Date of Award

5-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

College/School

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Department/Program

Psychology

Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair

Valerie Sessa

Committee Member

Kevin Askew

Committee Member

Daniel Simonet

Abstract

To date there has been little research conducted on young seasonal workers, leaving a dearth in the literature regarding such things as how they react to their work environment and the outcomes of those reactions. This study focuses on burnout in young seasonal workers in the amusement park industry, using the job demands-resource model to make predictions. Surveys from 155 young seasonal workers at six amusement parks on the eastern coast of the US responded to surveys at two points in time measuring job demands, job resources, burnout, and intention to turnover. Hypotheses were tested using moderated regression to investigate how job demands moderated by job resources influences burnout and how burnout influences turnover intention. While burnout was strongly related to turnover intention, the results challenged the notion that job resources moderates the relationship between job demands and burnout. A reinterpretation of the results suggests that job resources directly influence burnout and this is moderated job demands such that as job resources were low and job demand increased, burnout also increased. Results suggest that studying this population is important as young adults may react differently to their environment than mature adults working in fulltime jobs. In addition, as job lack of job resources was related to burnout, it is suggested interventions targeting managers could be used to mitigate burnout in this population.

Download

Included in

Psychology Commons

Share

COinS