emotional contagion theory to explain how shared means of complying with display rules can arise in work teams. We argue that the presence of influential deep actors can lead to greater convergence (lower dispersion) on individual deep acting in the team. That is, team members behave more similarly. When a team has greater convergence, deep acting by individual members should be related to lower emotional exhaustion and higher job satisfaction and in‐role performance. In a sample of mature work teams, these hypotheses received general support. Our findings suggested that team‐level deep acting effects can foster benefits for team members (lower emotional exhaustion and higher satisfaction) and organizations (higher job performance). Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Jailed resources: conservation of resources theory as applied to burnout among prison guards

This study evaluates a salutogenic perspective of the burnout process. Building upon Hobfoll's ( 1989 ) Conservation of Resources theory, it proposes a simultaneous test of three hypothesized resources‐based models. These competing models test the structure of burnout in relation to depleted resources (e.g., lack of skill utilization, of participation, of co‐worker support, and of professional worth) and negative correlates (e.g., absenteeism and depression). SEM results provide equally good support for two resource‐based models, although each of them proceeds from two different approaches (Leiter vs. Golembiewski). Of all burnout components, personal accomplishment is found to be least related to resources depletion, while emotional exhaustion is the most related to absenteeism and depression. Results are analyzed in light of existing literature and of the specific nature of the sample, a large population of French correctional officers (n = 707). Implications for burnout theory and human resource management are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The construct validity of two burnout measures

The present study was carried out among a sample of 667 Dutch nurses and assesses three aspects of the construct validity of the two most widely used self-report burnout questionnaires: The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Burnout Measure (BM). Although the factorial validity of the three-dimensional structure of the MBI was convincingly demonstrated by confirmatory factor analysis with LISREL, four weak and ambiguous items were identified. Regarding the BM, some doubts have arisen about its one-dimensionality. The congruent validity of the questionnaires was well established: They both refer to the core element of the burnout syndrome (i.e. exhaustion). Moreover, linear structural analyses suggested that burnout is a two multi-dimensional construct consisting of an affective component (i.e. exhaustion) and an attitudinal component (i.e. a negative attitude towards recipients and towards one's job performance). However, the discriminant validity of the first component is rather poor since it considerably overlaps with self-reported somatic complaints and psychological strain. It is concluded that the MBI can be employed as a reliable and valid multi-dimensional indicator of burnout in professionals who work with people. The BM assesses the non-specific affective component of burnout (i.e. exhaustion) and should therefore be supplemented by a scale that measures the attitudinal component of the syndrome.     

Fear of terror and increased job burnout over time: Examining the mediating role of insomnia and the moderating role of work support

While the prevalence of terrorism has increased substantially, there is a paucity of research on the effects of terrorism on employee behavior at work. Building on conservation of resources (COR) theory, and its extension, the conservation of social resources theory, we close gaps in the literature by investigating the effect of fear of terror on increased job burnout over time, the mediating effect of insomnia, and the moderating effect of supervisor and co‐worker support on these relationships. This longitudinal study followed a large sample of Israeli employees (n = 670) across three time measurements over 7 years, in a time period characterized by a high number of terror attacks. The results showed fear of terror to be related to elevated job burnout over time, even during a period in which terror attacks were reduced substantially. Further, insomnia mediated the relationship between fear of terror and increased burnout, while co‐worker support, but not supervisor support, moderated the relationships between fear of terror and increased insomnia and between increased insomnia and increased burnout. The results further support the notion of loss cycles in COR theory, as well as the importance of social resources, which are the cornerstones of conservation of social resources theory. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of preventive coping on business travelers' work and private life

Frequent business travel can be a burden for travelers' work and private life. We tested whether preventive coping (the proactive accumulation of resources in advance of potential stressors) makes such trips beneficial despite their potential to be stressful. In a longitudinal three‐wave study, we investigated whether frequent travel relates to an increase or decrease in work–life balance, emotional exhaustion, work engagement, and relationship satisfaction depending on preventive coping. Findings from a sample of 133 frequent business travelers revealed significant indirect effects for emotional exhaustion, work engagement, and relationship satisfaction through work–life balance. Among employees who engaged less in preventive coping, a higher number of business trips was related to a decrease in work–life balance, which, in turn, was related to more emotional exhaustion, less work engagement, and lower relationship satisfaction. Among those who reported higher preventive coping, we found opposing indirect effects: Frequent travel was related to an increase in work–life balance and, in turn, to less emotional exhaustion, more work engagement, and higher relationship satisfaction. These findings advance our knowledge in the field of business travel, future‐oriented coping, and work–life balance. They highlight that travelers and their organizations should resort to preventive coping to make frequent travel more beneficial.