The relation between overcommitment and burnout: Does it depend on employee job satisfaction?

Abstract

Using the Conservation of Resources (COR - Hobfoll, 1989; Hobfoll & Shirom, 2001) theory as a framework we hypothesized a maladaptive role played by overcommitment in the escalation of burnout. We further specified our model by testing an interaction effect of job satisfaction. By using a longitudinal design, we proposed a moderated mediational model in which burnout at Time 1 increases overcommitment, which in turn leads to more burnout one month later. We further expected to find a moderating role of job satisfaction in the link between overcommitment and burnout at Time 2. A group of 86 white-collar workers in personnel services in Italy (longitudinal response rate = 77.48%) participated in our study. The findings supported our hypotheses even when controlling for gender and role stressors. In particular, by using a bootstrapping procedures to test mediation, we found evidence that employees reporting burnout tend to develop a maladaptive coping style, i.e., overcommitment, which in turn increases burnout over time. This relation was particularly strong for dissatisfied employees. These results highlight the importance of overcommitment for burnout escalation, as well as of job satisfaction, since it may mitigate, at least in the short term, the effect of such dysfunctional strategies.

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The relation between overcommitment
and burnout: does it depend on
employee job satisfaction?
Lorenzo Avanzi
a
, Sara Zaniboni
a
, Cristian Balducci
b
& Franco
Fraccaroli
a
a
Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of
Trento, Corso Bettini 31, I-38068 Rovereto (TN), Italy
b
Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of
Bologna, Strada Maggiore, 45, I-40125 Bologna (BO), Italy
Accepted author version posted online: 19 Nov 2013.Published
online: 17 Dec 2013.
To cite this article: Lorenzo Avanzi, Sara Zaniboni, Cristian Balducci & Franco Fraccaroli
(2014) The relation between overcommitment and burnout: does it depend on employee
job satisfaction?, Anxiety, Stress, & Coping: An International Journal, 27:4, 455-465, DOI:
10.1080/10615806.2013.866230
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2013.866230
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The relation between overcommitment and burnout:
does it depend on employee job satisfaction?
Lorenzo Avanzi
a
*, Sara Zaniboni
a
, Cristian Balducci
b
and Franco Fraccaroli
a
a
Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, I-38068
Rovereto (TN), Italy;
b
Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Bologna, Strada
Maggiore, 45, I-40125 Bologna (BO), Italy
(Received 5 April 2013; accepted 8 November 2013)
Using the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory as a framework, we hypothesized a
maladaptive role played by overcommitment in the escalation of burnout. We further
specified our model by testing an interaction effect of job satisfaction. By using a
longitudinal design, we proposed a moderated mediational model in which burnout at
Time 1 (T1) increases overcommitment, which in turn leads to more burnout one month
later. We further expected to find a moderating role of job satisfaction in the link
between overcommitment and burnout at Time 2 (T2). A group of 86 white-collar
workers in personnel services in Italy (longitudinal response rate = 77.48%) participated
in our study. The findings supported our hypotheses even when controlling for gender
and role stressors. In particular, by using bootstrapping procedures to test mediation, we
found evidence that employees reporting burnout tend to develop a maladaptive coping
style, i.e., overcommitment, which in turn increases burnout over time. This relation was
particularly strong for dissatisfied employees. These results highlight the importance of
overcommitment for burnout escalation, as well as of job satisfaction, since it may
mitigate, at least in the short term, the effect of such dysfunctional strategies.
Keywords: overcommitment; burnout; job satisfaction; moderated mediation;
longitudinal
Social, economic, and technological trend s induce organizations to require more effort and
motivation from their workers, but, at the same time, a capacity to deal with increasing stress
and burnout (e.g., Zaniboni, Truxillo, & Fraccaroli, 2013). Indeed, employees strongly
identified with and committed to their organizations become more willing to devote efforts
to achieving organizational goals, but this may subject them to numerous stressors, and in
the long term, they may suffer exhaustion (Avanzi, van Dick, Fraccaroli, & Sarchielli, 2012 ;
Haslam, 2004 ). Stress and burnout, in their turn, are at the basis of the employee withdrawal
behaviors, such as absenteeism and turnover (Swider & Zimmerman, 2010 ), which cause
billions of lost working days in Europe and perpetuate a vicious circle for organizations.
