Job characteristics, optimism, burnout, and ill health of support staff in a higher education institution in South Africa

South African Journal of Psychology

Volumn 37, Issue 1, 2007, Pages 135-152

  Rothmann, Sebastiaan ^a   Essenko, Nadia ^a  

^a NORTH WEST UNIVERSITY   (South Africa)

Author keywords

Burnout; Higher education institutions; Ill health; Job characteristics; Optimism

Indexed keywords

EID: 34347324928     PISSN: 00812463     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/008124630703700110     Document Type: Article

References (44)

1. Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
2. Anderson, G. S., Litzenberger, R., & Plecas, D. (2002). Physical evidence of police officer stress. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 25, 399-420.
3. Arbuckle, J. L. (1997). Amos user's guide version 3.6. Chicago: Smallwaters.
4. Armour, R. A., Caffarella, R. S., Fuhrmann, B. S., & Wergin, J. F. (1987). Academic burnout: Faculty responsibility and institutional climate. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 29, 3-11.
5. Bagozzi, R. P., & Heatherton, T. F. (1994). A general approach to representing multifaceted personality constructs: Application to state self-esteem. Structural Equation Modeling, 1, 35-67.
6. Banata, T. W., & Kuh, D. K. (1998). A missing link in assessment: Collaboration between academics and student affairs professionals, Change, 40-46.
7. Baron, R. M, & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
8. Blix, A. G., Cruise, R. J., Mitchell, B. M., & Blix, G. G. (1994). Occupational stress among university teachers. Educational Research, 36(2), 158-169.
9. Browne, M. W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. A. Bollen & J. S. Long (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136-162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
10. Byrne, B. M. (2001). Structural equation modelling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications and programming. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
11. Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (2002). Optimism. In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 231-243). New York: Oxford University Press.
12. Chang, E., Rand, K. L., & Strunk, D. R. (2000). Optimism and risk for job burnout among working college students. Personality and Individual Differences, 29, 255-263.
13. Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (Rev. ed.). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
14. Cooper, C. L., & Cartwright, S. (1994). Healthy mind, healthy organization: A pro-active approach to occupational stress. Human Relations, 47, 455-471.
15. Cooper, C. L., Dewe, P. J., & O'Driscoll, M. P. (2001). Organizational stress: A review of critique of theory, research, and applications. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
16. Davis, A. J. (1996). Employee assistance provision in higher education. Employee Counselling Today: The Journal of Workplace Learning, 8(5), 4-12.
17. Demerouti, E., Nachreiner, F., Bakker, A. B., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2001). The job demandsresources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 56, 499-512.
18. Fry, P. S. (1995). Perfectionism, humour, and optimism as moderators of health outcomes and determinants of coping styles of women executives. Genetics, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 121, 211-245.
19. Gillespie, N. A., Walsh, M., Winefield, A. H., Dua, J., & Stough, C. (2001). Occupational stress in universities: Staff perceptions of the causes, consequences and moderators of stress. Work & Stress, 15, 53-72.
20. Given, C. W., Stommel, M., Given, B., Osuch, J., Kurtz, M. E., & Kurtz, J. (1993). The influence of cancer patients' symptoms and functional states on patients' depression and family caregivers' reaction and depression. Health Psychology, 12, 277-285.
21. Johnson, S., & Cooper, C. (2003). The construct validity of the ASSET stress measure. Liverpool: University of Liverpool.
22. Kirkcaldy, B., Cooper, C. L., & Ruffalo, P. (1995). Work stress and health in a sample of US police. Psychological Reports, 76, 700-702.
23. Lee, R., & Ashfort, B. E. (1996). A meta-analytical examination of the correlates of the three dimensions of job burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 123-133.
24. Little, T. D., Cunningham, W. A., Shahar, G., & Widaman, K. F. (2002). To parcel or not to parcel: Exploring the question, weighing the merits. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 151-173.
25. Maslach, C. (2000). Job burnout. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 397-422.
26. Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (1997). The truth about burnout. San Francisco: JosseyBass.
27. Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 397-422.
28. McEwen, B. S. (1998). Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators. New England Journal of Medicine, 338, 171-179.
29. Nelson, D. L., & Simmons, B. L. (2003). Health psychology and work stress: A more positive approach. In J. C. Quick & L. E. Tetrick (Eds.), Handbook of occupational health psychology (pp. 97-119). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
30. Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
31. Pitman, T. (2000). Perceptions of academics and students as customers: A survey of administrative staff in higher education. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 22, 165-176.
32. SPSS Inc. (2003). SPSS 12.0 for Windows. Chicago: Author.
33. Schaufeli, W. B. (2003). Past performance and future perspectives of burnout research. South African Journal of Industrial Psychology, 29(4), 1-15.
34. Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: A multi-sample study. Journal of Organizational Behaviour, 25, 1-23.
35. Schaufeli, W. B., & Enzmann, D. (1998). The burnout companion to study and practice: A critical analysis. London: Taylor & Francis.
36. Schaufeli, W. B., Leiter, M. P., Maslach, C., & Jackson, S. E. (1996). MBI-General Survey. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
37. Schaufeli, W. B., Salanova, M., González-Romá, V., & Bakker, A. B. (2002). The measurement of engagement and burnout: A confirmative analytic approach. Journal of Happiness Studies, 3, 71-92.
38. Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1985). Optimism, coping, and health: Assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies. Health Psychology, 4, 219-247.
39. Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S., & Bridges, M. W. (1994). Distinguishing optimism from neuroticism (and trait anxiety, self-mastery, and self-esteem): A re-evaluation of the Life Orientation Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 1063-1078.
40. Shirom, A. (2003). Job-related burnout: A review. In J. C. Quick & L. E. Tetrick (Eds.), Handbook of occupational health psychology (pp. 245-264). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
41. Smewing, C., & Cox, T. (1998). Employee assistance programmes and their place within universities. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 26, 273-286.
42. Viljoen, J. P., & Rothmann, S. (2002). Transformation in a tertiary education institution: A case study. Management Dynamics, 11(2), 2-9.
43. Winefield, A. H., Gillespie, N., Stough, C., Dua, J., & Hapuararchchi, J. (2002). Occupational stress in Australian universities: A national survey. Adelaide: University of South Australia.
44. Winefield, A. H., & Jarrett, R. J. (2001). Occupational stress in university staff. International Journal of Stress Management, 8, 285-298.