Crossover of job demands and emotional exhaustion within teams: a longitudinal multilevel study

• Published in: Anxiety, stress, and coping Vol. 24; no. 5; pp. 561 - 577
• Main Authors: Westman, Mina, Bakker, Arnold B., Roziner, Ilan, Sonnentag, Sabine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis Group 01.10.2011; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Burnout, Professional - psychology; cohesiveness; crossover; emotional exhaustion; Emotions; Employment - psychology; Fatigue - etiology; Fatigue - psychology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Group Processes; Humans; job demands; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Occupational psychology; Psychological Tests; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Social Support; teams; Work condition. Job performance. Stress; Workload - psychology; Netherlands; Europe; Social environment; Human; crossover; cohesiveness; teams; Stress; Occupational burnout; Occupational psychology; Employee; Follow up study; Group cohesiveness; Work team; job demands; emotional exhaustion; Social support
• ISSN: 1061-5806; 1477-2205
• DOI: 10.1080/10615806.2011.558191

This study investigated the crossover of job demands and emotional exhaustion among team members and the moderating effect of cohesiveness and social support on this process. Participants were 310 employees of an employment agency in the Netherlands, working in one of 100 teams. Multilevel analysis using a longitudinal design did not reveal a main effect of crossover. However, consistent with the study's hypotheses, the results showed a moderating effect of team cohesiveness and social support. We detected crossover of job demands and emotional exhaustion across time from the group to individual team members only in teams characterized by high levels of cohesiveness and social support. Teams characterized by low levels of cohesiveness and social support showed no crossover of job demands and exhaustion. The findings demonstrate that team-level moderators play an important role in crossover processes. Moreover, social support and cohesiveness may not always be positive.