Organizational identification and burnout syndrome in healthcare workers: The mediating effect of organizational justice

BACKGROUND: Healthcare workers typically perform their work under adverse conditions, increasing their susceptibility to developing burnout syndrome (BO). The paucity of research on the relationship between organizational identification (OI) and perceptions of organizational justice has created the need to address this topic more deeply. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the relationship between OI and BO, identifying whether perceptions of organizational justice act as mediating variables. METHODS: In total, 402 healthcare workers (physicians, professionals, and nursing assistants) completed Colquitt’s (2001) Organizational Justice Scale, Mael and Ashforth’s (1992) Organizational Identification Scale, and Maslach’s (1986) Burnout Inventory. Two competing structural equation models were evaluated. RESULTS: Our partial mediation model showed that the direct relationship between OI and BO was not significant (β= –0.16; p = 0.07). Therefore, a total mediation model was selected, showing that the indirect effects of OI on BO through perceptions of distributive justice (β= –0.16; p = 0.00) and interpersonal justice (β= –0.11; p = 0.02) were significant. CONCLUSION: Adjusting the processes of health institutions considering a vision of organizational justice and increasing the worker’s sense of belonging to his or her organization and his or her work team would, in turn, result in a lower probability of experiencing burnout syndrome.