BURNOUT AND PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY AMONG PHARMACISTS: THE ROLE OF ROLE CONFLICT AND AMBIGUITY

Abstract

The aim of this study is to identify the individual and organizational factors influencing burnout and professional responsibility fulfillment among pharmacists. The research was conducted with pharmacists in Türkiye, and data were collected through an online questionnaire distributed via chambers of pharmacists. Descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, correlation analysis, and regression-based mediation analysis (PROCESS Model 4) were employed.The findings indicate that burnout is higher among women, varies across age groups, and decreases in older age groups. Burnout demonstrated a non-linear pattern across team size, decreasing in small-to-medium teams but increasing again in larger teams (six or more staff). Burnout was also significantly higher among pharmacists dissatisfied with their pay. Professional responsibility fulfillment did not differ by gender; however, it increased with age and was lower in larger teams.Role conflict and role ambiguity were found to significantly predict burnout. Burnout was negatively associated with professional responsibility fulfillment. Mediation analyses revealed that burnout partially mediated the relationship between role ambiguity and professional responsibility fulfillment and fully mediated the relationship between role conflict and professional responsibility fulfillment. These findings suggest that emotional exhaustion serves as a key mechanism linking workplace role stressors to responsibility-related behaviors.