The impact of vacation and job stress on burnout and absenteeism

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that vacation relief decreases psychological and behavioral strains caused by job stressors. We examined the impact of job stress and vacation on strain on 87 blue-collar employees in an industrial enterprise in central Israel. Whereas former respite research focused on the impact of vacation only on psychological strains such as burnout and job and life satisfaction, the current study also examined a behavioral strain, absenteeism. The employees completed questionnaires before and after vacation and again four weeks later. Our findings show that vacation alleviated perceived job stress and bumout as predicted, replicating findings that a respite from work diminishes levels of strain to lower than chronic, on-the-job levels. We found declines in burnout immediately after the vacation and a return to prevacation levels four weeks later, and a similar pattern with regard to absenteeism.

[1]  Dalia Etzion,et al.  The Impact of Short Overseas Business Trips on Job Stress and Burnout , 2002 .

[2]  Sabine A. E. Geurts,et al.  Absenteeism, turnover intention and inequity in the employment relationship , 1999 .

[3]  D Eden,et al.  Relief from job stressors and burnout: reserve service as a respite. , 1998, The Journal of applied psychology.

[4]  Wilmar B. Schaufeli,et al.  The evaluation of an individual burnout intervention program: The role of inequity and social support , 1998 .

[5]  Robert P. Steel,et al.  TESTING THE DURABILITY OF JOB CHARACTERISTICS AS PREDICTORS OF ABSENTEEISM OVER A SIX‐YEAR PERIOD , 1998 .

[6]  J M Fisher,et al.  Objective stress factors, accidents, and absenteeism in transit operators: a theoretical framework and empirical evidence. , 1998, Journal of occupational health psychology.

[7]  D Eden,et al.  Effects of a respite from work on burnout: vacation relief and fade-out. , 1997, The Journal of applied psychology.

[8]  James Campbell Quick,et al.  Creating healthier workplaces: The American Psychological Association/National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health cooperative agreement. Introduction and historical overview. , 1997, Journal of occupational health psychology.

[9]  Blake E. Ashforth,et al.  A meta-analytic examination of the correlates of the three dimensions of job burnout. , 1996, The Journal of applied psychology.

[10]  S. Melamed,et al.  Objective and subjective work monotony: effects on job satisfaction, psychological distress, and absenteeism in blue-collar workers. , 1995, The Journal of applied psychology.

[11]  Gary Johns,et al.  How often were you absent? A review of the use of self-reported absence data , 1994 .

[12]  D. Harrison,et al.  Comparative examinations of self-reports and perceived absenteeism norms: Wading through Lake Wobegon. , 1994 .

[13]  J. Mathieu,et al.  Individual characteristics, work perceptions, and affective reactions influences on differentiated absence criteria , 1993 .

[14]  Blake E. Ashforth,et al.  A further examination of managerial burnout: Toward an integrated model , 1993 .

[15]  Atul Mitra,et al.  A Meta-Analytic Review of the Relationship Between Absence and Turnover , 1992 .

[16]  Joseph Schwarzwald,et al.  A field study of employees' attitudes and behaviors after promotion decisions. , 1992 .

[17]  Dan R. Daltonl,et al.  The Impact of Employee-Initiated Transfer on Absenteeism: A Four-Year Cohort Assessment , 1992 .

[18]  D. J. Dwyer,et al.  The effects of job demands and control on employee attendance and satisfaction , 1991 .

[19]  C. Olson,et al.  Effects of Grievance Activity on Absenteeism , 1991 .

[20]  Dov Eden,et al.  Acute and chronic job stress, strain, and vacation relief , 1990 .

[21]  Richard M. Steers,et al.  Managing Employee Absenteeism , 1990 .

[22]  Mats Fredrikson,et al.  Stress on and off the job as related to sex and occupational status in white‐collar workers , 1989 .

[23]  Mark Fichman,et al.  Attendance makes the heart grow fonder: A hazard rate approach to modeling attendance. , 1989 .

[24]  S. Hobfoll.  Conservation of resources. A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. , 1989, The American psychologist.

[25]  Arie Shirom,et al.  Burnout in work organizations. , 1989 .

[26]  Bernhard Wilpert,et al.  Applied psychology : an international review , 1989 .

[27]  Joseph G. Rosse,et al.  Relations among Lateness, Absence, and Turnover: Is There a Progression of Withdrawal? , 1988 .

[28]  Mark Fichman.  Motivational consequences of absence and attendance: Proportional hazard estimation of a dynamic motivation model. , 1988 .

[29]  Elliot Aronson,et al.  Career burnout: Causes and cures. , 1988 .

[30]  J. Lounsbury,et al.  A vacation from work: Changes in work and nonwork outcomes. , 1986 .

[31]  C. Cooper,et al.  International review of industrial and organizational psychology , 1986 .

[32]  James Campbell Quick,et al.  Organizational stress and preventive management , 1986 .

[33]  Robert J. Paul,et al.  Getting Absent Workers Back on the Job: An Analytical Approach , 1985 .

[34]  Hendrix Wh.  Factors predictive of stress, organizational effectiveness, and coronary heart disease potential. , 1985 .

[35]  W. Hendrix.  Factors predictive of stress, organizational effectiveness, and coronary heart disease potential. , 1985, Aviation, space, and environmental medicine.

[36]  D. Etzion,et al.  Moderating effect of social support on the stress-burnout relationship. , 1984, The Journal of applied psychology.

[37]  D Eden,et al.  Critical job events, acute stress, and strain: a multiple interrupted time series. , 1982, Organizational behavior and human performance.

[38]  M. Torem.  Burnout: From Tedium to Personal Growth , 1982 .

[39]  Christina Maslach,et al.  Burnout: The Cost of Caring , 1982 .

[40]  H. Freudenberger,et al.  Burnout: The High Cost of High Achievement , 1980 .

[41]  T. Cook,et al.  Quasi-experimentation: Design & analysis issues for field settings , 1979 .

[42]  Greg R. Oldham,et al.  Reconsidering Our Dependent Variables: A Critique and Empirical Study , 1978 .

[43]  J. Hackman,et al.  Development of the Job Diagnostic Survey , 1975 .

[44]  C G Laurenson,et al.  FLEXIBLE WORKING HOURS , 1974 .

[45]  F. Halberg,et al.  The 17-ketosteroid excretion of a healthy man on weekdays and weekends. , 1965, Experimental medicine and surgery.

[46]  R. Kahn,et al.  Organizational Stress: Studies in Role Conflict and Ambiguity. , 1965 .