Organizational justice, social support and burnout amongst health care workers: direct and moderating effects of social support

Journal title PSICOLOGIA DELLA SALUTE
Author/s Barbara Loera, Silvia Gattino, Daniela Converso
Publishing Year 2013 Issue 2013/1
Language Italian Pages 22 P. 27-48 File size 322 KB
DOI 10.3280/PDS2013-001002
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

This contribution explains the results of a research conducted on the relationships between organizational justice and social support - from colleagues and superiors - and burnout. The aim is to highlight the direct effects of those organizational variables on the onset of such syndrome. More specifically, the possible effects of moderation of social support in the relationship between organizational justice and burnout will be identified. This study was carried out in the biggest Hospital of the Piemonte region and it involved 503 operators, working in three different Units (different for patients’ characteristics and intensity of treatment system: emergency medicine, internal medicine and radiology, ICU and not-ICU). Results highlight both the direct effects of justice and social support on burnout and, differently in the three Units, moderation effects of social support on the relationship between justice and the dimensions of burnout.

Keywords: Burnout, organizational justice, social support, intensive care unit (ICU), notintensive care unit (not-ICU).

  1. Adams J.S. (1965). Inequity in Social Exchange. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 2: 267-299. DOI: 10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60108-2
  2. Aiken L.S. and West S.G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
  3. Ambrose M.L. and Schminke M. (2003). Organization Structure as a Moderator of the Relationship between Procedural Justice, Interactional Justice, Perceived Organizational Support, and Supervisory Trust. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 2: 295-305.
  4. Aryee S., Budhwar P.S. and Chen Z.X. (2002). Trust as Mediator of the Relationship between Organizational Justice and Work Outcomes: Test of a Social Exchange Model. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23: 267-285. DOI: 10.1002/job.138
  5. Baldasseroni A., Camerino D., Cenni P., Cesana G.C., Fattorini E., Ferrario M., Mariani M. e Tartaglia R. (2001). La valutazione dei fattori psicosociali: proposta della versione italiana del Job Content Questionnaire di R.A. Karasek. [The psychosocial factors assessment: a proposal from the Italian version of the Job Content Questionnaire of R.A. Karasek]. Fogli di Informazione Ispesl, 14, 3: 20-32, testo disponibile al sito: www.ispesl.it/informazione/Karasek.htm.
  6. Bakker A., Demerouti E. and Euwema M. (2005). Job Resources Buffer the Impact of Job Demands on Burnout. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 10, 2: 170-180. DOI: 10.1037/1076-8998.10.2.170
  7. Bakker A.B., Van Emmerik I.J.H. and Euwema M.C. (2006). Crossover of Burnout and Engagement in Work Teams. Work & Occupations, 33: 464-489. DOI: 10.1177/0730888406291310
  8. Baron R.M. and Kenny D.A. (1986). The Moderator-Mediator Variable Distinction in Social Psychology Research: Conceptual, Strategic and Statistical Consideration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 6: 1173-1182. DOI: 10.1037/a0021082
  9. Beehr T.A. (1995). Psychological Stress in the Workplace. London: Routledge
  10. Beehr T.A., Bowling N.A. and Bennett M. M. (2010). Occupational Stress and Failures of Social Support: When Helping Hurts. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 15, 1: 45-59. DOI: 10.1037/a0018234
  11. Beehr T.A. and McGrath J.E. (1992). Social Support, Occupational Stress, and Anxiety. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 5: 7-19. DOI: 10.1080/10615809208250484
  12. Blau P.M. (1964). Exchange and Power in Social Life. New York: Wiley
  13. Borgogni L., Galati D., Petitta L. e Centro Formazione Schweitzer (2005). Questionario di check-up organizzativo. Manuale dell’Adattamento Italiano [Organizational Check-up questionnaire. Handbook of the Italian version]. Firenze: Giunti Organizzazioni Speciali
