How does mindfulness help university employees cope with emotional exhaustion during the COVID-19 crisis? The mediating role of psychological hardiness and the moderating effect of workload.

The COVID-19 crisis has had severe adverse psychological effects on people globally. Although previous research has shown that mindfulness helps people cope with stressful situations, we do not know whether mindfulness can help people cope with the effects of the pandemic. This research examined the effect mindfulness has on emotional exhaustion on the part of employees who work at private international universities in Thailand that are affected by COVID-19. Grounded in the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this research proposed that the level of psychological hardiness mindful employees have mediates the effect of mindfulness in reducing emotional exhaustion. The Job Demands-Resource (JD-R) model was used as an additional theory to test the moderating effect of workload, which may reduce the benefit mindfulness has in alleviating emotional exhaustion. Questionnaire survey data were collected from 300 employees at two universities. Data analysis was conducted using partial least squares structural equation modeling, and the model showed that psychological hardiness mediated the effect mindfulness has on emotional exhaustion fully. Further, the analysis supported the moderating role workload plays in suppressing the effect of psychological hardiness on emotional exhaustion significantly. A simple slope analysis indicated as well that the negative association between psychological hardiness and emotional exhaustion was present only in employees with light workloads. By integrating the principle of COR theory with the JD-R model, this research extended previous research by showing that mindfulness may not help employees cope with stress during an organizational crisis like COVID-19 when they have to manage a heavy workload.

Mindfulness and emotional exhaustion in call center agents in the Philippines: moderating roles of work and personal characteristics.

This research explored the association between the mindfulness of call center agents in the Philippines and the level of emotional exhaustion they experienced. The study also contributes to the literature by investigating the role of call center agents' work (job demands and supervisory position) and personal characteristics (age and marital status) as moderating factors that might influence the effect of mindfulness on emotional exhaustion. Survey data were collected from 412 call center agents from 5 call center companies in the Philippines. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. The results supported a negative association between mindfulness and emotional exhaustion. Moreover, the analysis of the moderating effect found that the negative effect of mindfulness on emotional exhaustion was particularly strong for call center agents who: (1) experienced high job demands; (2) held a supervisory position; (3) were single, and (4) were younger.

The effectiveness of supervisor support in lessening perceived uncertainties and emotional exhaustion of university employees during the COVID-19 crisis: the constraining role of organizational intransigence.

Despite the severity of the COVID-19 crisis, which has affected organizations worldwide, there is a lack of research on the organizational factors that affect the psychological wellbeing of the employees of an organization affected by the crisis. This research uses the case of employees at two international universities in Thailand that have been directly affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Grounded in social support theory and the job-demand resource model of job stress, this research examines the role of supervisor support in explaining the degree of perceived uncertainties and emotional exhaustion that employees experience due to the COVID-19 crisis. Moreover, this research examines whether the effect of supervisor support on the perceived uncertainties of employees can be moderated by organizational intransigence, that is, a prevailing climate of resistance to change at the workplace. The questionnaire survey data were obtained from a sample of 300 employees at two private international universities, and the partial least squares structural equation model was used for data analysis. The results significantly confirm that supervisor support has a negative effect on the perceived uncertainties of employees. Perceived uncertainties also significantly mediate the negative effect of supervisor support on the employees' emotional exhaustion. More importantly, the moderating effect analysis shows that the negative effect of supervisor support on the perceived uncertainties of employees presents only for employees who work in a workplace climate where there is low intransigence; in a workplace climate where there is high intransigence, supervisor support does not lower the perceived uncertainties of employees.

Face it, don't Facebook it: Impacts of Social Media Addiction on Mindfulness, Coping Strategies and the Consequence on Emotional Exhaustion.

Addiction to social media has now become a problem that societies are concerned with. The aim of the present study is to investigate the impacts that social media addiction has on mindfulness and choice of coping strategy, as well as to explore the consequences on emotional exhaustion. The survey data were collected from 211 employees in 13 enterprises in Thailand. Results from partial least square structural equation modelling revealed that people who are highly addicted to social media tended to have lower mindfulness and tended to use emotion-focused coping to deal with stress. Lack of mindfulness and the decision to use emotion-coping strategy are also subsequently associated with higher emotional exhaustion. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mindful Facebooking: The moderating role of mindfulness on the relationship between social media use intensity at work and burnout.

Research on the role of social media use in the workplace has gained more interest, yet little is known about personal characteristics that might influence the outcomes that employees experience when they use social media during work. This research aims to investigate the impact of the intensity of social media use at work on three aspects of burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment. Results from partial least squares regression found that mindfulness significantly mediated the relationship between the intensity of social media use at work on emotional exhaustion and lack of personal accomplishment. These findings suggest that using social media during work tends to increase burnout in employees who have a low level of mindfulness, but it lowers burnout in employees who have a high level of mindfulness.