Personal resources influence job demands, resources, and burnout: A one-year, three-wave longitudinal study

Our purpose in this 1-year, 3-wave longitudinal study was to investigate the relationships among job demands, job resources, personal resources, and job burnout in a group of 263 Chinese employees. Specifically, we examined the mediating role of personal resources in the relationships between job resources and job burnout, and between job demands and job burnout, as well as the reversed effect of job burnout on job demands and job resources. The results showed that job demands positively affected job burnout, whereas job and personal resources negatively affected job burnout over a 6-month period. Further, personal resources mediated the relationship between job resources and job burnout, but not that between job demands and job burnout. In addition, job burnout had a reversed effect on job demands and job resources. Implications are discussed in relation to balancing job demands and resources, and avoiding job burnout by utilizing personal resources.