The Relationship between Role Ambiguity and Burnout in Malaysia’s Public Healthcare Sector: A Quantitative Study of Medical Doctors

Medical doctors in Malaysia’s public healthcare system often face excessive workloads, unclear expectations, and competing responsibilities. These workplace conditions create role stressors, which are strongly linked to burnout. Burnout affects not only doctors’ mental health but also patient care quality. Despite increasing concern, limited empirical research has examined the relationship between role stressors—specifically role ambiguity—and burnout among Malaysian public healthcare doctors. This study addresses the gap through a quantitative approach. A cross-sectional survey design was employed with 471 medical doctors from eight state hospitals across Malaysia, representing various grades and departments. Standardized instruments measured role stressors (Role Stressor Scale) and burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory). Data analysis, conducted using SPSS and PLS-SEM, applied descriptive statistics, correlation, and multiple regression to assess the relationships between variables. The measurement model demonstrated strong convergent and internal reliability (AVE > 0.50, CR > 0.70). Structural model analysis revealed that role ambiguity significantly influenced burnout. Bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples confirmed this effect, yielding a path coefficient of 0.147 and a t-value of 4.207. Findings confirm a clear link between role ambiguity and burnout among Malaysian medical doctors. This highlights the importance of organisational strategies such as providing clearer job descriptions, balancing workloads, and strengthening stress management support. Addressing role-related stressors is critical not only for safeguarding healthcare professionals’ mental well-being but also for maintaining high-quality patient care in Malaysia’s public healthcare sector.