The effectiveness of supervisor support in lessening perceived uncertainties and emotional exhaustion of university employees during the Covid-19 crisis

The constraining role of organizational intransigence

Bibliographic Data

ID10121322
AuthorsPeerayuth Charoensukmongkol (0000-0002-7692-5013, National Institute of Development Administration, corresponding author), Tipnuch Phungsoonthorn (0000-0001-9042-0954, Webster University Thailand)
Year2020
Volume148
Issue4
Pages431-450
Publication date2020-07-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of General Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-1309 • E-ISSN: 1940-0888
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00221309.2020.1795613
PMID32691689
OpenAlexW3044651161
LanguageEN
Citations received29
References cited44

Despite the severity of the COVID-19 crisis, which has affected organizations worldwide, there is a lack of research on the organizational factors that affect the psychological wellbeing of the employees of an organization affected by the crisis. This research uses the case of employees at two international universities in Thailand that have been directly affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Grounded in social support theory and the job-demand resource model of job stress, this research examines the role of supervisor support in explaining the degree of perceived uncertainties and emotional exhaustion that employees experience due to the COVID-19 crisis. Moreover, this research examines whether the effect of supervisor support on the perceived uncertainties of employees can be moderated by organizational intransigence, that is, a prevailing climate of resistance to change at the workplace. The questionnaire survey data were obtained from a sample of 300 employees at two private international universities, and the partial least squares structural equation model was used for data analysis. The results significantly confirm that supervisor support has a negative effect on the perceived uncertainties of employees. Perceived uncertainties also significantly mediate the negative effect of supervisor support on the employees' emotional exhaustion. More importantly, the moderating effect analysis shows that the negative effect of supervisor support on the perceived uncertainties of employees presents only for employees who work in a workplace climate where there is low intransigence; in a workplace climate where there is high intransigence, supervisor support does not lower the perceived uncertainties of employees

Affect (linguistics · Burnout · Economics · Emotional exhaustion · Management · Organizational commitment · Perceived organizational support · Psychological resilience · Supervisor · Survey data collection · Clinical Psychology · COVID-19 and Mental Health · COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts · Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior · Psychology · Social Psychology