  14. Brough P., O’Driscoll M.P., Kalliath T., Cooper C.L. and Poelmas S.A. (2009). Workplace Psychological Health: Current Research and Practice. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar
  15. Burke R.J. and Greenglass E. (1995). Work Stress, Role Conflict, Social Support and Psychological Burnout among Teachers. Psychological Reports, 77: 1367-1375. DOI: 10.2466/pr0.1979.45.2.590
  16. Cassel J.C. (1976). The Contribution of the Social Environment to Host Resistance. American Journal of Epidemiology, 104: 107-123
  17. Cobb S. (1976). Social Support as Moderator of Life Stress. Psychosomatic Medicine, 5: 300-314
  18. Cohen J., Cohen P., West S. and Aiken L. (2003). Applied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis for the Behavioural Sciences. Mahwah, NJ: Elbraum
  19. Cohen S. and Wills T. (1985). Stress, Social Support and the Buffering Hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98 (2): 310-357. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.98.2.310
  20. Colquitt J.A. (2001). On the Dimensionality of Organizational Justice: A Construct Validation of a Measure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86: 386-400. DOI: 10.1037//0021-9010.86.3.386
  21. Colquitt J.A. and Greenberg J. (2003). Organizational Justice: A Fair Assessment of the State of the Literature. In: Greenberg J., editor, Organizational Behavior. The State of the Science. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, pp. 165-210
  22. Colquitt J.A., LePine J.A., Piccolo R.F., Zapata C.P. and Rich B.L. (2012). Explaining the Justice-Performance Relationship: Trust as Exchange Deepener or Trust as Uncertainty Reducer? Journal of Applied Psychology, 97, 1: 1-15. DOI: 10.1037/a0025208
  23. Cox T., Griffiths A., Barlowe C., Randall R., Thomson L. and Rial-González E. (2000). Organizational interventions for work stress: A risk management approach. Nottingham: Institute of Work, Health and Organisations (I-WHO), University of Nottingham Business School
  24. Converso D., Gattino S. e Loera B. (2009). Antecedenti della sindrome di burnout nella sanità pubblica: fattori interpersonali e organizzativi [Determinants of the burnout syndrome in public health system: interpersonal and organizational factors]. Risorsa Uomo, 15, 3: 241-258. DOI: 10.3280/RU2009-003003
  25. Cooper C.L., Dewe P.J. and O’Driscoll M.P. (2001). Organizational Stress: a Review and Critique of Theory, Research and Applications. London: Sage
  26. Devereux J.M., Hastings R.P., Noone S.J., Firth A. and Totsika V. (2009). Social Support and Coping as Mediators or Moderators of the Impact of Work Stressors on Burnout in Intellectual Disability Support Staff. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 30: 367- 377. DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2008.07.002
  27. Dubreuil P., Laughrea M.C., Morin A.J.S., Courcy F. and Olivier L. (2009). Role Stressors and Burnout: Effects of Social Relationships. International Journal of Business and Management, 4, 9: 3-16.
  28. Edwards D., Hannigan B., van Merode G., Landeweerd J., Fothergill A. and Burnard P. (2002). Stress Management for Mental Health Professionals: A Review of Effective Techniques. Stress and Health, 18: 203-215. DOI: 10.1002/smi.947
  29. Elovainio M., Kivimäki M. and Vahtera J. (2002). Organizational Justice: Evidence of a New Psychosocial Predictor of Health. American Journal of Public Health, 92, 1: 105- 108. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.92.1.105
  30. Elovainio M., Kivimäki M., Vahtera J., Keltikangas-Järvinen L. and Virtanen M. (2003). Sleeping Problems and Health Behaviors as Mediators Between Organizational Justice and Health. Health Psychology, 22: 287-293. DOI: 10.1037/0278-6133.22.3.287
  31. Folkman S. and Lazarus R. (1986). Stress process and depressive symptomatology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95: 107-113. DOI: 10.1037/0021-843X.95.2.107
  32. Fox S., Spector P.E. and Miles D. (2001). Counterproductive Work Behavior in Response to Job Stressors and Organizational Justice: Some Mediator and Moderator Tests for Autonomy and Emotions. Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 59: 291-309. DOI: 10.1006/jvbe.2001.1803
