Keywords
job burnout
acceptance and commitment therapy
emotional exhaustion
cynicism
How to Cite
Abstract
Recent research has found that psychological flexibility, the key construct of the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) model of mental health and behavioral effectiveness, is related to, and longitudinally predicts, a wide range of work-related outcomes. Less research, however, has been dedicated to explore the role of psychological flexibility as a protecting factor for the development of burnout syndrome. The current study examined whether: (a) general psychological flexibility and work-related psychological flexibility accounted for additional variance in burnout symptoms relative to work factors and other work-related constructs such as work engagement, work satisfaction, and psychological empowerment; and (b) work-related psychological flexibility moderated the relationship between exhaustion and cynicism. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 209 Spanish workers from different companies who completed questionnaires assessing the constructs of interest. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that psychological flexibility and work-related psychological flexibility accounted for additional variance in burnout symptoms. The moderator analysis showed that the relationship between exhaustion and cynicism was higher among participants with low levels of work-related psychological flexibility as compared to participants with high levels. These results suggest that interventions aiming to increase psychological flexibility might prevent the development of burnout syndrome.
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