Moss, Alison (2020) Considering psychological flexibility in the relationship between job demands and burnout. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
In Australia, burnout in the workplace costs employers over $10 billion per year and the economy over $14 billion per year. Burnout from work also has lasting impacts on employees’ physical and psychological health, including significantly increasing mortality rates. Therefore, in order to develop effective prevention and intervention strategies, a clear understanding of the factor’s influencing burnout is necessary. This study draws on the Job Demands-Resources (JDR) theory as a framework to examine whether psychological flexibility, as conceptualised by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), influences the relationship between job demands and burnout for a sample of Australian workers. Based on prior research, it was hypothesised that psychological flexibility would moderate the relationship between job overload and two key components of burnout, exhaustion and disengagement. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted with 211 Australian workers that included self-reported measures of job overload, as measured by the Job-Demands Resources Scale (JDRS), psychological flexibility, as measured by the Work-Related Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (WAAQ), and exhaustion and disengagement, as measured by the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI). Notably, the hypotheses were not supported. While job overload significantly predicted both disengagement and exhaustion, the relationship between psychological flexibility and job overload was not significant and the interaction between psychological flexibility and job overload did not significantly predict disengagement or exhaustion. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Nancey Hoare |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 18 Sep 2025 06:54 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Sep 2025 06:54 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Job Demand-Resources model, job demands, workload, job overload, burnout; exhaustion; disengagement; personal resources; psychological flexibility; |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52599 |
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