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The relationship between burnout and cognition in a South African metal manufacturing company / Carla Salvador

Employees in South African organisations are faced with increasing work pressures as
economic and business factors (such as globalisation) lead to extensive restructuring,
cost cutting and initiatives to continuously improve organisational processes. These
conditions are conducive to the occurrence of burnout in the South African private
sector. Burnout has been extensively researched in areas such as health services and
law enforcement, however, the subject has received less focus in the private sector.
Given the negative impact of burnout on employees and organisations, it becomes
valuable to study burnout in this context. The aim of this study was to investigate the
relationship between job demands, job resources, cognition and burnout.
A cross-sectional survey design was used. Stratified random samples (N = 80) were
taken from employees at a South African metals manufacturing company. The
Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Cognitive Flexibility Scale (CFS) and Job
Demands-Resources Scale (JDRS) were administered. The reliability of the
measuring instruments was assessed with the use of Cronbach alpha coefficients.
Descriptive statistics (e.g., means and standard deviations) were used to analyse the
data. Pearson correlations and multiple regression analyses were used to assess the
relationships between job demands, job resources, burnout and cognition.
The correlation coefficients indicated that cynicism is negatively related to growth
opportunities and organisational support. Professional efficacy was positively related
to organisational support, growth opportunities, advancement and cognitive
flexibility. Multiple regression analysis showed that job demands, job resources, and
cognitive flexibility predicted 18% of the variance in the exhaustion of employees.
Job demands, job resources, and cognitive flexibility predicted 28% of cynicism and
44% of the variance in professional efficacy.
Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/886
Date January 2005
CreatorsSalvador, Carla marisa Rosa
PublisherNorth-West University
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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