The relationship between burnout and organizational commitment in two samples of health professionals

Relationships between dimensions of burnout and employee commitment to the organization were tested in two hospital samples, using structural equations analysis. Whereas burnout has typically been assumed to be a predictor of organizational commitment, the present data provided support for the converse hypothesis, that low commitment contributes to the experience of burnout. Specifically, in a sample of nurses (n = 197), commitment showed direct effects on emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and a weaker indirect effect (via exhaustion) on depersonalization. A similar pattern of effects emerged in a sample of laboratory technicians from the same organization (n = 110), although in this case the direct linkage between organizational commitment and depersonalization was not statistically significant. Implications for organizational efforts to reduce burnout are discussed.