The protective role of self-efficacy against workplace incivility and burnout in nursing: A time-lagged study

Background: Incivility has negative consequences in the workplace and remains a prevalent issue in nursing. Research has consistently linked incivility to nurse burnout and, in turn, to poor mental health and turnover intentions. To retain high quality nurses it is important to understand what factors might protect nurses from the negative effects of workplace mistreatment. Purpose: This study investigated the role of relational occupational coping self-efficacy in protecting nurses from workplace incivility and related burnout and turnover intentions. Methodology: A two-wave national sample of 596 Canadian nurses completed mail surveys both at Time 1 and one year later at Time 2. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized model. Results: The model showed a good fit and most of the hypothesized paths were significant. Overall, the results supported the hypothesized protective effect of relational occupational coping self-efficacy against incivility and later burnout, mental health, and turnover intentions. Conclusion: Relational occupational coping self-efficacy is an important protective factor against negative work behavior. Practice Implications: Organizations should provide nurses with opportunities to build their coping strategies for managing job demands and difficult interpersonal interactions. Similarly, providing exposure to effective role models and providing meaningful verbal encouragement are other sources of efficacy information for building nurses’ relational coping self-efficacy

Factor structure of the straightforward incivility scale in an Italian sample

Workplace incivility is defined as low-intensity deviant behavior with ambiguous intent to harm the target. In this sense, it involves a violation of workplace norms that could damage the quality of working relationships. The aim of this study is to evaluate the factor structure of the adaptation of Straightforward Incivility Scale (SIS; Leiter 2013) in an Italian sample. A sample of 404 healthcare workers completed the SIS. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. In the first step of analysis, exploratory factor analysis and parallel analysis with 202 participants revealed three factors: supervisor, coworker, and instigated incivility. In the second step, a confirmatory factor analysis with 202 participants supported the 15-item three-factor model in the cross-validation sample. Results provide confirmation of the cross-cultural stability of the facet, factor, and global scale structure of the SIS

Latent burnout profiles: a new approach to understanding the burnout experience

Latent profile analysis, with two large datasets, was used to identify multiple person-centered profiles across the burnout – engagement continuum, as assessed by the three dimensions of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Five profiles emerged from this analysis: Burnout (high on all three dimensions), Engagement (low on all three), Overextended (high on exhaustion only), Disengaged (high on cynicism only), and Ineffective (high on inefficacy only). Each of these profiles showed a different pattern of correlates with organizational variables. The Disengaged profile was more negative than Overextended, and closer to the Burnout profile, which argues against the use of exhaustion alone as a proxy for burnout. The results have important implications for theory, research, and interventions

Areas of work-life in Spanish hostelry professionals: explanatory power on burnout dimensions

BackgroundResearchers have studied for decades workplace stress and burnout to identify their relationship to health and wellness. This research has focused on stress levels in people, as well as on environmental and personal factors that contribute to experiencing stress or burnout. In addition to the burnout measurement questionnaires (MBI-GS), Leiter and Maslach designed a model to evaluate the areas of work environment that relate to this construct (Areas of Worklife Scale-AWLS).The goal of the present research was to analyze the psychometric properties of a Spanish translation of the MBI (GS) and the AWLS with a Spanish-speaking population. This work makes a substantial contribution by addressing the need to use validated measures and methods when exploring the positive and negative aspects of organizations. These conditions provide a means to accurately evaluate the impact of interventions aimed to address stress and burnout.MethodCross-sectional study with self-report measures. The sample was comprised of 452 managers and employees (hotels, restaurants, catering) of Aragon (Spain). There were approximately equal numbers of women and men (45, 4% vs. 54, 6%). The average age of participants was 36.6years (SD=10.03). A battery of questionnaires was used: Socio-demographic and work characteristics, Scale of stress and health symptoms, Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS), Areas of Worklife Scale (AWLS).ResultsThe results showed optimal psychometric properties in both questionnaires, especially in terms of the predictive capacity of the AWLS in each of the MBI-GS dimensions.ConclusionsThe best explained dimension is that of emotional exhaustion. The manageable load variable is the one that most contributes to predicting burnout levels. For future interventions, the results confirm the need to verify the levels of each area of work, in order to focus on the most deteriorated ones

The psychological conditions for employee engagement in organizational change: Test of a change engagement model

In the contemporary world of work, organizational change is a constant. For change to be successful, employees need to be positive about implementing organizational change. Change engagement reflects the extent to which employees are enthusiastic about change, and willing to actively involve themselves in promoting and supporting ongoing organizational change. Drawing from Kahn’s engagement theory, the research aimed to assess the influence of change-related meaningful work, psychological safety, and self-efficacy as psychological preconditions for change engagement. The study also aimed to test the indirect associations of the change-related psychological preconditions with proactive work behavior through change engagement. Survey data from a Prolific sample (N = 297) were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equations modeling. In support of the validity of the model, the results showed that change-related self-efficacy, psychological safety, and meaningfulness had significant direct effects on change engagement, explaining 88% of the variance. The change-related psychological conditions also had significant indirect effects on proactive work behavior through change engagement. The findings therefore suggest that employees who exhibit higher levels of change-related self-efficacy, psychological safety, and work meaningfulness are more likely to support and promote organizational change, and to proactively engage in innovative work behavior. In practical terms, organizations that create the psychological conditions for change could significantly improve employee motivation to change and to innovate, which in turn would increase the likelihood of successful organizational change, and improved organizational competitiveness. Study limitations and directions for future research are discussed