It is of crucial importance to understand how burnout develops over time, and how
motivational pattern are involved in this process. To this end, a very useful framework is
the Conservation of Resources Theory (COR – Hobfoll, 1989, 2011; Hobfoll & Shirom,
2001), according to which burnout is a downward cycle over time, rather than being a
psychological state. Although the idea of a loss cycle of burnout is not new, only very
*Corresponding author. Email: lorenzo.avanzi@unitn.it
Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 2014
Vol. 27, No. 4, 455–465, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2013.866230
© 2013 Taylor & Francis
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few studies have empirically tested it in organizational field (Schaufeli, Bakker, & Van
Rhenen, 2009; ten Brummelhuis, ter Hoeven, Bakker, & Peper, 2011). According to
COR, stress mainly arises when resources are threatened with loss or are lost. Moreover,
in order to cope with a loss or with a threat of loss, people may use compe nsation
strategies to maintain their current resources (Alarcon, 2011). One such strategy is
overcommitment, which is an exaggerated involvement and effort in work (Siegrist,
2008) which may exacerbate the depletion process over time.
However, this deterioration process may be buffered by job satisfaction. As argued by
Siegrist (1996, 2008), receiving adequat e rewards should balance the employees’ efforts
(in our case, extra efforts such as overcommitment) and reduce their strain reaction. Thus,
dissatisfied employees are workers who consider that they receive inadequate rewards for
their efforts, and this situation may further worsen the depletion process.
To address these issues, we conducted a study to examine a moder ated mediational
model in which burnout at baseline increases overcommitment, which in its turn increases
burnout over time, exacerbating the loss cycle of burnout. This relation is hypothesized to
be moderated by job satisfaction, by which we mean that this escalation of burnout
happens only for dissatisfied employees.
Conservation of resources (COR) theory
An important theoretical framework within which to study and understand the stress
phenomenon is the COR theory (Hobfoll, 1989; Hobfoll & Shirom , 2001). This theory
has gained increasing attention from researchers because it postulates a dynamic process
of stress. The core idea of COR is that people seek to obtain, protect, and maintain
resources (Hobfoll, 1989, 2011). Resources include everything (i.e., objects, personal
characteristics, conditions, and energies) regarded by individuals as important for them,
and by means of which they can reach and obtain other resources. Stress occurs when the
real or perceived resources are threatened with loss or are lost, or also when employees
are unable to acquire new and alternative resources (Hobfoll, 1989, 2011).
The utility of the COR theory for stress-burnout research is that it may account for the
development and the escalation of employee burnout (Hobfoll & Shirom, 2001). Employ-
ees subject to a threat to their resources may not have sufficient resources to deal with this
threat. Hence, in attempting to cope with job stressors and to protect current resources, they
must invest other resour ces. This investment may trigger a loss process leading to employee
burnout (Schaufeli et al., 2009). For example, an employee who has been given a complex
job with a tight deadline may perceive this as a threat to his/her work effectiveness (threat to
resources) because she/he thinks that she/he does not have all the necessary skills to deal
with it (limited resources). She/he may co nsequently make further efforts to acquire new
skills (to inves t other resources) so as to respond effectively to this complex job. But this
induces a further loss of resources and thus triggers burnout escalation.
The COR theory conceptualizes threats of loss or actual loss as job demands. Prolonged
exposure to highly demanding work settings will induce individuals to use more maladaptive
coping strategies in order to handle stressful situations (Alarcon, 2011). Indeed, individuals
may devote more effort to maintaining high levels of job performance under stressful work
conditions, even if this may increase their emotional exhaustion in the long run. Employees
may use some maladaptive coping strategy as a compensation strategy, multiply their efforts,
and increase their involvement in the form of an exaggerated commitment to work.
L. Avanzi et al.456
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Overcommitment has been conceptualized in Effort-Reward Imbalance Theory (ERI –
Siegrist, 1996, 2008) as a motivational pattern of maladaptive coping strategies (Siegrist
et al., 2004) which may be a possible source of strain (Siegrist, 2008). Siegrist (2008)
argues that employees with higher levels of involvement in their work may commit
themselves to continuously high achievement, being unable to withdraw from their work.
