Burnout and engagement at work as a function of demands and control

TLDR

The study aimed to test the demand‑control model by examining health‑impairment and active‑learning indicators. The study surveyed 381 insurance employees and used discriminant analysis to relate job demands and control to health impairment and active learning. Results showed that job demands predicted health impairment while job control predicted active learning, indicating that demands and control drive independent processes and partially contradict the traditional demand‑control model, supporting the job demands‑resources framework.

Abstract

Objectives The present study was designed to test the demand-control model using indicators of both health impairment and active learning or motivation. Methods A total of 381 insurance company employees participated in the study. Discriminant analysis was used to examine the relationship between job demands and job control on one hand and health impairment and active learning on the other. Results The amount of demands and control could be predicted on the basis of employees` perceived health impairment (exhaustion and health complaints) and active learning (engagement and commitment). Each of the four combinations of demand and control differentially affected the perception of strain or active learning. Job demands were the most clearly related to health impairment, whereas job control was the most clearly associated with active learning. Conclusions These findings partly contradict the demand-control model, especially with respect to the validity of the interaction between demand and control. Job demands and job control seem to initiate two essentially independent processes, and this occurrence is consistent with the recently proposed job demands-resources model.