  33. Francis L. and Barling J. (2005). Organizational Injustice and Psychological Strain. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 37: 250-261. DOI: 10.1037/h0087260
  34. Galletta M., Portoghese I., Pietronilla Penna M., Battistelli A. and Saiani L. (2011). Turnover Intention among Italian Nurses: The Moderating Roles of Supervisor Support and Organizational Support. Nursing and Health Sciences, 13: 184-191. DOI: 10.1111/j.1442-2018.2011.00596.x
  35. Gottlieb B.H. (1983) Social Support as a Focus for Integrative Research in Psychology. American Psychologist, 38, 3: 278-287. DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.38.3.278
  36. Greenberg J. (1993). Stealing in the Name of Justice: Informational and Interpersonal Moderators of Theft Reactions to Underpayment Inequity. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 54: 81-103. DOI: 10.1006/obhd.1993.1004
  37. Greenberg J. (2006). Losing Sleep over Organizational Injustice: Attenuating Insomniac Reactions to Underpayment Inequity with Supervisory Training in Interactional Justice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91: 58-69. DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.91.1.58
  38. Himle D.P., Jayaratne S. and Thyness P.A. (1991). Buffering Effects of Four Social Support Types on Burnout among Social Workers. Social Work Research and Abstracts, 27: 22-27.
  39. Hochschild A.R. (1983). The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press
  40. House J.S. (1981). Work Stress and Social Support. Reading Mass: Addison Wesley
  41. Jimmienson N.L., McKimmie B.M., Hannam R.L. and Gallagher J. (2010). An Investigation of the Stress-Buffering Effects of Social Support in the Occupational Stress Process as a Function of Team Identification. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research and Practice, 14, 4: 350-367. DOI: 10.1037/a0018631
  42. Johnson J.V. and Hall E.M. (1988) Job Strain, Work Place Social Support, and Cardiovascular Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study of a Random Sample of the Swedish Working Population. American Journal of Public Health, 78: 1336-1342
  43. Judge T.A. and Colquitt J.A. (2004). Organizational Justice and Stress: The Mediating Role of Work-Family Conflict. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89: 395-404. DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.89.3.395
  44. Karasek R.A. (1979). Job Demands, Job Decision Latitude, and Mental Strain: Implications for Job Design. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24: 285-308. DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
  45. Karasek R.A, Brisson C. and Kawakami N. (1998). The Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ): An Instrument for Internationally Comparative Assessments for Internationally Comparative Assessments of Psychosocial Job Characteristics. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 3: 322-355. DOI: 10.1037/1076-8998.3.4.322
  46. Karasek R.A. and Theorell T. (1990). Healthy work: Stress, Productivity, and the Reconstruction of Working Life. New York: Basic Books Inc.
  47. Kelloway E.K., Sivanathan N., Francis L. and Barling J. (2005). Poor Leadership. In: Barling J., Kelloway E.K. and Frone M., editors, Handbook of Workplace Stress. Thousands Oaks: Sage, pp. 89-112.
  48. Koeske G.F., Kirk S.A. and Koeske R.D. (1993). Coping with Job Stress: Which Strategies Work Best? Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 66, 4: 19-335. DOI: 10.1111/j.2044-8325.1993.tb00542.x
  49. Lambert E.G., Hogan N.L. and Griffin M.L. (2007). The Impact of Distributive and Procedural Justice on Correctional Staff Job Stress, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment. Journal of Criminal Justice, 35: 644-656. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2007.09.001
  50. Lance C.E. (1988). Residual Centering, Exploratory and Confirmatory Moderator Analysis, and Decomposition of Effects in Path Models Containing Interactions. Applied Psychological Measurement, 12: 163-175. DOI: 10.1177/014662168801200205
  51. Lee R.T. and Ashforth B.E. (1993). A Longitudinal Study of Burnout among Supervisors and Managers: Comparisons Between the Leiter and Maslach (1988) and Golembiewski et al. (1986) models. Organizational-Behaviour-andHuman-Decision-Processes, 54: 369-398.