This may strengthen the proces s of energy depletion. Indeed, overcommitted workers
“may expose themselves more often to high demands at work, or they exaggerate their
efforts beyond what is formally needed” (Siegrist et al., 2004, p. 1485) because they tend
to misjudge (i.e., overestimate or underestimate) both work demands and their personal
resources to cope with them. Thus, overcommitment may “magnify stressful experience
resulting from high cost/low gain conditions at work because it induces exagger ated efforts
which are not met by extrinsic rewards” (Wirtz, Siegrist, Rimmele, & Ehlert, 2008, p. 93).
In the long term, this motivational pattern may make employees more susceptible to
emotional exhaustion and in general to strain reactions (Siegrist, 2008 ). Previous research
has found that overcommitment is associated with coronary heart disease risk (Kuper,
Singh-Manoux, Siegrist, & Marmot, 2002; Siegrist, Peter, Junge, Cremer, & Seidel, 1990),
increased levels of the stress hormones norepinephrine and cortisol (Wirtz et al., 2008),
greater levels of anxiety and depression (Mark & Smith, 2012a), and, in general, poor well-
being and increased emotional exhaustion (Bakker, Killmer, Siegrist, & Schaufeli, 2000;
Calnan, Wainwright, & Almond, 2000; de Jonge, Bosma, Peter, & Siegrist, 2000).
Therefore, burned-out employees in highly stressful work environments (burnout T1) may
react by increasing their effort, adopting maladaptive coping strategies (i.e., overcommit-
ment), and this in turn may lead to an escal ation of burnout in the long term (burnout T2).
As outlined by Siegrist, stress arises when employees receive inadequate rewards for
their efforts, and overcommitment increases the “susceptibility to the frustration of reward
expectancies” (Siegrist et al., 2004, p. 1485). However, it is plausible that when the
employees’ efforts receive adequate “rewards,” this positive feedback moderates the
negative impact on well-being of the maladaptive coping strategy.
Workers who believe that they receive fair and adequate rewards from their work will
experience positive emotional states associated with the perception of self-achievement,
accomplishment, and growth. Overall, intrinsic rewards will be greater if employees work
harder and commit themselves to achieving high goals in their work. For this reason,
overcommitted employees who receive positive feedback should experience even more
positive emotions associated with these rewards, which protect them from emotional
exhaustion. For example, Mark and Smith (2012b) found a significant interaction between
overcommitment and intrinsic reward on anxiety. In other words, employees who show
low levels of overcommitment are less anxious when they perceive more rewards.
Job satisfaction is a pleasant emotional state associated with a positive evaluation of
the work experience. Job satisfaction has been found to be negatively related to burnout
(Alarcon, 2011; Faragher, Cass, & Cooper, 2005; Lee & Ashforth, 1996), demonstrating
the positive effect of job satisfaction on employee well-being.
Therefore, adopting maladaptive coping strategies (i.e., overcom mitment) in response
to resources depletion may escalate burnout in the long term only (or overall) if employees
are dissatisfied. In other words, when rewards are received (job satisfaction), the burnout
escalation effect due to overcommitment may be reduced or annulled, meaning that job
satisfaction buffers the relation between overcommitment and burnout at T2.
Anxiety, Stress & Coping 457
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We argue that these relations will be consistent even after controlling for context (i.e.,
role ambiguity and role conflict) and personal (i.e., gender) variables (our model is
depicted in Figure 1). Since COR theory argues that highly demanding work settings are
potentially able to induce a loss cycle, we operationalized the work environmental context
in terms of hindrance stressors (Podsakoff, LePine, & LePine, 2007). In particular, we
considered role conflict and role ambiguity since these have already been linked to both
excessive involvement in wor k and stress and burnout (Alarcon, 2011; Balducci, Cecchin,
& Fraccaroli, 2012).
Summarizing, we postulated a moderated mediational model in which burnout T1 will
increase overcommitment, which in turn will increase burnout T2 (escalation of burnout),
but only for low levels of job satisfaction. These paths were controlled for context (role
conflict and ambiguity) and personal (gender ) variables.
