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The relation between overcommitmentand burnout: does it depend onemployee job satisfaction?Lorenzo Avanzia, Sara Zanibonia, Crist ian Balduccib & Franco

Fraccarol ia

a Depart ment of Psychology and Cognit ive Sciences, Universit y ofTrent o, Corso Bet t ini 31, I-38068 Roveret o (TN), It alyb Depart ment of Pol it ical and Social Sciences, Universit y ofBologna, St rada Maggiore, 45, I-40125 Bologna (BO), It alyAccept ed aut hor version post ed onl ine: 19 Nov 2013.Publ ishedonl ine: 17 Dec 2013.

To cite this article: Lorenzo Avanzi, Sara Zaniboni, Crist ian Balducci & Franco Fraccarol i(2014) The relat ion bet ween overcommit ment and burnout : does it depend on employeej ob sat isfact ion?, Anxiet y, St ress, & Coping: An Int ernat ional Journal, 27:4, 455-465, DOI:10.1080/ 10615806.2013.866230

To link to this article: ht t p: / / 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 Avanzia*, Sara Zanibonia, Cristian Balduccib and Franco Fraccarolia

aDepartment of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, I-38068Rovereto (TN), Italy; bDepartment 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 amaladaptive role played by overcommitment in the escalation of burnout. We furtherspecified our model by testing an interaction effect of job satisfaction. By using alongitudinal design, we proposed a moderated mediational model in which burnout atTime 1 (T1) increases overcommitment, which in turn leads to more burnout one monthlater. We further expected to find a moderating role of job satisfaction in the linkbetween overcommitment and burnout at Time 2 (T2). A group of 86 white-collarworkers in personnel services in Italy (longitudinal response rate = 77.48%) participatedin our study. The findings supported our hypotheses even when controlling for genderand role stressors. In particular, by using bootstrapping procedures to test mediation, wefound evidence that employees reporting burnout tend to develop a maladaptive copingstyle, i.e., overcommitment, which in turn increases burnout over time. This relation wasparticularly strong for dissatisfied employees. These results highlight the importance ofovercommitment for burnout escalation, as well as of job satisfaction, since it maymitigate, at least in the short term, the effect of such dysfunctional strategies.

Keywords: overcommitment; burnout; job satisfaction; moderated mediation;longitudinal

Social, economic, and technological trends 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 compensation

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 adequate 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 moderated 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 resources. 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 consequently make further efforts to acquire new

skills (to invest 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 process 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 exaggerated 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 escalation 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., overcommitment) 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 work 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 contacted during working hours and

told about the aims of the study and asked for their 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; ranging 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.

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role conflict, role ambiguity, 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 participant distribution 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 question: 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 overcommitment

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. These 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 (Preacher, 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 personal (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)

R2 = .11* R2 = .65***

b coefficient (SE) b coefficient (SE)

Gendera .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).a0 = 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 10,000bootstrap 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, levels 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

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0.20

0.30

highmedlow

Bu

rn

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Overcommitment

Job SatisfactionLow(–1 SD)

Moderate (Mean)

High (+1 SD)

Figure 2. Moderating effect of job satisfaction on the relation between overcommitment and

burnout T2.

Anxiety, Stress & Coping 461

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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 normally 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 their 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 important 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 covariates, 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 were taken into account, thereby, in our view, adhering

more closely to the structured reality of the workplace.

Our research also has some limitations. First, our sample was certainly 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 research 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

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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 research to use other tools, such as objective measures (i.e.,

neuroendocrine concentration in order to measure 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 dysfunctionally involved in their jobs may exaggerate their

efforts, thus exposing themselves to more severe emotional exhaustion. In order to

counter employee burnout and its consequences (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).

References

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