The student affairs burnout epidemic: relationships among LMX, racial identity, and burnout
Date
2023
Authors
Lynner, Brittany, author
Prasad, Joshua, advisor
Fisher, Gwenith, advisor
Shore, Lynn, committee member
Graham, Daniel, committee member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
According to the Job Demands-Resources Theory (JD-R Theory; Bakker & Demerouti, 2017; Demerouti et al., 2001), job demands predict burnout whereas job resources buffer the impact of job demands on burnout. Campus student affairs professionals are prone to burnout given their unique job demands, of which telepressure (i.e., preoccupations with and urges for responding quickly to workplace communication; Barber & Santuzzi, 2015) and workload are of particular concern. In alignment with Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory (Grain et al., 1982a), student affairs professionals' expression of burnout may differ depending on their relationship with their supervisor (i.e., a potential job resource). Specifically, a subordinate's perception of supervisor-subordinate relationship quality, or LMX relationship quality, may influence their engagement in self-interested voice (i.e., speaking up on issues relevant to one's own interest; Duan et al., 2020) and surface acting (i.e., engaging in emotional displays that are inconsistent with one's felt emotions; Grandey, 2000). Moreover, pursuant to Social Information Processing Theory (Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978), racial identity may also play a role in student affairs professionals' experiences of job demands and burnout, and their engagement in self-interested voice and surface acting. This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between the aforementioned variables – job demands, LMX relationship quality, racial identity, surface acting, self-interested voice, and burnout – via the administration of online self-report surveys. Student affairs professionals were primarily recruited through student affairs professional associations and student affairs-related Facebook pages. Using structural equation modeling to test hypotheses (SEM), results demonstrated that subordinate LMX positively related to self-interested voice and negatively related to both surface acting and work-related burnout. Additionally, surface acting positively related to burnout (i.e., personal, work-related, student-related burnout), whereas self-interested voice was positively correlated with student-related burnout. Furthermore, the relationship between job demands and burnout was not moderated by racial identity nor subordinate LMX, and there was no significant difference in surface acting nor self-interested voice between student affairs professionals of color and their White colleagues. Findings suggest the central importance of cultivating high-quality LMX relationships and optimizing job resources to mitigate personal burnout, work-related burnout, and student-related burnout.
Description
Rights Access
Subject
job demands
student affairs
voice
leader-member exchange
burnout
surface acting