How does social isolation in a context of dirty work increase emotional exhaustion and inhibit work engagement? A process model

Kathleen Bentein, Alice Garcia, Sylvie Guerrero and Olivier Herrbach
Additional contact information
Kathleen Bentein: UQAM - Université du Québec à Montréal = University of Québec in Montréal
Sylvie Guerrero: UQAM - Université du Québec à Montréal = University of Québec in Montréal
Olivier Herrbach: IRGO - Institut de Recherche en Gestion des Organisations - UB - Université de Bordeaux - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) - Bordeaux

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the consequences of experiencing social isolation in a context of dirty work. Relying on an integration of the job demands-resources model (Schaufeli and Bakker, 2004) with the social identity approach (Ashforth and Kreiner, 1999), the paper posits that perceived social isolation prevents the development of defense mechanisms that could counter the occupational stigma, and thus tends to increase perceptions of stigmatization, and to decrease perceptions of the prosocial impact of their work. Through these two perceptions, perceived social isolation indirectly affects emotional exhaustion and work engagement. Design/methodology: Research hypotheses are tested among a sample of 195 workers in the commercial cleaning industry who execute physically tainted tasks. Findings: Results support the research model. Perceived prosocial impact mediates the negative relationship between perceived social isolation and work engagement, and perceived stigmatization mediates the positive relationship between perceived social isolation and emotional exhaustion. Research limitations/implications: This research contributes to the dirty work literature by empirically examining one of its implicit assumptions, namely, that social isolation prevents the development of coping strategies. It also contributes to the literature on well-being and work engagement by demonstrating how they are affected by the social context of work. Originality/value: The present paper is the first to study the specific challenges of social isolation in dirty work occupations and its consequences.

Keywords: Emotional exhaustion; Job demands-resources model; Quantitative; Social isolation; Stigmatization; Work engagement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-10
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in Personnel Review, 2017, 46 (8), pp.1620-1634. ⟨10.1108/PR-09-2016-0227⟩

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

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:hal:journl:hal-03257922

DOI: 10.1108/PR-09-2016-0227

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().