The validation of a workplace incivility scale within the South African banking industry

Orientation: Workplace incivility holds consequences for both individuals and organisations. Managers are becoming increasingly aware of this phenomenon. Currently, there is no workplace incivility scale validated for use within the South African context. Research purpose: To investigate the reliability and validity of the adapted workplace incivility scale by Leiter and colleagues for use within South Africa. Motivation for the study: As it is currently difficult to measure workplace incivility within the South African context because of the lack of a valid and reliable scale, it is necessary to validate such a scale. Research design, approach and method: A cross-sectional research approach was used for the study. Convenience sampling (N = 345) was used within the South African banking industry. Specifically, the factor structure, convergent validity, discriminant validity and predictive validity were investigated in order to establish the overall validity of the scale. Main findings: The results confirmed that the scale showed a three-factor structure as best-fitting with acceptable reliability coefficients. Furthermore, discriminant validity could be shown between workplace incivility and workplace bullying, that is, supporting that these two constructs are not the same phenomenon. In terms of relationships, colleague incivility did not significantly predict any of the outcome variables and instigated incivility only being a negative predictor of job satisfaction and a borderline statistically significant negative predictor of work engagement. However, supervisor incivility predicted all the outcomes negatively. Practical/Managerial implications: Based on the results, workplace incivility should be addressed because of the harmful effects it can have, not only on employees but also on organisations. It is therefore necessary for managers to create awareness of workplace incivility in order to ensure that it does not integrate within the organisational culture and affect individual and organisational performance. Contribution/Value-add: The study contributes to the limited research available in South Africa regarding workplace incivility by providing a scale that is valid and reliable

Value congruence, control, sense of community and demands as determinants of burnout syndrome among hospitality workers

Employees working in the hospitality industry are constantly exposed to occupational stressors that may lead employees into experiencing burnout syndrome. Research addressing the interactive effects of control, community and value congruence to alleviate the impact of workplace demands on experiencing burnout is relatively limited. The present study examined relationships among control, community and value congruence, workplace demands and the three components of burnout. A sample of 418 employees working in a variety of hospitality associations including restaurants and hotels in Spain were recruited. Moderation analyses and linear regressions analyzed the predictive power of control, community and value congruence as moderating variables. Results indicate that control, community and value congruence were successful buffers in the relationships between workplace demands and the burnout dimensions. The present findings offer suggestions for future research on potential moderating variables, as well as implications for reducing burnout among hospitality employees

Areas of worklife as predictors of occupational health - a validation study in two German samples

Background/aim Occupational health largely depends on the perceived fit between the employee\u27s abilities and workplace demands/factors. The Areas of Worklife Scale (AWS) specifies six areas that are particularly relevant in this respect: workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values. The current article aimed at investigating the factorial structure and the criterion validity of the German translation of the AWS. Methods Data were collected in two samples. In study 1, 1455 public service workers were surveyed using the six areas of worklife and well-being. In study 2, to investigate the well-established relationship between the AWS and burnout, the scale was administered to a nursing sample (N = 443). Results High internal consistencies for all six scales were obtained in both studies. Exploratory as well as confirmatory factor analysis replicated the theoretically assumed six scale structure of the AWS. Evidence of criterion validity was found by multiple linear regression analysis with well-being as dependent measure (study 1). SEM analyses supported the hypothesized relationships between the six AWS dimensions and burnout (study 2). As predicted by Leiter and Maslach (2004, 2009), only some areas were directly associated with the health-related outcomes (well-being and burnout). In line with previous work, workload and values proved to be the most critical areas of worklife. Conclusions The six areas of worklife have been shown to be significant predictors of health-related outcomes. Based on the current studies, the German translation of the AWS can be proposed as a reliable and valid instrument to identify and specify critical work-related areas for occupational health

Investigating the physical properties of transiting hot Jupiters with the 1.5-m Kuiper Telescope

We present new photometric data of 11 hot Jupiter transiting exoplanets (CoRoT-12b, HAT-P-5b, HAT-P-12b, HAT-P-33b, HAT-P-37b, WASP-2b, WASP-24b, WASP-60b, WASP-80b, WASP-103b, XO-3b) in order to update their planetary parameters and to constrain information about their atmospheres. These observations of CoRoT-12b, HAT-P-37b and WASP-60b are the first follow-up data since their discovery. Additionally, the first near-UV transits of WASP-80b and WASP-103b are presented. We compare the results of our analysis with previous work to search for transit timing variations (TTVs) and a wavelength dependence in the transit depth. TTVs may be evidence of a third body in the system and variations in planetary radius with wavelength can help constrain the properties of the exoplanet's atmosphere. For WASP-103b and XO-3b, we find a possible variation in the transit depths that may be evidence of scattering in their atmospheres. The B-band transit depth of HAT-P-37b is found to be smaller than its near-IR transit depth and such a variation may indicate TiO/VO absorption. These variations are detected from 2-4.6$\sigma$, so follow-up observations are needed to confirm these results. Additionally, a flat spectrum across optical wavelengths is found for 5 of the planets (HAT-P-5b, HAT-P-12b, WASP-2b, WASP-24b, WASP-80b), suggestive that clouds may be present in their atmospheres. We calculate a refined orbital period and ephemeris for all the targets, which will help with future observations. No TTVs are seen in our analysis with the exception of WASP-80b and follow-up observations are needed to confirm this possible detection.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, 9 Tables. Light Curves available online. Accepted to MNRAS (2017 August 25