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The Relationship Between Organizational Dehumanization
and Outcomes
The Mediating Role of Emotional Exhaustion
Gae ¨tane Caesens, PhD and Florence Stinglhamber, PhD
Objective: The present research examines the influence of organizational
dehumanization on the core dimension of burnout, that is, emotional exhaus-
tion. In addition, we examine how emotional exhaustion in turn influences
employees’ health (ie, psychological strains and physical complains) and
turnover intentions. In other words, we investigated the mediating role played
by emotional exhaustion in the relationship between organizational dehuman-
ization and employees’ health and turnover intentions. Methods: Data were
collected among a sample of Belgian employees through questionnaires.
Results: As expected, the results of structural equation modeling analyses
indicated that emotional exhaustion mediates the relationships between
organizational dehumanization on the one hand and employees’ health and
turnover intentions on the other hand. Conclusions: These findings contribute
to the literature on employees’ burnout by highlighting a new predictor of this
syndrome and its subsequent outcomes.
Keywords: burnout, health complains, organizational dehumanization,
psychological strains, turnover intentions
B
urnout is one of the most studied problems in the field of
occupational health psychology.
1
The burnout construct is
commonly defined as ‘‘a state of exhaustion in which one is cynical
about the value of one’s occupation and doubtful of one’s capacity to
perform.’’
2
More particularly, it is conceptualized as a function of
three important dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonaliza-
tion/ cynicism, and lack of personal accomplishment.
3
According to
several scholars, emotional exhaustion which refers to feelings of
being depleted and drained emotionally by work is nevertheless the
central dimension of the burnout syndrome (eg,
1
). Empirical evi-
dence has consistently demonstrated that high levels of burnout
(including the emotional exhaustion dimension) are linked to
several health problems (eg, increasing depressive symptoms and
life dissatisfaction
4
) and negative work-related attitudes and behav-
iors (eg, increasing employees’ absenteeism
5
).
Although much effort has been devoted to the identification
of the predictors of employees’ burnout and even if prior studies
have already come up with an extensive list of its antecedents
including both situational and individual factors (eg
6
), to our
knowledge, solely one study
7
has considered the potential influence
of the organizational dehumanization construct. This latter phenom-
enon has been very recently defined in the literature as employees’
perceptions that their organization rejects their human integrity,
treats them as a tool, an object, and an instrument useful for the
organizational goals (see
7,8
). More importantly, a full understanding
of the outcomes of this organizational dehumanization–emotional
exhaustion relationship in terms of employees’ health and organi-
zational functioning is still totally lacking. Drawing on the Job
Demands-Resources model (eg,
9,10
), we propose in this research
that employees’ emotional exhaustion will mediate the positive
relationship between organizational dehumanization and negative
outcomes for both employees’ health (ie, increasing psychological
strains and physical complains) and the organization (ie, increasing
turnover intentions).
Organizational Dehumanization and Outcomes
Emanating from the social psychology literature and the
seminal work of Haslam,
11
the dehumanization phenomenon is
broadly described as ‘‘the result of a process, experience, or attitude
by which someone is made to feel more like an animal or machine
than human, with reduced capacities for reasoning, will, and
sentiment.’’ (Ref.
8
, pp. 571–572). Originally, the dehumanization
phenomenon has been studied and considered in the context of race,
immigration, and genocide.
11
More recently, several authors have
proposed that dehumanization is a subtle and everyday life phenome-
non (eg,
12
) that can also occur in organizational and work settings so
that employees might feel dehumanized by the organization they
work for (eg,
8,7,13,14
). Interestingly, scholars claimed that employees
who feel dehumanized by their organization experience low levels of
well-being and health (eg,
15
). Indeed, according to Christoff,
15
dehumanizing treatments even subtle might thwart the satisfaction
of individuals’ basic psychological needs (eg, needs for relatedness)
which should lead to detrimental consequences for individuals such as
an increase of their level of stress or anxiety disorders.
Relying on the JD-R model which is undeniably the most
influential model to explain burnout (eg,
9,10,16
), we argue that
organizational dehumanization represents an important job demand
for employees. Job demands refer to ‘‘those physical, psychological,
Learning Objectives
Become familiar with the construct of organizational
dehumanization, as defined and discussed by Caesens
and Stinglhamber.
Summarize their findings on the influence of organizational
dehumanization on dimensions of burnout and on
employees’ psychological and physical health and
turnover intentions.
Discuss the authors’ conclusions regarding mediating
factor(s) between organizational dehumanization and
employee outcomes.
From the Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Universite ´ catholique de
Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
This work was funded by ARC under grant n816/20-071 of the French Commu-
nity of Belgium awarded to the last author.
Clinical Significance: Some conclusions can be made from this study notably in
how to promote workers’ psychological and physical health. First, based on
study’ findings, we suggest that organizational dehumanization should be
incorporated and considered as an important job demand in the burnout
prevention programs. Second, based on the current findings, it can be
proposed ways to reduce perceptions of dehumanizing treatments received
from the organization such as by promoting fairness in the workplace.
Caesens, and Stinglhamber have no relationships/conditions/circumstances that
present potential conflict of interest.
The JOEM editorial board and planners have no financial interest related to this
research.
Address correspondence to: Gae ¨tane Caesens, PhD, Psychological Sciences
Research Institute, Place Cardinal Mercier, 10, L3.05.01, 1348 Louvain-
la-Neuve, Belgium (gaetane.caesens@uclouvain.be).
Copyright ß 2019 American College of Occupational and Environmental Medi-
cine
DOI: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000001638
JOEM Volume 61, Number 9, September 2019 699
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