Job satisfaction, and burnout as mediators of trait anger, work stress, positive and negative affect in a sample of Turkish correctional officers

Abstract

ABSTRACT Studies testing the Person-Environment Fit Theory and the top-down approach in the subjective well-being literature have highlighted a gap in the effect of personal fit variables or traits and their relationships with environmental variables. The current study aims to examine the role of trait anger, stress, and burn-out on job satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect within the framework of Person-Environment Fit Theory and the top-down approach by using structural equation modeling. The study was conducted on 588 Turkish correctional officers working in low-, medium-, or maximum-security prisons. Similar to previous findings, a direct positive relationship was found between trait anger and negative affect. Similarly, work stress, burnout, and job satisfaction were positively and directly associated with each other. Besides, the mediating role of burnout and job satisfaction in the relationship among trait anger, work stress, and negative affect/positive affect was statistically significant. Moreover, the relationship between trait anger and negative affect/positive affect, as well as the relationship between work stress and positive affect, was mediated by burnout, while job satisfaction only mediated the relationship between work stress and positive affect. Implications are presented to improve the subjective well-being of correctional officers.