Social support and work engagement in police work

Author(s):  
Christine Wolter ◽  
Andreas Santa Maria ◽  
Burkhard Gusy ◽  
Tino Lesener ◽  
Dieter Kleiber ◽  
...  

Purpose Job resources are positively related to work engagement within the motivational process of the job demands–resources model (JD–R). Little is known about mediating mechanisms within that process. The purpose of this paper is to examine self-efficacy and work–privacy conflict as mediators of the relationship between social support and work engagement in a sample of police officers. Design/methodology/approach In total, 811 German police officers completed a cross-sectional online survey that assessed social support by supervisors and co-workers, work–privacy conflict, self-efficacy and work engagement. Structural equation modeling was conducted. Findings Self-efficacy and work–privacy conflict partially mediated the relationship between social support and work engagement. The direct effect of social support and work engagement was confirmed, too. Practical implications Health promotion approaches in police work should foster social support by supervisors and co-workers. Social support eases challenges of work–life balance and self-efficacy and promotes police officers’ work engagement. Originality/value The findings validate the motivational process of the JD-R model in a sample of police officers. Job resources and personal resources are interrelated in the prediction of work engagement. Moreover, job resources facilitate dealing with specific job demands, which promotes work engagement, too.

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-21
Author(s):  
Manjiri Kunte ◽  
Parisa Rungruang

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesized relationships between job demands, job resources and personal resources toward work engagement, by utilizing a cross section of Thai employees.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, a group of employees (n=416) responded to a set of self-report surveys on job demands, job resources, personal resources and work engagement.FindingsThe results of the hierarchical regression analysis supported the relationships between job demands (i.e. workload and role conflict), job resources, personal resources (self-efficacy) and work engagement. In addition, the results supported the role of (positive) self-esteem as moderator in the role ambiguity and work engagement relationship, and the role of self-efficacy in buffering the effect of role conflict and workload on work engagement. The final model explained 43 percent of the variance in the dependent variable.Research limitations/implicationsThis study will help managers in understanding employee expectations and providing appropriate feedback. Devising effective jobs, which lead to perceptions of meaningfulness, safety and availability leading to improved engagement.Originality/valueThis is the first study employing the job demands resources model in a cross-sectional study in Thailand.


2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 402-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alisha McGregor ◽  
Christopher A. Magee ◽  
Peter Caputi ◽  
Donald Iverson

Purpose Utilising the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, the purpose of this paper is to examine how aspects of the psychosocial work environment (namely, job demands and resources) are associated with presenteeism, and in particular, whether they are indirectly related via burnout and work engagement. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey of 980 working Australians measured the relationships between job demands (i.e. workplace bullying, time pressure and work-family conflict), resources (i.e. leadership and social support), burnout, work engagement and presenteeism. Path analysis was used to test the proposed hypotheses whilst controlling for participant demographics (i.e. sex, age, work level, duration and education). Findings Higher job demands (workplace bullying, time pressure, and work-family conflict) and lower job resources (leadership only) were found to be indirectly related to presenteeism via increased burnout. While increased job resources (leadership and social support) were indirectly related to presenteeism via improved work engagement. Practical implications The findings are consistent with the JD-R model, and suggest that presenteeism may arise from the strain and burnout associated with overcoming excessive job demands as well as the reduced work engagement and higher burnout provoked by a lack of resources in the workplace. Intervention programmes could therefore focus on teaching employees how to better manage job demands as well as promoting the resources available at work as an innovative way to address the issue of rising presenteeism. Originality/value This study is important as it is one of the first to examine the theoretical underpinnings of the relationship between presenteeism and its antecedents.


2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 483-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Baran Metin ◽  
Toon W. Taris ◽  
Maria C. W. Peeters ◽  
Ilona van Beek ◽  
Ralph Van den Bosch

Purpose – Previous research has demonstrated strong relations between work characteristics (e.g. job demands and job resources) and work outcomes such as work performance and work engagement. So far, little attention has been given to the role of authenticity (i.e. employees’ ability to experience their true selves) in these relations. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship of state authenticity at work with job demands and resources on the one hand and work engagement, job satisfaction, and subjective performance on the other hand. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 680 Dutch bank employees participated to the study. Structural equation modelling was used to test the goodness-of-fit of the hypothesized model. Bootstrapping (Preacher and Hayes, 2008) was used to examine the meditative effect of state authenticity. Findings – Results showed that job resources were positively associated with authenticity and, in turn, that authenticity was positively related to work engagement, job satisfaction, and performance. Moreover, state authenticity partially mediated the relationship between job resources and three occupational outcomes. Research limitations/implications – Main limitations to this study were the application of self-report questionnaires, utilization of cross-sectional design, and participation of a homogeneous sample. However, significant relationship between workplace characteristics, occupational outcomes, and state authenticity enhances our current understanding of the JD-R Model. Practical implications – Managers might consider enhancing state authenticity of employees by investing in job resources, since high levels of authenticity was found to be strongly linked to positive occupational outcomes. Originality/value – This study is among the first to examine the role of authenticity at workplace and highlights the importance of state authenticity for work-related outcomes.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasia A. Katou ◽  
Michael Koupkas ◽  
Eleni Triantafillidou

