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Examining the job demands-resources model in a sample of Korean correctional officers

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Abstract

There have been numerous studies on the job stress and mental health of correctional officers. Most of them, however, focused on specific symptoms or the simple relations between various stressors and mental health. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the mechanism of the relationship between job characteristics and burnout among correctional officers by integrating basic psychological needs satisfaction into the job-demands resources model. The results, using a representative sample of 3005 correctional officers, indicate that job demands directly influenced burnout, while job resources indirectly influenced burnout via basic psychological needs. These findings suggest that the fulfillment of basic psychological needs plays a pivotal role in preventing burnout among correctional officers. The current study offers several suggestions on how to apply these findings in prison organizations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Keimyung University, Daegu, South Korea

    Soohyun Cho

  2. Center for Teaching and Learning, Sungkonghoe University, Seoul, South Korea

    Hyunkyung Noh

  3. Department of Psychology, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea

    Eunjoo Yang & Narae Lee

  4. Counseling Psychology Program, Hanyang Cyber University, Seoul, South Korea

    Jayoung Lee

  5. Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands

    Wilmar B. Schaufeli

  6. Research Unit Occupational, Organizational Psychology and Professional Learning, KULeuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Wilmar B. Schaufeli

  7. Department of Education, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea

    Sang Min Lee

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  1. Soohyun Cho
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Cho, S., Noh, H., Yang, E. et al. Examining the job demands-resources model in a sample of Korean correctional officers. Curr Psychol 39, 1521–1534 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00620-8

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