Volume 32, Issue 1 (3-2025)
RJMS 2025, 32(1): 1-9 |
Back to browse issues page
Research code: A-10-8147-1
Ethics code: IR.IAU.M.REC.1403.461
Clinical trials code: 1234
Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
Golsanamlou H, Faraeen M. The Relationship Between Team leadership and Job Burnout and Work Isolation with Regard to the Mediating Role of Psychological Resilience. RJMS 2025; 32 (1) :1-9
URL: http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-8671-en.html
URL: http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-8671-en.html
1- Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Khoy.c., Islamic Azad University, Khoy, Iran
2- Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Khoy.c., Islamic Azad University, Khoy, Iran ,Mfaraeen@yahoo.com
2- Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Khoy.c., Islamic Azad University, Khoy, Iran ,
Abstract: (452 Views)
Background & Aims: Employee health, as one of the fundamental pillars of human capital, plays a vital role in the effectiveness and sustainability of organizations. The workplace, beyond merely fulfilling economic needs, serves as a source for satisfying individuals' psychological and physical requirements; therefore, attention to employees' mental health can pave the way for their flourishing and productivity. Conversely, neglecting this critical issue exposes organizations to a costly and damaging phenomenon known as job burnout (1).
Job burnout is a state of chronic physical and psychological stress that develops in response to overwhelming emotional and professional demands (2). This phenomenon, which gradually expands over time, can progressively lead to psychological disability. According to the model proposed by Maslach et al. (2001), job burnout comprises three main dimensions: emotional exhaustion (feeling depleted of emotional resources and energy), depersonalization (a negative, callous, and indifferent attitude towards one's job and service recipients), and reduced personal accomplishment (feelings of incompetence and lack of achievement at work) (3). For the individual, job burnout is a painful experience that can lead to chronic fatigue, decreased performance, mental health disorders (such as depression and anxiety), and weakened self-confidence (4, 5). From an organizational perspective, job burnout carries severe and costly consequences for the organization. These consequences include reduced quality and quantity of work, increased absenteeism, diminished morale, commitment, and motivation among employees, and ultimately, heightened turnover intentions and employee displacement (5). The results of a study by Wu et al. indicated that job burnout leads to emotional exhaustion and that there is a strong positive relationship between job burnout and negative attitudes toward the job (6). In today's organizations, organizational leadership is one of the most critical and recognized factors determining the success or failure of an organization. The leadership style adopted by managers plays a fundamental role in shaping employees' attitudes, motivation, and work behaviors, and can foster creativity, organizational commitment, and team effectiveness (7). Numerous studies have shown that leaders, by creating an inspiring vision, providing necessary support, and facilitating work processes, create a context in which employees can perform their roles with greater energy and enthusiasm. Conversely, inappropriate leadership styles can gradually deplete the organization's human capital and pave the way for phenomena such as turnover, reduced productivity, and job burnout (8).
Among the leadership styles that have received attention in the management literature is team leadership. The concept of team leadership, as a specialized branch of leadership studies, refers to the process of social influence and guiding team members toward achieving shared goals, wherein the leader, by creating a clear vision, allocating resources, providing emotional support, and facilitating interpersonal interactions, establishes a foundation for team effectiveness (9). Team leaders are not only responsible for coordinating tasks and ensuring work progress, but also play a significant role in shaping the team's psychological climate and the quality of relationships among members. Supportive behaviors in this style can strengthen members' psychological safety and provide a context for effective learning and collaboration (10). Therefore, a precise understanding of the dimensions of team leadership and its consequences for employees' mental health is a fundamental step in designing preventive interventions and promoting well-being in the workplace. The research results of Ghanbari et al. showed a moderate relationship between managers' leadership behaviors and employees' job burnout in Iranian government organizations. Among these, ethical leadership style, relationship-oriented leadership style, and transformational leadership style had the largest effect sizes (11).
