Organizational Characteristics
The environment one works in can have a powerful influence on an individual. Several researchers have examined the effect of organizational level antecedents on work stress and burnout.
Job Context: Job context can be a contributor to the incidence of stress and burnout in the workplace.
In a study of the effects of organizational politics and support on stress, Cropanzano, Howes, Grandy & Toth (1997) explored psychological environment as a moderator of burnout. Organizational politics was viewed as dysfunctional, defined as “limited to behavior that is strategically designed to maximize short-term or long-term self-interest.” For example, an example of political behavior could be a “politically-oriented manager who might use the performance evaluation system for self-promotion or show favoritism to a personal friend.” On the other hand, organizational support was defined as a caring and secure workplace, a positive environment that is related to a variety of positive work outcomes.
Research has shown that there are three trends concerning organizational politics and support: first, politics was related to negative work outcomes, while support is related to positive. Second, politics and support predicted above and beyond one another, suggesting that they should be viewed as separate constructs rather than opposite ends of a single continuum. Third, politics and support predicted job tension, somatic tension, general fatigue, and burnout.
Job level, the second component of job context can be linked to emotional exhaustion. Pretty and colleagues (1992) looked at the relationship of job level and emotional exhaustion among managerial and non-managerial telecommunications employees. Results demonstrated that women experienced more emotional exhaustion and depersonalization if they were non-managers, while the opposite reaction was noted for men. Gaines and Jermier (1983) also conducted a study of job level with police officers, noting that emotional exhaustion differed across departments suggesting different reactions to stress among different jobs in the force. Each of these studies lends credibility to the moderating effect of job level and the experience of emotional exhaustion.
Organizational Pace and Technology: The pace of change experienced by organizations today has been unprecedented in history. Although little research has been conducted, time will reveal what effects the increased pace of organizations and technology has on stress and burnout experienced by today’s workers.