Inequity,burnout and psychological withdrawal among teachers: a dynamic exchange model

This study examined the relations among inequity, psychological wellbeing and organizational commitment among a longitudinal sample of 920 Dutch teachers. Equity theory provided hypotheses on the mutual effects of inequity experienced in interpersonal and organizational exchange relationships on the one hand, and strain and psychological withdrawal on the other. Further, we expected that distincing oneself from an inequitable exchange relationship would lead to a more equitable balance between investments in and benefits gained from the corresponding exchange relationships. Covariance structure modelling supported the distinction among three types of exchange relationships, as well as the distinction between different sets of outcome variables associated with these relationships. Inequity was related to the expected negative work outcomes within but not across time points. Withdrawal from an inequitable relationship seemed to increase, rather than to decrease the inequity of particular exchange relationships.     

For Fun,Love, or Money: What Drives Workaholic,Engaged, and Burned‐Out Employees at Work?

Previous research has distinguished between two types of working hard: workaholism, a “bad” type of working hard, and work engagement, a “good” type of working hard. However, the motivations underlying workaholism and work engagement have not been examined extensively. Building on Deci and Ryan's Self‐Determination Theory, the present study examined the motivational correlates of workaholism, work engagement, and burnout (a possible consequence of working hard), using data from Chinese health care professionals (544 nurses and 216 physicians), and controlling for job demands and resources. As expected, structural equation modeling revealed that high levels of workaholism were associated with high levels of introjected regulation and identified regulation; that high levels of work engagement were mainly associated with high levels of intrinsic regulation; and that high levels of burnout were mainly associated with low levels of intrinsic regulation. Thus, different types of motivational regulation are associated with different types of job‐related well‐being.     

Workaholism,Burnout, and Work Engagement: Three of a Kind or Three Different Kinds of Employee Well‐being?

The present study investigated in a sample of 587 telecom managers whether workaholism, burnout, and work engagement—the supposed antipode of burnout—can be distinguished empirically. These three concepts were measured with existing, validated multi‐dimensional questionnaires. Structural equation modeling revealed that a slightly modified version of the hypothesised model that assumed three distinct yet correlated constructs—burnout, engagement, and workaholism—fitted the data best. Multiple regression analyses revealed that these three concepts retained unique hypothesised patterns of relationships with variables from five clusters representing (1) long working hours, (2) job characteristics, (3) work outcomes, (4) quality of social relationships, and (5) perceived health, respectively. In sum, our analyses provided converging evidence that workaholism, burnout, and engagement are three different kinds of employee well‐being rather than three of a kind. La présente étude examine auprès d’un échantillon de 587 cadres des télécommunications la question de savoir si l’addiction au travail, le burnout et l’engagement au travail—supposé l’inverse du burnout—peuvent être distingués empiriquement. Ces trois concepts sont mesurés à partir de questionnaires multi‐dimensionnels existants et validés. La modélisation d’équation structurale indique qu’une version légèrement modifiée du modèle testé selon lequel le burnout, l’engagement au travail et l’addiction au travail sont trois formes distinctes bien que corrélées du bien‐être, rend mieux compte des résultats. Des analyses de régression multiples montrent que ces trois concepts renvoient à des modèles de relations supposés uniques entre les variables des cinq groupes suivants: 1) le nombre d’heures travaillées, 2) les caractéristiques du travail, 3) les résultats du travail, 4) la qualité des relations sociales et 5) la santé perçue. En conclusion, les analyses montrent de façon convergente que l’addiction au travail, le burnout et l’engagement au travail sont trois formes différentes de bien‐être des employés plutôt que trois facettes du bien‐être.     

The Job Demands–Resources model: An analysis of additive and joint effects of demands and resources

The present study investigated the additive, synergistic, and moderating effects of job demands and job resources on well-being (burnout and work engagement) and organizational outcomes, as specified by the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model. A survey was conducted among two Chinese samples: 625 blue collar workers and 761 health professionals. A series of multi-group structural equation modeling analyses supported the two processes proposed by the JD-R model: (1) the stress process that originates from job demands and leads, via burnout, to negative organizational outcomes (turnover intention and low organization commitment); and (2) the motivational process that originates from job resources and leads, via work engagement, to positive organizational outcomes. In contrast to moderating effects, synergistic effects of job demands and job resources on burnout and work engagement were found in both samples. However, after controlling for additive effects of job demands and job resources, these synergistic effects largely disappeared. In conclusion, the hypothesized additive effects of the JD-R model were found but the evidence for additional synergistic and moderating effects was weak.     

