Job Stress and Police Burnout: Moderating Roles of Gender and Marital Status

Abstract

Previous studies on occupational burnout among police personnel did not pay enough attention to how gender and marital status may influence the connection between job stress and occupational burnout, especially where cultural beliefs direct gender and marital issues in relation to work, such as Nigeria. This study, therefore, investigated the extent to which gender and marital status moderate the relationship between job stress and occupational burnout. Participants were 213 police personnel (male = 120; female = 93) selected from 10 urban and 10 semi-urban police divisions in Nigeria. Their ages ranged between 20 and 54 years (Mage=38.15 years; SD =10.0). Results revealed that job stress significantly predicted occupational burnout such that an increase in job stress led to increase in the level of occupational burnout. Gender moderated the effects of job stress on occupational burnout in such a way that job stress tended to result in higher level of occupational burnout in female than in male police personnel. Similarly, marital status moderated the relationship between job stress and occupational burnout in such a way that police personnel who were married tended to report higher level of occupational burnout in the presence of job stress than those who were single. Implications for gender sensitivity and family supportiveness were discussed.