Work Motivation and Burnout: Exploring the Mediating Role of Emotional Regulation among Corporate Sector Employees

Abstract

This research study aims to investigate the relationship between Work Motivation and Burnout: Exploring the Mediating Role of Emotional Regulation Among Corporate Sector Employees belonging to the age group 22-55 years. Around a sample (N= 350) of corporate sector employees participated in the study among which there were males (n= 230) and females (n=120) out of whom (n= 222) were married and (n=125) were unmarried. The three measures used in this current study are Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale (WEIMS), Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT), and Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). The result findings show that there is a significant positive relationship between work motivation and emotional regulation (cognitive reappraisal) Moreover, the findings depicted that there is a significant negative relationship between work motivation and emotional regulation (expressive suppression.) The findings depicted that there is a non-significant negative relationship between burnout and emotional regulation (cognitive reappraisal) and a positive relationship between burnout and emotional regulation (expressive suppression). Furthermore, the findings depicted that there is a significant negative relationship between Work Motivation and Burnout. However, while exploring the mediational role of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, it was observed that cognitive reappraisal emerged as a more impactful mediator for the relationship between work motivation and burnout as compared to expressive suppression. This study has implications for the corporate sector to become more aware of work motivation, burnout, and emotional regulation so they can cater to the issue by filling the void