Attachment Styles and Employee Performance: The Mediating Role of Burnout

Researchers are becoming increasingly interested in how early experiences within the family are relevant to an individual’s behavior at work. Drawing on Bowlby’s attachment theory, the present study addresses this topic by examining the relationship between attachment in adulthood and job performance, and the mediating role of burnout in that relationship. We used data from two samples (201 Dutch employees and 178 Romanian working students) and structural equation modeling to test this mediation model and its possible invariance across both samples. The results showed that in both samples, attachment-related anxiety was positively related to burnout, which was in turn negatively related to job performance. Attachment-related avoidance was not significantly associated with burnout or performance. These results were similar in both samples, thus increasing their validity. The results suggest that childhood and early socialization experiences play a role in shaping the employee’s behavior and well-being at work. The study is one of the few examining attachment styles in relation to burnout and performance.     

The Measurement of Engagement and Burnout: A Two Sample Confirmatory Factor Analytic Approach

This study examines the factorial structure of a new instrument to measure engagement, the hypothesized `opposite' of burnout in a sample of university students (N=314) and employees (N=619). In addition, the factorial structure of the Maslach-Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) is assessed and the relationship between engagement and burnout is examined. Simultaneous confirmatory factor analyses in both samples confirmed the original three-factor structure of the MBI-GS (exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy) as well as the hypothesized three-factor structure of engagement (vigor, dedication, and absorption). Contrary to expectations, a model with two higher-order factors – burnout and engagement – did not show a superior fit to the data. Instead, our analyses revealed an alternative model with two latent factors including: (1) exhaustion and cynicism (core of burnout); (2) all three engagement scales plus efficacy. Both latent factors are negatively related and share between 22% and 38% of their variances in both samples. Despite the fact that slightly different versions of the MBI-GS and the engagement questionnaire had to be used in both samples the results were remarkably similar across samples, which illustrates the robustness of our findings.     

Executive Function and Theory of Mind in Children with ADHD: a Systematic Review

In developmental research, the relationship between Executive Function (EF) and Theory of Mind (ToM) has been extensively assessed, and EF has been considered a condition for ToM. However, few researchers have studied the relationship between EF and ToM in clinical populations, especially that of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by symptoms of inattention and motor hyperactivity/impulsivity, in which EF is largely impaired. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) model, 201 English and Spanish articles evaluating EF and ToM in ADHD were chosen. Fifteen papers met the inclusion criteria and were selected for further analysis. The first study dates from 2001. Most of the studies’ designs are cross-sectional, include mostly male children, have a small sample size, and were conducted in European countries. Unlike tasks assessing EF, tasks assessing ToM were heterogeneous across studies. The EFs most correlated with ToM were inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and attention. Interest in studying the relationship between EF and ToM in ADHD is recent,but increasing based on new findings and tuning of ToM instruments. However, while an association between EF and ToM is indicated in ADHD, the degree of prediction and predictability of one over the other cannot yet be established because of the studies’ heterogeneity.     

Job Insecurity Research is Still Alive and Kicking Twenty Years Later: A Commentary

This paper comments on the review of longitudinal job insecurity studies in this special issue. The main conclusion of that review, namely that job insecurity leads to poor health and well‐being, remains undisputed. It is argued, however, that future job insecurity research should focus more on: (a) uncovering the underlying psychological mechanisms of job insecurity; (b) the effects of new forms of labor contracts; (c) differences across nations as a function of different social security systems; and (d) the effects of organisations. It is concluded that job insecurity is a problem of our time and that 20 years after the publication of Dekker and Schaufeli's study on job insecurity among workers in Australian public transport corporation, psychological job insecurity research is still alive and kicking.     

The Construct Validity of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale: Multisample and Longitudinal Evidence

This study investigated the factor structure and factorial group and time invariance of the 17-item and 9-item versions of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES; Schaufeli et al. (2002b) Journal of Happiness Studies 3:71–92). Furthermore, the study explored the rank-order stability of work engagement. The data were drawn from five different studies (N = 9,404), including a three-year longitudinal study (n = 2,555), utilizing five divergent occupational samples. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized correlated three-factor structure—vigor, dedication, absorption—of both UWES scales. However, while the structure of the UWES-17 did not remain the same across the samples and time, the structure of the UWES-9 remained relatively unchanged. Thus, the UWES-9 has good construct validity and use of the 9-item version can be recommended in future research. Moreover, as hypothesized, Structural Equation Modeling showed high rank-order stabilities for the work engagement factors (between 0.82 and 0.86). Accordingly, work engagement seems to be a highly stable indicator of occupational well-being.     

Burnout Contagion Processes Among Teachers1

This study of 154 Dutch high school teachers examined processes by which occupational burnout may transfer from one person to another. Two conditions that may increase the probability of burnout contagion were investigated; namely, individual teachers' susceptibility to emotional contagion, and the frequency with which teachers are exposed to colleagues with student‐ and work‐related problems. Consistent with hypotheses derived from theories about emotional contagion, the results suggest that bumout contagion was most pronounced under these 2 high‐risk conditions. Specifically, the prevalence of perceived burnout among participants' colleagues was most strongly related to individual teachers' burnout (i. e., emotional exhaustion and depersonalization), when the teachers were highly susceptible to the emotions of others and when they frequently communicated with each other about work‐related problems.