Breaking the burnout cycle: Association of dispositional mindfulness with production line workers' job burnout and the mediating role of social support and psychological empowerment

Abstract

Burnout among production line workers has become an issue for their physical and mental health and for the productive efficiency of companies. However, this large group of workers has received insufficient attention, particularly in exploring how employees' dispositional factors are associated with burnout. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the association between dispositional mindfulness and job burnout and the potential mediating roles played by perceived social support and psychological empowerment. Participants in the study included 780 production line workers recruited from a foreign company in China. Participants completed measures related to dispositional mindfulness, perceived social support, psychological empowerment, and job burnout. The results showed that (a) dispositional mindfulness was significantly related to lower burnout (β = −0.446, 95% CI [-0.552, -0.340]); (b) perceived social support (β = −0.073, 95% CI [-0.126, -0.025]) and psychological empowerment (β = −0.106, 95% CI [-0.171, -0.058]) mediated this association individually; and (c) perceived social support and psychological empowerment had a serial mediating effect in this context (β = −0.055, 95% CI [-0.095, -0.028]). This study revealed the association between dispositional mindfulness and job burnout, with an additional focus on how dispositional mindfulness correlates with other resources, such as perceived social support and psychological empowerment.