A study on the structural relationship between emotional labor, job burnout, and turnover intention among office workers in Korea: the moderated mediating effect of leader-member exchange.

BACKGROUND: This research investigated the interplay of emotional labor, job burnout, and leader-member exchange on turnover intentions among office workers in South Korea. METHODS: An online survey was conducted with 333 employees working in Korean small- and medium-sized enterprises. The target sample consisted of in-house employees who do not deal with external customers. All the measurement and structural models of this study were analyzed using SPSS 27.0 and Amos 28.0. RESULTS: The survey revealed that emotional labor indirectly influenced turnover intentions via job burnout and leader-member exchange. Deep acting intensified job burnout, thereby elevating turnover intentions, while surface acting mitigated job burnout. CONCLUSIONS: The findings underscored the importance of managing emotional labor and job burnout and fostering robust leader-member relationships to reduce staff turnover. Moreover, leader-member exchange was found to mitigate the effects of emotional labor on job burnout and turnover intention, with higher leader-member exchange reducing the negative impact of deep acting on turnover intention through job burnout.

Characteristics of Korean Employees Without Depression but Having Suicidal Ideation.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify the factors related to suicidal ideation targeting the risk group showing suicidal ideation despite the absence of depression in Korean workers. METHODS: The data of 14,425 participants who were employees aged of 18 to 75 years who attended a mental health checkup program at the Workplace Mental Health Institute, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital from June 2015 to October 2019 were analyzed. A self-report questionnaire consisting of sociodemographic factors, suicidal ideation, job stress, levels of depression and anxiety, and resilience was administered. A Hierarchical logistic regression model was used with suicidal ideation as dependent variable. Separate analyses were conducted according to depressive symptoms using the 20-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale. RESULTS: Being women, older, and having low resilience, more perceived stress, more severe anxiety and less sleeping hours were associated with suicidal ideation in no-depression group (CES-D <16). In the subcategories of job stress, lack of reward was significantly associated with suicidal ideation in no-depression group. CONCLUSION: This study identified the characteristics of a group that has no depression but has suicidal ideation in Korean workers. Among job stress items, lack of reward is a clear characteristic to be considered with caution in this group.

The Association Between Alcohol Use and Suicidal Ideation Among Employees.

OBJECTIVE: The risk of suicide is assessed by identifying the relationship between alcohol-use patterns and suicidal ideation in Korean employees. METHODS: The study involved 13,858 employees who underwent workplace mental health screening at the Workplace Mental Health Institute of Kangbuk Samsung Hospital over a 6-year period between 2014 and 2019. Analysis was performed separately for Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Korea (AUDIT-K) items related to the frequency/volume of alcohol consumption (items 1 to 3, AUDIT-C) and those regarding alcohol dependence/related problems (items 4 to 10, AUDIT-D/P). Subjects were then classified into three groups on the basis of the presence or absence of clinical depression and suicidal ideation. The groups' sociodemographic factors and clinical features of depression, anxiety, and alcohol-use patterns were analyzed with a chi-square test as well as one-way analysis of variance, followed by a post hoc test using the Bonferroni correction. RESULTS: AUDIT-K and AUDIT-D/P scores were significantly associated with the presence or absence of clinical depression as well as the presence or absence of suicidal ideation (p<0.05). However, no significant differences were found among the three groups with regard to the AUDIT-C score (p=0.054). CONCLUSION: Identifying or treating alcohol dependence/related problems can help lower the occurrence of mental health problems, and suicidal ideation in particular, in employees and reduce social costs.