Understanding the Relationship between Overtime and Burnout

Edna Rabenu and Sharona Aharoni-Goldenberg

International Studies of Management & Organization, 2017, vol. 47, issue 4, 324-335

Abstract: This study examines the apparent inconsistent relationship between overtime and burnout, and proposes a tentative model for conceptualizing it. We suggest that, in examining the relationship between overtime and burnout, attention should be paid to the categorization of working hours that includes work of up to 12 hours per day and work exceeding 12 hours per day. The categorization assumes that workers in the latter category have fewer opportunities for recovery and are, therefore, more prone to burnout. We postulate two moderators that can shed light on the contradictory findings concerning the relationship between overtime and burnout. First, we elaborate on the definition of the term “heavy work investment” and emphasize the importance of distinguishing between the various levels of work investment by workers who work long hours, namely, excessive work investment (EWI), moderate work investment (MWI), and low work investment (LWI). Second, we analyze the importance of autonomy, distinguishing between perceived and actual autonomy of the employees with regard to their schedule. Propositions as well as theoretical and practical implications are offered.

Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00208825.2017.1382269 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:mimoxx:v:47:y:2017:i:4:p:324-335

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/mimo20

DOI: 10.1080/00208825.2017.1382269

Access Statistics for this article

International Studies of Management & Organization is currently edited by Abraham Stefanidis

More articles in International Studies of Management & Organization from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().