Emotional Exhaustion and Job Satisfaction in Airport Security Officers – Work–Family Conflict as Mediator in the Job Demands–Resources Model

Abstract

The growing threat of terrorism has increased the importance of aviation security and the work of airport security officers (screeners). Nonetheless, airport security research has yet to focus on emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction as major determinants of screeners’ job performance. The present study bridges this research gap by applying the job demands–resources (JD–R) model and using work–family conflict (WFC) as an intervening variable to study relationships between work characteristics (workload and supervisor support), emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction in 1,127 screeners at a European airport. Results of structural equation modeling revealed that (a) supervisor support as a major job resource predicted job satisfaction among screeners; (b) workload as a major job demand predicted their emotional exhaustion; and (c) WFC proved to be a promising extension to the JD–R model that partially mediated the impact of supervisor support and workload on job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Work-Family Conflict Impact on Psychological Safety and Psychological Well-Being: A Job Performance Model

“…The most common stressors conducive to occurrence of work-family conflict are job burnout, dissatisfaction, work stress, long working hours, and role conflict (Kossek and Ozeki, 1998;Spector et al, 2004;Bakker et al, 2005;Ford et al, 2007). Work overload and stressful events caused by the work environment (Cartwright and Pappas, 2008;Ganster and Perrewé, 2011) may physically and emotionally exhaust an employee in a way that it gives rise to work-family conflict (Frone et al, 1997b;Baeriswyl et al, 2016). The two-way model of workfamily conflict shows that stress factors in the workplace such as lack of autonomy or excessive workload have a negative impact on the "work" side, whereas stress factors related to family such as misbehaving children or overly dependent parents harm the "family" side of the balance (Liu et al, 2019).…”

“…The two-way model of workfamily conflict shows that stress factors in the workplace such as lack of autonomy or excessive workload have a negative impact on the "work" side, whereas stress factors related to family such as misbehaving children or overly dependent parents harm the "family" side of the balance (Liu et al, 2019). In other respects, excellent compatibility between family and work gives a sense of high achievement in the workplace since it motivates individuals (Baeriswyl et al, 2016).…”

Automation in visual inspection tasks: X-ray luggage screening supported by a system of direct, indirect or adaptable cueing with low and high system reliability

“…In airport security X-ray screening, this task is characterised by long periods of sustained vigilance resulting in high levels of mental workload (Warm, Parasuraman, and Matthews 2008). Stressors such as time pressure, noise and high task load contribute to the suboptimal working conditions found in this task (McCarley et al 2004;Michel et al 2014;Baeriswyl, Krause, and Schwaninger 2016). Luggage inspection by airport security officers (screeners) represent a challenge for their perceptual and cognitive capacities (Harris 2002).…”

Cultura de conciliación y conflicto trabajo/familia en trabajadores con turnos laborales

“…Son abundantes los trabajos recientes que han destacado su papel en el incremento del cansancio emocional (Baeriswyl, Krause y Schwaninger, 2016), así como el desbordamiento que se produce por la influencia de las características del trabajo sobre el cansancio y la satisfacción (Lee et al, 2016). Fundamentalmente, la mayoría de los trabajos realizados sugieren la existencia de tres sub-dimensiones del mismo fenómeno: conflicto basado en el comportamiento de rol, conflicto basado en la tensión y conflicto basado en el tiempo.…”