The relationship between sense of coherence, work engagement and burnout in a Public-Sector organisation
Year: 2016
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The objective of this study was (i) to determine the relationship between sense of \ncoherence, work engagement and burnout; and (ii) to determine whether, in terms of the \nvarious socio-demographic groups, namely, gender, age, race, marital status, number of \nyears in current position and number of years in public service, the sample differed \nsignificantly in terms of their levels of sense of coherence, work engagement and burnout. \nA quantitative study, using primary data, was conducted using a convenience sample \n(N = 172) of middle managers in a public service organisation. The psychometric properties \nof the Orientation to Life Questionnaire, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and the \nMaslach Burnout Inventory Scale were investigated before the hypothesis was tested. \nThe statistical analysis of the data included descriptive statistics as well as inferential \nstatistics. The Kaiser-Meyer Olkin and Bartlett’s test of sphericity techniques were used to \ndetermine the exploratory factor analysis of all three measuring scales. A correlation \nanalysis between the one-factor sense of coherence, one-factor work engagement and the \nthree burnout sub-dimensions (exhaustion, cynicism and professional efficacy) was \nconducted. \nThe Pearson product-moment correlation was used to determine the strength of the \nrelationships between the variables. The level of significance was set at a 95% confidence \ninterval level (p 0,05). \nStandard multiple regression analysis was used to establish whether there is a significant \nrelationship between sense of coherence, work engagement and burnout. The Wilk’s \nlambda technique was used to test the results for significance, while Levene's test of equality of error variances technique was used to test the results for significance on the \nsense of coherence and work engagement scales with regard to the demographic groups. \nThe results showed that there was a significant relationship between the participants’ sense \nof coherence, work engagement and burnout levels. Significant differences were also found \nbetween respondents in the marital status group and the burnout dimension, \ndepersonalisation or cynicism. The results also reflected the wellbeing status of middle \nmanagers and indicated that the respondents were flourishing (feeling good as they scored \na high sense of coherence and functioning well as indicated by a high score for work \nengagement). \nIt is anticipated that the findings of the study will contribute valuable knowledge to employee \nwellbeing programmes in public service. The study concludes by making recommendations \nfor future research practice.
Author: Fatima Gallie
Language: English
Topic: Stress and Burnout Research
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2751958205