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Exploring a Paradox: Commitment as a Moderator of the Stressor‐Burnout Relationship
Author(s) -
Reilly Nora P.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1994.tb00589.x
Subject(s) - stressor , burnout , psychology , moderation , social psychology , distress , clinical psychology
Identity theory suggests that we experience distress when our role‐relevant goals are blocked and that this distress is stronger when we are highly committed to the role. Past research, however, clearly demonstrates that commitment is inversely related to the experience of stress. The current study examined whether commitment also moderates the relationship between work stressors and burnout. Over 500 hospital nurses provided information about the frequency of nursing stressors, their career commitment, and burnout. Although nurses who reported greater commitment tended to experience less burnout overall, moderated regression analyses showed that the link between work stressors and burnout was significantly stronger for the more committed nurses. Explanations for these apparently incongruent findings are offered, along with their implications for hospital nursing.