One of the factors that can influence employee performance and job burnout is psychological resilience. Resilience is defined as an individual's capacity to maintain or quickly recover psychological health in the face of life events and challenges (12). This concept, rooted in positive psychology, represents individuals' ability to adapt successfully to difficult conditions, psychological pressures, and threatening situations. Resilience is not merely about passively resisting problems; rather, it involves a dynamic process of learning, growth, and transforming threats into opportunities for personal and professional development (13). In the workplace, resilient employees are able to maintain their performance level and effectively utilize their cognitive and emotional capacities despite job pressures, organizational ambiguities, or interpersonal conflicts. Research has shown that high resilience is associated with positive occupational outcomes such as increased job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and innovative behaviors (14). Arslan et al. showed that resilience reduces the impact of negative emotions and increases the effectiveness of positive emotions for mental health (2). DeConck et al., in their study titled "The Relationship between Employees' Psychological Resilience and Charismatic Managers in Government Organizations," demonstrated that this group of employees has a higher level of resilience compared to employees in other organizations (15). The results of studies by Sardarzadeh et al. (16) and Dehghan et al. (17) indicated that resilience has a significant negative correlation with job burnout Despite extensive research separately examining the role of team leadership in predicting job burnout (18) and the impact of psychological resilience on reducing the negative consequences of occupational stress (12), there remains a significant theoretical gap in explaining the underlying mechanisms of these relationships. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the relationship between team leadership and job burnout, considering the mediating role of psychological resilience.
Methods: The present study was a descriptive-correlational research conducted as a field study. The statistical population consisted of all employees (N=250) of the Sports and Youth Departments of West Azerbaijan Province, from which 148 employees were selected as the statistical sample using Morgan's table and available sampling method. Data were collected using the Team Leadership Questionnaire (Saracook, 2007), the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach, 1981), and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (Connor & Davidson, 2003). Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficient were employed for data analysis using SPSS version 22 software.
Results: The findings indicated a positive and direct relationship between team leadership and psychological resilience (r = 0.24). Furthermore, a negative and significant relationship was found between psychological resilience and job burnout (r = -0.28, p < 0.05).
Conclusion: These findings indicate that team leadership can indirectly reduce the severity of job burnout by strengthening employees' psychological resilience. Although the obtained correlation coefficients are weak to moderate, the existence of significant relationships among the variables reveals the key role of resilience as a mediating variable in this link. Accordingly, designing and implementing organizational intervention programs aimed at enhancing team leadership styles and strengthening employees' resilience capacity can be an effective strategy for reducing job burnout and improving psychological health in work environments.
Job burnout is a state of chronic physical and psychological stress that develops in response to overwhelming emotional and professional demands (2). This phenomenon, which gradually expands over time, can progressively lead to psychological disability. According to the model proposed by Maslach et al. (2001), job burnout comprises three main dimensions: emotional exhaustion (feeling depleted of emotional resources and energy), depersonalization (a negative, callous, and indifferent attitude towards one's job and service recipients), and reduced personal accomplishment (feelings of incompetence and lack of achievement at work) (3). For the individual, job burnout is a painful experience that can lead to chronic fatigue, decreased performance, mental health disorders (such as depression and anxiety), and weakened self-confidence (4, 5). From an organizational perspective, job burnout carries severe and costly consequences for the organization. These consequences include reduced quality and quantity of work, increased absenteeism, diminished morale, commitment, and motivation among employees, and ultimately, heightened turnover intentions and employee displacement (5). The results of a study by Wu et al. indicated that job burnout leads to emotional exhaustion and that there is a strong positive relationship between job burnout and negative attitudes toward the job (6). In today's organizations, organizational leadership is one of the most critical and recognized factors determining the success or failure of an organization. The leadership style adopted by managers plays a fundamental role in shaping employees' attitudes, motivation, and work behaviors, and can foster creativity, organizational commitment, and team effectiveness (7). Numerous studies have shown that leaders, by creating an inspiring vision, providing necessary support, and facilitating work processes, create a context in which employees can perform their roles with greater energy and enthusiasm. Conversely, inappropriate leadership styles can gradually deplete the organization's human capital and pave the way for phenomena such as turnover, reduced productivity, and job burnout (8).