  52. Leventhal G.S. (1976). The Distribution of Rewards and Resources in Groups and Organizations. In: Berkowitz L. and Walster W., editors, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, New York: Academic Press, pp. 91-131.
  53. Lind E.A. (2001). Thinking Critically about Justice Judgments. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 58: 220-226. DOI: 10.1006/jvbe.2001.1793
  54. Little T.D., Bovaird J.A. and Widaman K.F. (2006). On the Merits of Orthogonalizing Powered and Product Terms: Implications for Modeling Interaction Among Latent Variables. Structural Equation Modeling, 4: 497-519. DOI: 10.127/s15328007sem1304_1
  55. Maslach C. and Jackson S.E. (1981). MBI: Maslach Burnout Inventory. Palo Alto (CA): Consulting Psychologists Press (trad. it.: MBI Maslach Burnout Inventory. Adattamento italiano. Firenze: O.S. Organizzazioni Speciali, 1993).
  56. Maslach C. and Leiter M. (1997). The Truth About Burnout: How Organizations Cause Personal Stress and What to Do About It. San Francisco (CA): Jossey-Bass (trad. it.: Burnout e Organizzazione. Trento: Erickson, 2000).
  57. Maslach C., Schaufeli W.B. and Leiter M.P. (2001). Job Burnout. Annual Reviews of Psychology, 52: 397-422. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.397
  58. O’Driscoll, M.P. and Brough, P. (2010). Work Organization and Health. In: Leka S. and Houdmont J., editors, Occupational Health Psychology. Chichester: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 57-87.
  59. Pedditzi M.L. (2005). La fatica di insegnare. Stress e burnout nel mondo della scuola. [The fatigue of teaching. Stress and burnout in the school system]. Cagliari: CUEC.
  60. Pines A. (1983). On burnout and the buffering effects of social support. In: Farber B.A., editor, Stress and Burnout in the Human Service Professions. New York: Pergamon, pp. 155-174
  61. Pines A.M., Ben-Ari A., Utasi A. and Larson D. (2002). A Cross-Cultural Investigation of Social Support and Burnout. European Psychologist, 7, 4: 256-264. DOI: 10.1027//1016-9040.7.4.256
  62. Pines A. and Aronson E. (1981). Burnout: From Tedium to Personal Growth. New York: Free Press.
  63. Prins J.T., Hoekstra-Weebers J.E.H.M., Gazendam-Donofrio S.M., Van De Viel H.B.M., Sprangers F., Jaspers F.C.A. and van der Heijden F.M.M.A. (2011). The Role of Social Support in Burnout Among Dutch Medical Residents. Psychology, Health, Medicine, 12, 1: 1-6. DOI: 10.1080/13548500600782214
  64. Romano D. (2006). L’organizzazione silenziosa. Azione e significato [The silent organization. Action and meaning]. Milano: Raffaello Cortina Editore
  65. Rousseau V., Salek S., Aubé C. and Morin E. M. (2009). Distributive Justice, Procedural Justice and Psychological Distress: The Moderating Effect of Coworker Support and Work Autonomy. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 14, 3: 305-317. DOI: 10.1037/a0015747
  66. Rupp D.E. (2011). An Employee-Centered Model of Organizational Justice and Social Responsibility. Organizational Psychology Review, 1: 72-94. DOI: 10.1177/2041386610376255
  67. Shapiro D.L., Kirkman B.L. (1999). Employees’ reaction to the change to work teams: The influence of ‘anticipatory’ injustice. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 12, 1: 51-66. DOI: 10.1108/09534819910255315
  68. Siegrist J. (1996). Adverse Health Effects of High-Effort/Low-Reward Conditions. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 1: 27-41. DOI: 10.1037/1076-8998.1.1.27
  69. Sirigatti S. e Stefanile C., a cura di (1993). The Maslach Burnout Inventory. Adattamento e taratura per l’Italia [The Maslach Burnout Inventory. Adaptation and adjustment for Italy]. Firenze: Organizzazioni Speciali
  70. Skirrow P. and Hatton C. (2007). Burnout Among Direct Care Workers in Services for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities: A Systematic Review of Research Findings and Initial Normative Data. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 20, 2: 131- 144. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-3148.2006.00311.x
  71. Strazdin L. and Broom D.H. (2007). The Mental Health Costs and Benefits of Giving Social Support. International Journal of Stress Management, 14, 4: 370-385.