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to integrate an extended by personal resource job demands-resources (JD-R) model in the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational performance. It is argued that the responsive, supportive and developmental leader's style will reduce employees' levels of burnout and increase their levels of work engagement and ultimately will increase organizational performance expressed by productivity, growth and creativity.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses were tested among a national sample of 1,011 employees in 107 Greek public and private organizations operating within an environment of economic and financial crises. The operational model was tested using a multilevel structural equation modelling.FindingsIt appeared that job demands and work burnout and job resources and work engagement, serially and fully mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational performance. Further, it is found that personal resources negatively and fully mediate the relationship between job resources and work burnout and positively and partially mediate the relationship between job resources and work engagement.Research limitations/implicationsData were collected using a cross-sectional design, not allowing dynamic causal inferences.Practical implicationsConsidering that the transformational leadership style reduces employees' levels of burnout and increases their levels of work engagement and accordingly improves organizational performance, organizations are well advised to encourage this leadership style.Social implicationsTransformational leadership by balancing job demands and job resources could have a positive impact on employee well-being.Originality/valueThe study, using multilevel testing, demonstrates that the extended JD-R model can be integrated into the transformational leadership– organizational performance relationship.


2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Delia Vîrgă ◽  
Alexandra Horga ◽  
Dragoș Iliescu

This study examines the interplay between (a) job resources, (b) personal resources (organizational-based self-esteem, self-efficacy), and personality traits (conscientiousness, extraversion, and emotional stability), (c) a specific job demand (work–life imbalance), and (d) work engagement, in line with the alternative JD-R model proposed by Bakker (2011) . Data was collected from 223 Romanian employees. Results show that work–life imbalance (WLI) undermines the positive relationship between self-efficacy and work engagement. In a three-way Job resources × Personal resources × Job demands interaction, self-efficacy and job resources had a positive relationship with work engagement when work–life imbalance was low. Also, in a three-way Job resources × Personality × Job demands interaction, the association between emotional stability and job resources was positive when work–life imbalance was low.


Author(s):  
Oi Byung Park ◽  
Hyuk Im ◽  
Chongmin Na

Purpose Drawing on survey data from South Korean police officers, the purpose of this paper is to explore the mediation effects of coping self-efficacy and social support in the relationship between the impact of traumatic events and resilience. Additionally, the moderation effects were assessed to examine how this relationship varies by the state of police officers’ mental health. Design/methodology/approach Both multiple mediation and multiple group models within the structural equation modeling framework were adopted to assess the proposed mediating and moderating effects. Findings Traumatic events affect resilience not just directly but also indirectly through mediating factors such as coping self-efficacy and social support. These patterns are more pronounced in the high-risk mental health group than in the normal group. Practical implications If exposure to traumatic events were an unavoidable aspect of police work, helping officers build resilience as a general capacity to overcome stressful situations would be an effective strategy to prevent many negative consequences associated with the traumatic events. This study examined specific causal mechanisms linking the impact of traumatic events to resilience to better understand the process of developing resilience among police officers. Originality/value Instead of further examining the relationship between impact of traumatic events and other physical and mental outcomes, this study attempted to expand the current literature by identifying important mediating and moderating mechanisms that reduce the negative influences of traumatic events on resilience.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangning Zhang ◽  
Yingmei Wang

Purpose This study aims to investigate the effect of organizational identification to employees’ innovative behavior, the mediating role of work engagement and the moderating role of creative self-efficacy in the relationship between organizational identification and employees’ innovative behavior. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted questionnaires to gather data. The sample of 289 employees working in diverse organizations in China was applied to examine the hypotheses. Findings The results indicates that organizational identification is positively related to employees’ innovative behavior and work engagement mediates the relationship between organizational identification and employees’ innovative behavior. In addition, creative self-efficacy enhances the relationship of work engagement and employees’ innovative behavior. Originality/value This study builds a system from psychological aspect to behavior, which includes the effect of individual cognition to explain the mechanism of organizational identification on employees’ innovative behavior.


