Date of Award

Spring 2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

Committee Director

Konstantin Cigularov

Committee Member

Mallory McCord

Committee Member

Catherine Glenn

Abstract

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, working conditions have worsened, subjecting employees to numerous stressors. Analyzing the impact of COVID-19 stressors on employees‘ well-being and work motivation is crucial. The job demands-resources model (JD-R; Demerouti et al., 2001a) provides a framework for evaluating how COVID-19 stressors affect employees‘ well-being and motivation in the workplace. Given the complexity of job characteristics during the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with challenges in obtaining adequate support from supervisors who are also facing considerable work pressure, this study examines the continued relevance of the JD-R model in this evolving work environment. Specifically, four hypotheses were developed to test the JD-R model: negative COVID-19 work appraisals would be positively associated with employees‘ emotional exhaustion while negatively associated with their work engagement; and supervisor support would be positively related to employee work engagement and mitigate the impact of negative COVID-19 work appraisals on emotional exhaustion. The results supported all main effects but not the moderation effect. Organizational leadership should focus on addressing aspects of work impacted by the pandemic, such as pay, personal advancement opportunities, and interpersonal relationships. By helping employees appraise these aspects positively, supervisors can alleviate emotional exhaustion and promote work engagement. Additionally, organizations should empower supervisors to provide adequate support, which can in turn enhance employee engagement. Future research should investigate the roles of different job resources during crises and identify those that can effectively buffer the negative impacts of job demands.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/7k1b-vn71

ISBN

9798382770444

ORCID

0009-0007-5103-383X

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