Attachment Styles and Employee Performance: The Mediating Role of Burnout

Abstract

Researchers are becoming increasingly interested in how early experiences within the family are relevant to an individual’s behavior at work. Drawing on Bowlby’s attachment theory, the present study addresses this topic by examining the relationship between attachment in adulthood and job performance, and the mediating role of burnout in that relationship. We used data from two samples (201 Dutch employees and 178 Romanian working students) and structural equation modeling to test this mediation model and its possible invariance across both samples. The results showed that in both samples, attachment-related anxiety was positively related to burnout, which was in turn negatively related to job performance. Attachment-related avoidance was not significantly associated with burnout or performance. These results were similar in both samples, thus increasing their validity. The results suggest that childhood and early socialization experiences play a role in shaping the employee’s behavior and well-being at work. The study is one of the few examining attachment styles in relation to burnout and performance.

Keywords:

• Attachment theory
• burnout
• job performance
• structural equation modeling

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Delia Vîrgă

Delia Vîrgă (PhD in Psychology in 2007 from Babes-Bolyai University, Romania) is a full professor of Work and Organizational Psychology at the West University of Timisoara, Romania. She coordinates the Master's program in Work, Organizational, and Transportation Psychology. Her research interests focus on the topics in occupational health psychology, in special on the personal resources in relation with well-being, health, and performance at work.

Wilmar B. Schaufeli

Wilmar B. Schaufeli received his PhD in 1989 from Groningen University, The Netherlands, and is currently is a full professor of Work and Organizational Psychology at Utrecht University (The Netherlands) and distinguished research professor at KU Leuven (Belgium). His research focuses on occupational health psychology, more particularly on job burnout and work engagement, also in relation to leadership (www.wilmarschaufeli.nl).

Toon W. Taris

Toon W. Taris (1962) received his PhD in 1993 from the Free University Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He is a full professor of Work & Organizational Psychology at Utrecht University (The Netherlands). His research interests focus on issues in occupational health psychology.

Ilona van Beek

Ilona van Beek received her PhD in 2014 from Utrecht University, The Netherland. She is a consultant, researcher and university teacher in the field of work and organizational psychology. Her research interests focus on heavy work investment, workaholism, work engagement, distress, motivation, job demands and resources, and performance (www.ilonavanbeek.nl).

Coralia Sulea

Coralia Sulea, PhD, is an associate professor at the West University of Timisoara. Her research focuses on employees' work engagement and burnout, job insecurity and counterproductive work behaviors. She also coordinates Master's program in Organizational and Occupational Health Psychology (https://fsp.uvt.ro/master-in-oohp/).