Author(s):  
Clémence Violette Emeriau-Farges ◽  
Andrée-Ann Deschênes ◽  
Marc Dussault

PurposeThe evaluation of emotional management in police environments has impacts on their health and on their interventions (Monier, 2014; Van Hoorebeke, 2003). There are significant costs related to occupational diseases in the police force: absenteeism, turnover, deterioration of the work climate (Al Ali et al., 2012). Considering that policing involves a high level of emotional control and management (Monier, 2014; Al Ali et al., 2012; Dar, 2011) and that no study has yet examined the relationship between police officers’ emotional competencies and their psychological health at work (PHW), the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship and influence of emotional self-efficacy (ESE) on PHW in policing.Design/methodology/approachPHW results from psychological distress at work (PDW) (irritability, anxiety, disengagement) and psychological well-being at work (PWBW) (social harmony, serenity and commitment at work) (Gilbertet al., 2011). ESE is defined as the individual’s belief in his or her own emotional skills and effectiveness in producing desired results (Bandura, 1997), conceptualized through seven emotional skills: the use of emotions; the perception of one’s own emotions and that of others; the understanding of one’s emotions and that of others; and the management of one’s emotions and that of others (Deschênes et al., 2016). A correlational estimate was used with a sample of 990 employed police officers, 26 percent of whom were under 34 years of age and 74 percent over 35. The ESE scales (a=0.97) of Deschênes et al. (2018) and Gilbertet al.(2011) on PWBW (a=0.91) and PDW (a=0.94) are used to measure the concepts under study.FindingsThe results of the regression analyses confirm links between police officers’ emotional skills and PHW. The results show that self-efficacy in managing emotions, self-efficacy in managing emotions that others feel, self-efficacy in using emotions and self-efficacy in understanding emotions partially explain PWBW (R2=0.30,p<0.001). On the other hand, self-efficacy in perceiving the emotions that others feel, self-efficacy in using emotions and self-efficacy in managing emotions partially explain PDW (R2=0.30,p<0.001).Originality/valueThis study provided an understanding of the correlation between police officers’ feelings of ESE and their PHW, particularly with PWBW. Beyond the innovation and theoretical contribution of such a study on the police environment, the results reveal the scope of the consideration of emotional skills in this profession.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 1218-1238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Ning ◽  
Albi Alikaj

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of employee age in the relationship between work engagement and several job resources.Design/methodology/approachThe study used questionnaire-based surveys completed by 804 employees from firms located in West China. The data were then analyzed by conducting latent moderated structural equation modeling.FindingsThe results of the study show that certain job resources (autonomy, recognition, colleague support, participation, job security and flexible work arrangements) are more effective for older employees in promoting work engagement, while other resources (job feedback, opportunities for development, skill variety and internal promotion) are more tailored toward younger employees.Research limitations/implicationsThe results suggest that job resources are not equally effective in affecting employee work engagement. Therefore, future studies should adopt a dynamic lifespan perspective when studying the relationship between job resources and work engagement.Practical implicationsThe current study indicates that to increase younger employees’ work engagement, organizations need to rely more on development-oriented job resources, and to increase older employees’ work engagement, they need to focus more on maintenance-oriented resources.Originality/valueThe literature on work engagement has assumed that the strength of the relationship between job resources and work engagement is uniform among employees at all ages. This study refers to two life-span theories from the development psychology literature to explain that there are age-related differences in the effect of job resources on employee work engagement.


2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (12) ◽  
pp. 1295-1322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Roberto Beraldin ◽  
Pamela Danese ◽  
Pietro Romano

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how just-in-time (JIT)-related job demands, problem-solving job demands and soft lean practices (SLPs) jointly influence employee well-being in terms of work engagement and exhaustion. Design/methodology/approach Based on the job demands-resources model, lean-related job characteristics were classified as resources or demands, and a set of hypotheses was developed to test their effect on work engagement and exhaustion, including the potential interaction between job resources and demands. The hypotheses were tested using moderated hierarchical regression and structural equation modelling, based on data from 138 workers. Findings SLPs act as job resources in a lean company, increasing work engagement and reducing exhaustion. Conversely, JIT-related job demands act as a hindrance, reducing work engagement and increasing exhaustion. However, SLPs can reduce the effect of JIT-related job demands on exhaustion, and JIT-related job demands may enhance the positive effects of SLPs on work engagement. Research limitations/implications The study provides no conclusive evidence on the hypothesized role of problem-solving as a challenge job demand. Practical implications The results can guide practitioners’ understanding of how to implement lean without harm to employee well-being. Originality/value By employing a well-grounded psychological model to test the link between lean and well-being, the study finds quantitative support for: the buffering effect of SLPs on exhaustion caused by JIT-related job demands, and for the role of JIT as a hindrance. These novel findings have no precedent in previous survey-based research. In addition, it reveals the importance of studying SLPs at an individual level, as what matters is the extent to which workers perceive SLPs as useful and supportive.


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