Wellbeing Predictors in Animal Shelter Workers: Exploring the Roles of Job Demands, Job Resources, and Job Crafting

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic characteristics of the animal shelter workers in the study (n = 142).

		n	%
Country of residence	Australia	79	55.6
	USA	46	32.4
	Canada	6	4.2
	UK	6	4.2
	Other	5	3.5
Gender	Female	135	95.1
	Male	6	4.2
	Non-binary	1	0.7
Role	Animal attendant	62	43.7
	Manager	37	26.0
	Veterinary nurse	16	11.3
	Adoption worker	11	7.7
	Animal welfare/cruelty inspectorate	7	4.9
	Veterinarian	5	3.5
	Other	4	2.8
Hours per week	1–10	3	2.1
	11–20	10	7.0
	21–30	20	14.1
	31–40	50	35.2
	40+	59	41.5
Length of time in role	Less than 6 months	11	7.7
	6–12 months	17	12.0
	12 months–2 years	18	12.7
	2–5 years	43	30.3
	5–10 years	34	23.9
	10+ years	19	13.4
Direct euthanasia exposure	Not at all	23	16.2
	To a minimal extent	32	22.5
	To a moderate extent	21	14.8
	To a large extent	26	18.3
	To an extremely large extent	40	28.2
Indirect euthanasia exposure	Not at all	0	0
	To a minimal extent	3	2.1
	To a moderate extent	12	8.5
	To a large extent	39	27.5
	To an extremely large extent	88	62.0

Table 2. Summary of variables derived from the survey measuring job demands, job resources, wellbeing, job crafting, performance, and intentions to leave in animal shelter workers (n = 142).

Scale		Possible range	Observed range	Mean	SD	α
Job demands	Work pressure	4–20	4–20	14.38	4.16	0.885
	Cognitive demands	4–20	4–20	14.63	3.81	0.841
	Emotional demands	6–30	10–30	23.20	4.85	0.829
	Role conflict	4–20	4–20	12.95	3.74	0.873
	Hassles	5–25	5–20	17.15	4.25	0.866
Job resources	Autonomy	3–15	3–15	8.67	2.91	0.806
	Social support	3–15	4–15	10.42	3.21	0.839
	Feedback	3–15	3–15	7.78	2.80	0.856
	Opportunities for development	3–15	3–15	10.50	2.72	0.849
	Coaching	5–25	5–25	13.88	5.49	0.940
Wellbeing	Work engagement	9–63	12–58	42.12	8.38	0.893
	Exhaustion	4–16	7–16	12.96	2.64	0.879
Job crafting	Find growth	9–45	15–43	33.26	5.11	0.787
	Minimize demands	6–30	6–26	16.24	4.02	0.757
	Seek feedback	4–20	5–18	10.23	3.29	0.762
Performance	In-role performance	3–21	9–21	17.57	2.36	0.782
	Extra-role performance	3–21	9–21	17.44	2.58	0.636
Intentions to leave	Current role	1–5	1–5	2.53	1.38	N/A

Note: N/A = not applicable.

Table 3. Factor loadings based on a principal component analysis (PCA) performed on job-crafting variables in the sample of animal shelter workers (n = 142).

Variable	Factor 1 Find growth	Factor 2 Minimize demands	Factor 3 Seek feedback
I try to develop my capabilities	0.752	−0.004	0.243
I try to learn new things at work	0.701	−0.067	0.321
If there are new developments, I am one of the first to learn about them and try them out	0.674	−0.040	0.151
When there is not much to do at work, I see it as a chance to start new projects	0.651	−0.017	−0.089
I try to develop myself professionally	0.610	−0.130	0.361
I make sure that I use my capacities to the fullest	0.606	−0.122	−0.076
I regularly take on extra tasks even though I do not receive extra recognition for them	0.578	0.033	−0.206
When an interesting project comes along, I offer myself proactively as project co-worker	0.504	0.165	0.361
I try to make my work more challenging by examining the underlying relationships between aspects of my job	0.462	0.155	0.195
I decide on my own how I do things	0.418	0.251	−0.356
I make sure that my work is mentally less intense	−0.090	0.745	−0.015
I organize my work so as to minimize contact with people whose expectations are unrealistic	0.087	0.735	−0.148
I try to ensure that my work is emotionally less intense	0.054	0.690	0.261
I organize my work in such a way to make sure that I do not have to concentrate for too long a period at once	0.115	0.619	0.000
I manage my work so that I try to minimize contact with people whose problems affect me emotionally	−0.009	0.614	−0.249
I try to ensure that I do not have to make many difficult decisions at work	−0.289	0.611	0.229
I ask my supervisor to coach me	−0.021	0.054	0.812
I ask whether my supervisor is satisfied with my work	0.007	0.107	0.755
I ask others for feedback on my job performance	0.220	0.003	0.726
I ask colleagues for advice	0.130	−0.117	0.534

Note: Loadings greater than 0.4 are in bold.

Table 4. Correlations of work characteristics, job demands, job resources, job crafting, performance, and intentions to leave with wellbeing in animal shelter workers (N = 142).

Table 5. Hierarchical regression analyses predicting wellbeing from job demands, job resources, and job crafting in animal shelter workers (n = 142).

				Confidence Interval
Variables	β	t	p	Lower	Upper	VIF	Adj R^2
	Work Engagement
Step 1							0.364***
Emotional demands	−0.149	−1.567	0.120	−0.268	0.069	1.77
Hassles	0.020	0.215	0.830	2.362	0.406	1.71
Autonomy	0.027	0.307	0.759	−0.583	0.572	1.47
Social support	0.201	2.222	0.029	−0.327	0.994	1.60
Feedback	0.100	1.026	0.307	−0.419	0.876	1.85
Opportunities for development	0.196	1.940	0.055	0.056	1.220	1.99
Coaching	−0.011	−0.100	0.921	−0.279	0.306	2.22
Step 2							0.442***
Find growth	0.316	3.528	< 0.001	0.226	0.808	1.56
Seek feedback	0.114	1.173	0.244	−0.201	0.782	1.84
	Exhaustion
Step 1							0.362***
Hours per week	0.039	0.529	0.598	−0.276	0.477	1.14
Work pressure	0.260	2.694	0.008	0.044	0.286	1.99
Cognitive demands	−0.031	−0.305	0.761	−0.160	0.117	2.18
Emotional demands	0.325	3.164	0.002	0.066	0.287	2.25
Role conflicts	−0.146	−1.550	0.124	−0.234	0.029	1.89
Hassles	0.194	1.900	0.060	−0.005	0.246	2.23
Autonomy	−0.026	−0.320	0.750	−0.171	0.123	1.44
Social support	−0.156	−1.816	0.072	−0.269	0.012	1.58
Feedback	−0.038	−0.406	0.685	−0.213	0.140	1.91
Opportunities for development	−0.049	−0.562	0.575	−0.216	0.120	1.64
Step 2							0.421***
Minimize demands	0.256	3.551	< 0.001	0.074	0.262	1.12

Note: All standardized regression coefficients are from the final step in the analyses. VIF = Variance Inflation Factor. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.