Investigation of the Level of Occupational Commitment and Psychological Hardiness in Disaster Workers

Aim: This research aimed to determine the occupational commitment and psychological hardiness levels of disaster workers and to examine the relationship between these two concepts. Method: The sample of this cross-sectionaal study consisted of the personnel of the Provincial Directorate of Disaster and Emergency and the Fire Brigade Workers of the Metropolitan Municipality working in a city that is an important disaster area in Turkey. Introductory information forms including sociodemographic and occupational characteristics, Occupational Commitment Scale, and Psychological Resilience Scale were used to collect data. Data were evaluated using descriptive statistics, dependent groups t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Tukey HSD test, and correlation analysis. Results: The disaster workers scored 29.97 ± 5.74 on the Occupational Commitment Scale and 59.59 ± 16.03 on the Psychological Hardiness Scale. The occupational commitment of the workers, the type of occupation, the state of liking the occupation, and their psychological hardiness was affected by their occupational working time. It was concluded that the occupational commitment of the workers had a moderately statistically significant and positive relationship with hardiness (p < 0.001). Conclusion: In the study, it was determined that the disaster workers have a medium level of occupational commitment and psychological hardiness. It was determined that the psychological hardiness levels of the workers who are committed to their occupation are higher. It was concluded that occupational commitment factors should be taken into account at the point of protecting the mental health of disaster workers and improving their psychological hardiness.