The Relationship Between Burnout and Work Engagement in the Differentiated Job Demands-Resources Model: A Study of Hospitality Industry
Date: 2023-11-17
Degree: Doctoral Thesis
Programme: Psychology
Authors: Lei Chi Hang
Supervisors: Professor Angus Kuok, University of Saint Joseph
Abstract:
The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model is one of the most influential models for studying burnout and work engagement. However, the relationship between job demands and work engagement yields inconsistent results in empirical research. This study adopted the JD-R model as the theoretical base, together with the differentiated job demands approach, to examine the inconsistent relationship between job demands (i.e., emotional labor) and work engagement. Additionally, the newly proposed job resource (i.e., transformational leadership) and its relationship between burnout and work engagement were examined. Moreover, the moderating role of personal resources (i.e., emotional intelligence) was tested. Data were collected from employees working in the hospitality industry. The results revealed that (1) surface acting correlated positively with emotional exhaustion and cynicism; (2) deep acting was positively correlated with professional efficacy, cognitive, emotional, and physical work engagement; (3) the transformational leadership style negatively predicted emotional exhaustion and cynicism, while positively predicting professional efficacy, cognitive, emotional, and physical work engagement; (4) emotional intelligence moderated the relationship between deep acting, professional efficacy, and emotional work engagement; and (5) the mediation role of burnout was found in the current study.
