Organisational Justice, Burnout, and Engagement in University Students: A Comparison between Stressful Aspects of Labour and University Organisation

Yolanda Navarro-Abal, Juan Gómez-Salgado, María José López-López and José Antonio Climent-Rodríguez
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Yolanda Navarro-Abal: Department of Social, Evolutionary and Educational Psychology, University of Huelva, 21071 Huelva, Spain
Juan Gómez-Salgado: Department of Nursing, University of Huelva, 21071 Huelva, Spain
María José López-López: Department of Clinical and Experimental Psychology, University of Huelva, 21071 Huelva, Spain
José Antonio Climent-Rodríguez: Department of Social, Evolutionary and Educational Psychology, University of Huelva, 21071 Huelva, Spain

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 10, 1-12

Abstract: Burnout, engagement, and organisational justice concepts are usually studied in the context of labour organisations, but not in universities. For this, the objective of this research is to identify the students’ empirically evidenced relationships in the employment context, such as levels of organisational justice, stress indicators, burnout and work commitment. On the other hand, engagement is analysed as a mediating variable that explains the relationship between organisational justice and burnout. A sample of 543 students from three Spanish universities, selected by purposive sampling, is used ensuring voluntary and anonymous participation. The instruments used to measure the four variables to analyse are a protocol for data collection, MBI-SS instrument for Academic Burnout, Utrecht Work Engagement Student Scale (UWES) for Engagement and the Scale of Organisational Justice for Organisational Justice. As a result, college students show behaviours that promote academic achievement, and they feel more engaged when they are treated fairly. As for the burnout syndrome dimensions, average levels of emotional exhaustion and academic efficacy, and high levels of cynicism are revealed. In addition, the proposed structural equation model supports the main hypothesis; engagement is a mediating variable in the organisational justice and burnout relationship. To conclude, academic stress and its explanatory framework cannot be conceived only from an organisational perspective, where the context of each student must be considered. The adoption of organisational preventive measures can be relevant in ensuring a healthy and conducive academic performance in our students.

Keywords: academic well-being; burnout; academic engagement; students; organisational justice; stress (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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