A multi-level study of psychosocial safety climate, challenge and hindrance demands, employee exhaustion, engagement and physical health

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of psychosocial safety climate (PSC) on work engagement, emotional exhaustion and physical health problems, particularly through two types of demands (i.e., challenge and hindrance demands) among police personnel in Peninsular Malaysia. Data were collected using a survey among 909 participants from 58 departments and were analyzed using hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) version 7.0. The study discovered that PSC was negatively related to hindrance demands. PSC was also negatively related to emotional exhaustion and physical health problems. Interestingly, challenge demands increased work engagement and also emotional exhaustion, whereas hindrance demands were negatively related to work engagement and positively associated with emotional exhaustion. In the mediating pathways, hindrance demands mediated the relationship between PSC and emotional exhaustion, whereas emotional exhaustion mediated the relationship between challenge and hindrance demands and physical health problems. This study provides evidence that PSC acts as a predictor in a multi-level way, while challenge and hindrance stressors at the task level, lead to negative and positive work outcomes.