The Relationship between Job Description Index and Employee Emotional Exhaustion: The Moderating Role of Religious Coping and Marital Satisfaction

Extended Abstract
 
Introduction and Objectives: Emotional exhaustion is one of the key concepts in psychology and human resource management and one of the most important signs of psychological stress in the workplace (Maslach and Leiter, 2022), which is described by Greenberg (2011) as a result of an individual’s failure to balance job responsibilities and personal needs. Among the factors associated with emotional exhaustion is the job description index (Sohbatzadeh, 2016), which means a person’s positive emotional and mental state towards their job, which results from the evaluation of work experiences and various factors such as working conditions, relationships with colleagues and managers, salaries and benefits, and advancement opportunities (Locke, 1976). One of the effects of positive evaluation of job description indices is marital satisfaction (Hosseinqoli, 2014). Kim and Fong (2017) describe marital satisfaction as a pleasant and positive feeling that individuals have about their marital life, stemming from emotional and physical interactions, social support, and fair distribution of roles and responsibilities, which can play a moderating role in reducing emotional exhaustion in employees (Hobfoll, 1989). Religious coping that can help reduce emotional exhaustion (Mohammadkhani et al., 2019) involves using religious beliefs to understand and manage stressful situations (Pargament et al., 1990). Lambert et al. (2010) and Pargament et al. (1990) showed that people who use positive religious strategies in the face of job stress are more likely to experience a sense of emotional security and meaning in life and to be free from emotional exhaustion. Answering the question of whether religious coping and marital satisfaction have the ability to play a moderating role in the relationship between job description index and emotional exhaustion can help employees, decision-makers, and organizational managers to reduce emotional exhaustion by identifying weaknesses and strengthening support resources, and thus increase organizational productivity and well-being.
Research Method: This is a descriptive correlational study that used Pearson and Fisher’s Z tests. The statistical population included all employees and employees of government and private offices in Qom who have access to cyberspace and social networks. 205 employees with an average age of 35.40 years in the age range of 18 to 62 years and an average employment period of 11.06 years in the range of 1 to 42 years participated in this study.
Instrument
1- The job description index is in the form of six categories including nature of work, supervisor or manager, colleagues, salary and benefits, promotion and advancement, and work environment conditions, which was designed by Smith, Kendall, and Hulin (1969). The Iranian version was prepared by Behrouzi et al. (2008) and Cronbach’s alpha was 0.75.
2- Emotional exhaustion of employees was prepared and adjusted by Jung (1995) and the reliability of the questionnaire using Cronbach’s alpha was reported to be 0.85%. This questionnaire was validated in Iran by Ardalan and Noorollahi (2021) and Cronbach’s alpha was reported to be 0.92.
3- Religious coping was designed by Pargament et al. (2000) with the aim of measuring religious coping strategies of individuals in the face of stress and includes two main dimensions: positive religious coping (such as seeking divine support, positive spiritual interpretation and prayer) and negative religious coping (such as feeling rejected by God, anger towards God and religious doubt). Cronbach’s alpha for positive coping was reported to be between 0.87 and 0.92 and for negative coping between 0.65 and 0.80. Shahabizadeh and Mazaheri (2012) reported Cronbach’s alpha for the positive and negative scales as 0.95 and 0.93, respectively.
4- The short form of marital satisfaction, which is derived from the original Enrich questionnaire and designed by Olson, Fournier, and Druckmann (1985), is used to assess the overall quality of the marital relationship. Cronbach’s alpha for the entire scale has been reported to be between 0.82 and 0.90 in various Iranian studies, indicating appropriate reliability of the instrument in measuring marital satisfaction in Iranian society.
Findings: To investigate the moderating role of religious coping and marital satisfaction in the relationship between job description indicators and emotional exhaustion, Fisher’s r to z transformation method was used. First, the total score of religious coping and satisfaction was classified based on being less than or greater than the average. Then, the correlation between the two independent and dependent variables was calculated at each of these two levels. By obtaining Fisher’s Z scores and its confidence level, the result of comparing the two mentioned correlations was determined.
(71=n_b و 134=n_a)