Method
Participants
The participants were all the 111 employees in the Personnel Service of Italian Province
carrying out mainly administrative tasks. They were contac ted during working hours and
told about the aims of the study and asked for thei r consent to participate. The Time 1
(T1) questionnaire was completed by 101 employees, while 100 employees completed a
Time 2 (T2) questionnaire one month after T1. The T1 and T2 questionnaires were
matched by means of anonymous codes, and in the final sample, the follow-up data were
available for 86 employees (representing a longitudinal response rate of 77.48%). The
final sample was 81.4% female, with an average organizational tenure of 14.45 years (SD
= 9.13; rangi ng from 1 to 40).
In order to control the differences between employees who compiled both surveys and
those who compiled only one, a series of t -tests were conducted on organizational tenure,
Figure 1. Full hypothesized model.
L. Avanzi et al.458
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role conflict, role ambiguit y, overcommitment, job satisfaction, and job burnout.
However, no differences emerged between those who had only completed the
questionnaire at T1 and those who had participated in both surveys. Furthermore, a
chi-square test was conducted to examine whether participa nt distrib ution in both surveys
(both T1 and T2), as against only one (T1 only), varied as a function of their gender.
Again, no significant effect was found.
Measures
Job burnout
This was measured by the Italian version of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI)
(Avanzi, Balducci, & Fraccaroli, 2013; Kristensen, Borritz, Villadsen, & Christensen,
2005). Of particular interest to us was the work-related burnout dimension of CBI, which
refers to the degree of fatigue and exhaustion perceived by workers as being related to their
work (7 items; αT1 = .85 and αT2 = .87). A sample item is “Does your work frustrate you?”.
Following Kristensen et al.’s(2005) recommendations, two different response formats were
used on the basis of the content of each quest ion: three items were answered on an intensity
scale (from 1 “to a very low degree” to 5 “to a very high degree”), while the remaining four
were answered on a frequency scale (from 1 “never/almost never” to 5 “always”).
Overcommitment
This was assessed by a scale (Siegrist et al., 2004) composed of six Likert-scaled items
where respondents indicated to what extent they personally “agreed” (1) or “disagreed”
(4). An example item is “I get easily overwhelmed by time pressures at work” (αT1 = .81
and αT2 = .80).
General job satisfaction
This was measured by the three-items scale of Hackman and Oldham (1975). Responses
were given on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 “to a very low degree” to 5 “to a very
high degree”. A sample item is “In general, I like working here” (αT1 = .93).
Role conflict and role ambiguity
We used two items for each dimension of the Peterson and colleagues’ scale (Peterson
et al., 1995). Responses were given on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 “never” to 5
“always”. An example item for role conflict is “
I often get involved in situations in which
there are conflicting requirements” (αT1 = .78). An example item for role ambiguity is
“I know exactly what is expected of me (reverse item)” (αT1 = .69).
Data analyses
Following the procedure suggested by Smith and Beaton (Smith & Beaton, 2008),
changes in the standardized residual scores were used to measure overcommi tment
longitudinally. In particular, by regressing T2 scores of overcommitment on the
equivalent T1 scores, we obtained the T1–T2 changes in overcommitment measured as
Anxiety, Stress & Coping 459
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the standardized residual scores. Positive residual scores indicated an increase in
overcommitment, while negative scores revealed a decrease. The se scores were entered
in the model as mediators of the relation between burnout T1 and burnout T2. Multiple
regression analysis was conducted by using the PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2012). This
enabled us to use the bootstrapping method which provides robust estimates of standard
errors and confidence intervals and is consequently particularly recommended for
identifying significant effects even with small samples, as in our case (Preache r, Rucker,
& Hayes, 2007). In particular, we performed the model 14 in the PROCESS macro,
which makes it possible to test a moderated mediational model in which the path from
mediator to dependent variable is moderated by a fourth variable. We specified 10,000
bootstrap samples to obtain robust estimates of the parameters of interest.
