A moderated moderation analysis of perceived adaptivity and organizational support for innovation in the relationship between role overload and emotional exhaustion.

Background: Collectively, an individual's ability and willingness to adjust to uncertain and complex changes in the workplace and an environment that supports employee problem-solving may facilitate individual-level adaptation to changes in the workplace and help mitigate the negative impact of work-related stressors on health care professionals' work-related behavior and mental health outcomes.

Purpose: This study uses an interactionist perspective to assess how resources such as perceived adaptivity and organizational support for innovation serve as contextual boundary conditions of role overload in mitigating emotional exhaustion among health care workers.

Methodology: A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data from rural health care workers (n = 310). A moderated moderation analysis was performed to address the aims of the study.

Results: The results indicate that role overload has a significant positive effect on emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, a statistically significant three-way interaction effect of perceived adaptivity, organizational support for innovation, and role overload on emotional exhaustion was observed. Organizational support for innovation was found to mitigate the negative impact of role overload on emotional exhaustion for employees with high perceived adaptivity, but not for those with low perceived adaptivity levels.

Conclusions: The findings from this study suggest that in high-stress work environments, integrating and appropriately matching personal and organizational resources could serve as a buffer against the effects of work stressors on emotional exhaustion.

Practical implications: Effective strategies to enhance employee emotional well-being may require the joint consideration of individual and organizational factors.