Variable


 


High Religious Coping Group (r_b)


Low Religious Coping Group (r_a)


Z


P




Emotional Exhaustion


Emotional Exhaustion




Job Description Index


Job Index


-0/56**


-0/74**


-2/14


0/0324




Manager Index


0/40-**


-0/70**


-2/91


0/0036




Coworker Index


0/40-**


-0/74**


-3/47


0/0005




Job Promotion Index


-0/42**


-0/68**


-2/35


0/0188




Salary Index


0/07


-0/69**


-5/23


0/0000




Work Environment Index


-0/29


-0/65**


-3/18


0/0015




Job Description Index Score


-0/50**


-0/75**


-2/82


0/0048




**.P<0/01
*.P<0/05
In the high religious coping group, we see weaker correlations between job description indicators and emotional exhaustion than in the low religious coping group. This means that the moderating role of religious coping in the relationship between job description indicators and emotional exhaustion is confirmed.
(111=n_b و 94=n_a)




Variable


 


High Marital Satisfaction Group (rb)


Low Marital Satisfaction Group (ra)


Z


P




Emotional Exhaustion


Emotional Exhaustion




Job Description Index


Job Index


-0/74**


-0/72**


0/27


0/7872




Manager Index


-0/64**


-0/62**


0/33


0/7414




Coworker Index


-0/67**


-0/69**


-0/25


0/8026




Job Promotion Index


-0/58**


-0/61**


-0/27


0/7872




Salary Index


-0/41**


-0/53**


-0/15


0/2501




Work Environment Index


-0/55**


-0/57**


-0/17


0/8650




Job Description Index Score


-0/72**


-0/68**


0/39


0/6965




**.P<0/01
*.P<0/05
The results of Fisher’s Z test indicate a significant difference in the relationship between job description indicators and emotional exhaustion in the two groups with high marital satisfaction.
Discussion and Conclusion: The findings showed that religious coping has the ability to play a moderating role, such that high religious coping can weaken the relationship between job description indicators and emotional exhaustion and pave the way for greater emotional vitality in the workplace. In contrast, the moderating role of marital satisfaction was not confirmed. This finding is consistent with studies including Mohammadkhani et al. (2010), Hosseingholi (2011), Khaghani Ternik (2014), Pandey and Sayan (2019), Safriya, Otman and Abdolvahab (2010), Bagher Nassami et al. (2016), Osharov (2011), Rahimi (2018), and Jalali, Jafar and Heidzir (2020). In explaining this finding, it can be said that when people’s coping skills are higher, they have higher self-confidence and do not experience anxiety and emotional turmoil when facing job and workplace challenges, and they consider themselves capable of controlling and changing situations; therefore, they establish better relationships with colleagues, clients, and the environment, and their sense of satisfaction increases their sense of adequacy. In contrast, people who do not have appropriate coping skills experience a decrease in energy and a feeling of severe fatigue when facing job and interpersonal tensions. People with stronger spiritual resources feel a sense of connection to God as a source of absolute power that controls everything (Sherrer, Allen & Harp, 2016). This makes them rely on God in the face of job stress and ask for His help while not giving up their efforts. Since they trust in God and see Him as their support, they will be more resilient to factors that can cause job problems (Shimazo et al., 2015). Since work is an important part of people’s lives, it seems natural that when people have spiritual beliefs, they have more spiritual criteria in their evaluations of the work environment, so they experience less stress and perform better in the face of interpersonal and work conflicts, which provides a higher level of satisfaction in the workplace. Theoretical perspectives also indicate that meaning-making and perception of control are closely related to the definition of spiritual resources, and these two components are among the most prominent mechanisms that establish a connection between spiritual resources and positive psychological health outcomes (Shi et al., 2016). In explaining the finding that marital satisfaction does not have the ability to play a moderating role in the relationship between the job description index and emotional exhaustion, it can be said that marital satisfaction in Iranian culture probably explains a significant part of the job description index, so the remaining amount does not have the ability to play a moderating role. This interpretation is consistent with the findings of Makipour et al. (2023) and Jamali et al. (2017)..