Results
In Table 1, we report the results from the moderated mediational model tested. Shown in
the upper (from the left) part of Table 1 is the mediator model in which it can be seen
that, after controlling for persona l (i.e., gender) and context (i.e., role conflict and role
ambiguity) variables, only burnout T1 had a positive and significant effect on
overcommitment. On the right of the upper part of Table 1 is the dependent variable
model in which it is apparent that after controlling for covariates (with only role
ambiguity having a positive and significant impact on burnout T2) and for burnout T1
(with positive and highly significant beta), overcommitment explains an additional and
significant portion of burnout T2. In particular, as expected, overcommitment increases
burnout T2. Finally, as shown in Table 1, we also tested the moderation of job
Table 1. Moderated mediational model.
Δ Overcommitment (M) Burnout T2 (Y)
R
2
=.11* R
2
= .65***
b coefficient (SE) b coefficient (SE)
Gender
a
.45 (.27) .20 (.12)
Role conflict −.10 (.12) .06 (.05)
Role ambiguity −.01 (.19) .21* (.08)
Burnout T1 (X) .46** (.17) .69*** (.09)
Δ Overcommitment (M) – .14** (.05)
Job satisfaction (W) – .03 (.04)
Interaction (Job satisfaction X Δ Overcommitment) – −.09* (.04)
Conditional indirect effect of burnout T1(X) on burnout T2 (Y) through overcommitment (M)at
values of the job satisfaction moderator (W)
Job satisfaction Effect (Boot SE) Boot 95% CI
Low (−1.23) .12 (.05) .03–.24
Moderate (.00) .06 (.04) .01–.16
High (1.23) .01 (.04) −.08–.11
N = 86 (listwise).
a
0 = male, 1 = female;
X = independent variable, M = mediator variable, W = moderator variable, Y = dependent variable, Δ =
standardized residual scores. Shown are 95% bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals obtained from 10,000
bootstrap draws. *p < .05; **p < .001; ***p < .001.
L. Avanzi et al.460
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satisfaction, and we found that there is an additional, significant, and negative effect of
the interaction term (job satisfaction × overcommitment) on burnout T2.
The lower part of the Table 1 reports critical values of the conditional indirect effect.
We used the mean as well as a standard deviation above and below the mean on job
satisfaction to represent low, moderate, and high values of job satisfaction, respectively.
As can be seen, the indirect effect of burnout at T1 on burnout at T2 through
overcommitment was positive among those respondents with relatively low (.12, 95%
CI: .03 to .24), and to a lesser extent moderate (.06, 95% CI: .01 to .16), levels of job
satisfaction; while no significant result was found for respondents with higher levels of
job satisfaction (.01, 95% CI: −.08 to .11).
Figure 2 plots in more detail the nature of the interaction effect between job
satisfaction and overcommitment on burnout T2, showing that overcommitment had a
significantly positive effect on burnout at T2 only among those respondents who reported
low, and to a lesser extent moderate, levels of job satisfaction, while it had no significant
effect among those who reported relatively high levels of job satisfaction.
Summarizing, burnout T1 increases overcommitment, which in turn escalates burnout
at T2, even after controlling for gender and both role conflict and role ambiguity.
However, overcommitted workers tend to develop a higher level of burnout at T2 only if
they perceive lower, and to a lesser extent medium, level s of job satisfaction.
Discussion
The aim of the research was to test a complex model into which, starting from COR
theory, it was possible to integrate suggestions originating from other theoretical
–0.40
–0.30
–0.20
–0.10
0.00
0.10
0.20
0.30
highmedlow
BurnoutT2
Overcommitment
Job Satisfaction
Low(–1 SD)
Moderate (Mean)
High (+1 SD)
Figure 2. Moderating effect of job satisfaction on the relation between overcommitment and
burnout T2.