Among the leadership styles that have received attention in the management literature is team leadership. The concept of team leadership, as a specialized branch of leadership studies, refers to the process of social influence and guiding team members toward achieving shared goals, wherein the leader, by creating a clear vision, allocating resources, providing emotional support, and facilitating interpersonal interactions, establishes a foundation for team effectiveness (9). Team leaders are not only responsible for coordinating tasks and ensuring work progress, but also play a significant role in shaping the team's psychological climate and the quality of relationships among members. Supportive behaviors in this style can strengthen members' psychological safety and provide a context for effective learning and collaboration (10). Therefore, a precise understanding of the dimensions of team leadership and its consequences for employees' mental health is a fundamental step in designing preventive interventions and promoting well-being in the workplace. The research results of Ghanbari et al. showed a moderate relationship between managers' leadership behaviors and employees' job burnout in Iranian government organizations. Among these, ethical leadership style, relationship-oriented leadership style, and transformational leadership style had the largest effect sizes (11).
One of the factors that can influence employee performance and job burnout is psychological resilience. Resilience is defined as an individual's capacity to maintain or quickly recover psychological health in the face of life events and challenges (12). This concept, rooted in positive psychology, represents individuals' ability to adapt successfully to difficult conditions, psychological pressures, and threatening situations. Resilience is not merely about passively resisting problems; rather, it involves a dynamic process of learning, growth, and transforming threats into opportunities for personal and professional development (13). In the workplace, resilient employees are able to maintain their performance level and effectively utilize their cognitive and emotional capacities despite job pressures, organizational ambiguities, or interpersonal conflicts. Research has shown that high resilience is associated with positive occupational outcomes such as increased job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and innovative behaviors (14). Arslan et al. showed that resilience reduces the impact of negative emotions and increases the effectiveness of positive emotions for mental health (2). DeConck et al., in their study titled "The Relationship between Employees' Psychological Resilience and Charismatic Managers in Government Organizations," demonstrated that this group of employees has a higher level of resilience compared to employees in other organizations (15). The results of studies by Sardarzadeh et al. (16) and Dehghan et al. (17) indicated that resilience has a significant negative correlation with job burnout Despite extensive research separately examining the role of team leadership in predicting job burnout (18) and the impact of psychological resilience on reducing the negative consequences of occupational stress (12), there remains a significant theoretical gap in explaining the underlying mechanisms of these relationships. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the relationship between team leadership and job burnout, considering the mediating role of psychological resilience.
Methods: The present study was a descriptive-correlational research conducted as a field study. The statistical population consisted of all employees (N=250) of the Sports and Youth Departments of West Azerbaijan Province, from which 148 employees were selected as the statistical sample using Morgan's table and available sampling method. Data were collected using the Team Leadership Questionnaire (Saracook, 2007), the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach, 1981), and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (Connor & Davidson, 2003). Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficient were employed for data analysis using SPSS version 22 software.
Results: The findings indicated a positive and direct relationship between team leadership and psychological resilience (r = 0.24). Furthermore, a negative and significant relationship was found between psychological resilience and job burnout (r = -0.28, p < 0.05).
Conclusion: These findings indicate that team leadership can indirectly reduce the severity of job burnout by strengthening employees' psychological resilience. Although the obtained correlation coefficients are weak to moderate, the existence of significant relationships among the variables reveals the key role of resilience as a mediating variable in this link. Accordingly, designing and implementing organizational intervention programs aimed at enhancing team leadership styles and strengthening employees' resilience capacity can be an effective strategy for reducing job burnout and improving psychological health in work environments.
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Clinical Psychiatry
Send email to the article author
