Understanding Employee Resources: The Role of Trait and State Self-Control in Burnout Prevention and Work Ability Enhancement
- Autores: Hiacynta Warsicka
- Directores de la Tesis: José María Peiró Silla (dir. tes.), Aida Soriano Ripoll (codir. tes.), Ana Zornoza Abad (tut. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universitat de València ( España ) en 2026
- Idioma: inglés
- Número de páginas: 256
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Lourdes Munduate Jaca (presid.), Vicente González Romá (secret.), Nuno Manuel Gameiro Rebelo Dos Santos (voc.)
- Programa de doctorado: Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Psicología de los Recursos Humanos
- Calificación: Sobresaliente
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Resumen
The contemporary world of work is shaped by rapid, far-reaching transformations,including globalization, digitalization, advances in information and communication technologies, and unexpected global events such as pandemics. Regardless of whether their impact is positive or negative, these large-scale changes exert a significant and undeniable influence on workplaces, job requirements, and employee functioning. Given the demanding nature of modern work environments and the dynamism of ongoing changes in the world of work, the preservation and restoration of resources are essential for maintaining employees’ well-being and sustaining organizational productivity. By examining key psychological constructs such as self-control (trait and state), burnout, and work ability, all measured with the most up-to-date instruments, this thesis sought to provide a comprehensive framework for understanding how these constructs interact and influence one another, contributing to a better understanding of resource-related processes in contemporary work environments characterized by increasing demands and constant change.
Taking into consideration the importance of researching the future of work in a dynamically changing climate, this PhD research aimed to achieve several interrelated objectives. First, it involved the development and validation of the State Self-Control Scale (SSCS) for organizational contexts. Second, it presented the validation of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) (Schaufeli et al., 2020) in the Spanish population. The ultimate objective was to examine relationships between constructs of self-control (trait and state), burnout, and work ability, measured with up-to-date, validated instruments. Finally, a general discussion and conclusions were presented.
The first study responded to the need for a more precise conceptualization and measurement of state self-control by developing and validating the SSCS for use in workplace settings. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the unifactorial structure of the refined nine-item SSCS, demonstrating satisfactory reliability. Convergent validity was confirmed through correlations with theoretically relevant constructs, reinforcing the distinction between state and trait self-control while positioning them as related but non-interchangeable. These results confirmed the validation of the SSCS as a psychometric tool for assessing state self-control in working contexts and highlighted the importance of considering both stable and situational components of the self-control construct.
The second study validated the Spanish version of the BAT, addressing limitations of traditional measures such as the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach et al., 1997) and responding to evolving work realities. Results confirmed the six-factor structure of the BAT (Schaufeli et al., 2020) and demonstrated excellent internal consistency. Given that the original version of BAT (Schaufeli et al., 2020) had not been validated for the Spanish population, this study provided the necessary empirical support for its application in Spanish occupational settings and contributed a modern and theoretically grounded tool for assessing burnout within Spanish-speaking workforces.
The third study examined the differential impact of trait and state self-control on work ability, mediated by burnout, using both longitudinal and cross-sectional designs. Results indicated that state self-control predicted work ability more strongly than trait self-control over time, with burnout mediating this relationship. Burnout was also found to mediate relationships between both state and trait self-control and the four distinct domains of work ability (physical, cognitive, interpersonal, and emotional), providing evidence for domain-specific pathways when measured at one point in time.
Overall, this thesis advances the literature by integrating methodological findings with theoretical application. Methodologically, it offers newly validated scales. Theoretically, it confirms the duality of the self-control construct and demonstrates how both state and trait self-control differently interact with burnout and work ability in modern organizational contexts. These findings align with the strength model of self-control (Baumeister et al., 2007) and the Job Demand-Resources model (Bakker et al., 2004), underscoring the importance of situational resources in sustaining well-being and performance.
This thesis also sheds light on the importance of distinguishing state self-control from constructs such as self-regulation, ego-depletion, impulsivity, and subjective vitality, which have sometimes been used interchangeably, creating theoretical inconsistencies. Practically, the findings of this PhD research project offer vital implications supporting strategies aimed at resource preservation, burnout prevention, and the enhancement of work ability, contributing to organizational interventions that promote sustainable employee functioning in increasingly demanding work environments.