  72. Tepper B.J. (2001). Health Consequences of Organizational Injustice: Tests of Main and Interactive Effects. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 86, 2: 197-215. DOI: 10.1006/obhd.2001.2951
  73. Terry D.J., Nielsen M. and Perchard L. (1993). Effects of Work Stress on Psychological Well-Being and Job Satisfaction: The Stress Buffering Role of Social Support. Australian Journal of Psychology, 3: 45. DOI: 10.1080/00049539308259135
  74. Thibaut J. and Walker L. (1975). Procedural justice: A psychological Analysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
  75. Tummers G., van Merode G.G. and Landeweerd J.A. (2002). The Diversity of Work: Differences, Similarities and Relationships Concerning Characteristics of the Organization, the Work and psychological Work Reactions in Intensive Care and Non-Intensive Care Nursing. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 39: 841-855. DOI: 10.1016/S0020-7489(02)00020-2
  76. van Veldhoven J., Taris T., de Jonge J. and Broersen S. (2005). The Relationship Between Work Characteristic and Employee Health and Well-Being: How Much Complexity Do We Really Need? International Journal of Stress Management, 12: 3-28. DOI: 10.1037/1072-5245.12.1.3
  77. Warr P.B. (2007). Work, Happiness, and Unhappiness. Mahwah, New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
  78. Westman M. (2001). Job Insecurity and Crossover of Burnout in Married Couples. Journal of Organizational Behaviour, 22, 5: 467-481. DOI: 10.1002/job.91
  79. Wilcox B.L. (1981). Social Support, Life Stress, and Psychological Adjustment: A Test of the Buffering Hypothesis. American Journal of Community Psychology, 9, 4: 371-386. DOI: 10.1007/BF00918169
  80. Wong Y.T, Wong C.S. and Ngo H.Y. (2012) The Effects of Trust in Organization and Perceived Organizational Support on Organizational Citizenship Behaviour: A Test of Three Competing Models. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23, 2: 278-293. DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2011.610966

  • Il benessere nei vigili del fuoco volontari: la mindfulness come risorsa psicologica Piergiorgio Argentero, Ilaria Setti, in PSICOLOGIA DELLA SALUTE 2/2015 pp.101
    DOI: 10.3280/PDS2015-002006
  • The relationship between menopausal symptoms and burnout. A cross-sectional study among nurses Daniela Converso, Sara Viotti, Ilaria Sottimano, Barbara Loera, Giorgia Molinengo, Gloria Guidetti, in BMC Women's Health 148/2019
    DOI: 10.1186/s12905-019-0847-6
  • The Interplay between Job Control, SOC Strategies, and Age in Sustaining Work Ability in a Sample of Administrative Employees Ilaria Sottimano, Gloria Guidetti, Sara Viotti, Daniela Converso, in Sustainability /2019 pp.1463
    DOI: 10.3390/su11051463
  • Evaluating the Psychometric Properties of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) among Italian Nurses: How Many Factors Must a Researcher Consider? Barbara Loera, Daniela Converso, Sara Viotti, Stefano Federici, in PLoS ONE /2014 pp.e114987
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0114987
  • Aging and Work Ability: The Moderating Role of Job and Personal Resources Daniela Converso, Ilaria Sottimano, Gloria Guidetti, Barbara Loera, Michela Cortini, Sara Viotti, in Frontiers in Psychology 2262/2018
    DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02262

Barbara Loera, Silvia Gattino, Daniela Converso, Giustizia organizzativa, supporto sociale e burnout tra lavoratori della Sanità: effetti diretti e di moderazione in "PSICOLOGIA DELLA SALUTE" 1/2013, pp 27-48, DOI: 10.3280/PDS2013-001002