Date of Award

Spring 2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Committee Director

Konstantin P. Cigularov

Committee Member

Mallory A. McCord

Committee Member

Andrew A. Bennett

Committee Member

Nastassia M. Savage

Abstract

United States citizens rely on state government employees to provide essential public services. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these employees responded by administering both routine and novel procedures to protect public health, often placing them on the frontlines and at increased risk of contagion. Concurrently, the pandemic-driven economic downturn created budget shortfalls that threatened the job and financial security of the state workforce. Together, these conditions substantially increased job demands for state government employees.

Guided by the Job Demands–Resources (JDR) Model, this study examined how COVID‑19-related job demands influenced state employees’ work engagement, job burnout, and organizational commitment, and whether supervisor support mitigated these effects. Consistent with JDR propositions, it was hypothesized that pandemic-related job demands would negatively affect organizational commitment indirectly through reduced work engagement and increased job burnout. It was further hypothesized that supervisor support would attenuate these indirect effects.

Data from 500 state government employees who completed surveys in April and September 2020 were analyzed using structural equation modeling in R to test a latent moderated mediation model. Results provided partial support for hypothesized relationships. The path from COVID‑19–related job demands to job burnout was statistically significant (β = .124, SE = .052, 95% CI [.023, .229]), whereas direct paths to work engagement and organizational commitment were not. The indirect effect of COVID‑19-related job demands on organizational commitment through job burnout was statistically significant (β = -.015, SE = .009, 95% CI [-.037, -.001]); however, the indirect effect through work engagement was not. Supervisor support did not moderate either mediation pathway.

These findings extend JDR research within the public sector and support the model’s strain-based pathway. Results also carry important practical implications for state government employers. Supervisor support alone appears insufficient to counteract the negative effects of job insecurity on job burnout and downstream organizational commitment. Instead, interventions more closely aligned with the structural sources of job insecurity – such as organization‑level responses to economic downturns – may be necessary. This insight is particularly salient given ongoing uncertainty surrounding federal funding and its long-term implications for job security in state and other public sector organizations.

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ISBN

9798197832894

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