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traditions (i.e., ERI theory) and to test a model more adherent to real and complex work
life. In particular, we considered burnout to be a process (Hobfoll & Shirom, 2001) and
believed that grasping its dynamics requires a longitudinal design. We also wanted to
verify a mediational model in which current burnout may strengthen a maladaptive
motivational pattern of coping strategies (named overcommitment) characterized by
excessive involvement in the job and an exaggerated amount of effort made to achieve
goal attainment (Siegrist, 2008). Overcommitment in turn should heighten the employees’
emotional exhaustion over time. Overcommitment is an exaggerated form of job
involvement, which is norm ally considered by employers as a positive and desirable
attitude among employees because it induces them to work harder and to maintain high
levels of activity. However, it may also represent a threat to employees’ well-being. In
particular, we postulated that this motivational pattern has a negative effect on workers’
health when they are not satisfied with their jobs (moderation). In other words, if
employees do not receive adequate and fair rewards (intrinsic and extrinsic), and
therefore, if they are not satisfied with thei r jobs, their excessive commitment tends to
translate into a depletion process leading to emotional exhaustion. In this sense, job
satisfaction may decrease the negative impact of this excessive motivational pattern on
employees’ emotional exhaustion by having a buffering effect. The findings completely
confirmed our hypothesis. However, this does not mean that the dynamic is healthy.
Indeed, it is a compensation effect that may mask, but not eliminate the problem (i.e.,
emotional exhaustion), with possible detrimental effects in the long run. We additionally
controlled for personal and context variables, but our results remained significant. We
controlled for gender and for two importan t hindrance stressors – role conflict and role
ambiguity – which may explain burnout escalation. However, only role ambiguity
explained some variance of the burnout at T2 in the expected direction, but even on
controlling for these covari ates, overcommitment remained a significant predictor of
burnout. Our results are further strengthened by the complex model that we adopted in
which both mediation and moderation effects were postulated and in which both personal
and context covariate variables wer e taken into account, thereby, in our view, adhering
more closely to the structured reality of the workplace.
Our research also has some limitati ons. First, our sample was certa inly not
representative, and the possibility of generalizing the findings is limited. It would,
therefore, be interesting to replicate our results with different occupational groups, in
different countries, and with more homogeneous groups according to gender (in our
sample, over 80% were female), given that gender is an important dimension as far as
stress and coping are concerned (e.g., Matud, 2004), and resear ch on gender differences
about teacher burnout has yielded mixed results until now (Milfont, Denny, Ameratunga,
Robinson, & Merry, 2008).
Further, the burnout levels in our sample were not particularly high. Even if other
studies have found similar or even lower burnout scores (Schaufeli et al., 2009), it would
be interesting to test our hypothesis in more demanding work contexts (e.g., those of
nurses in hospital).
Second, and perhaps more importantly, our sample was not particularly large.
However, it should first be borne in mind that, although ours was longitudinal research,
we had a very large response rate (77.48%) so that our sample was not large but,
nevertheless, representative of our target “population” (Personnel Service). Furthermore,
the significance of our findings was controlled by using the bootstrapping method (with
L. Avanzi et al.462
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10,000 resamplings), which is a technique particularly suited to small samples. We are,
therefore, quite confident of the strength of our results. Another limitation of our study is
that self-reported data were used, even if employing a longitudinal design reduced the
potential drawback concerning the common method variance problem. However, it would
be interesting in future resear ch to use other tools, such as objective measures (i.e.,
neuroendocrine concentration in order to meas ure stress reactions) or experimental data.
A further limitation concerns the time lag. For practical convenience, the time lag selected
was one month. However, in future studies longer time lags and more measurement
points are necessary, as well as larger samples, since this would make it possible to use
more suitable analyses (i.e., Latent Growth Curve) better to detect the burnout cycle.
Hence, it should be stressed that our analyses and findings are preliminary and should be
interpreted with great caution.
From the point of view of organizational practices, our findings suggest that job
burnout may reinforce a maladaptive coping strategy with job demands increasing in the
long run because employees dysfun ctionally involved in their jobs may exaggerate their
efforts, thus exposing themselves to more severe emotional exhaustion. In order to
counter employee burnout and its consequenc es (e.g., absenteeism and reduced
performance), management should avoid reinforcing attitudes to work characterized by
excessive efforts and an inability to detach oneself from work obligations (i.e.,
overcommitment). Alternatively, or in addition to this, management should support a
fair system of rewards or provide other job resources such as autonomy and feedback,
which may limit the negative effects of overcommitment by promoting job satisfaction
and more adaptive forms of involvement such as work engagement – which, differently
from overcommitment, is associated with positive job-related emotions, well-being, and
performance (Balducci, Fraccaroli, & Schaufeli, 2010).
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