The effect of job burnout on social loafing through the mediating role of employee sabotage

Social loafing is an undesirable behaviour as it negatively affects the outputs of the organization. Therefore, it is necessary to address the question of whether job burnout results in social loafing in the context of examining and eliminating the factors that cause this behaviour, and whether employee sabotage in this effect has a mediating role. The methodological framework of the study includes the theory of burnout and social impact theory. The research data have been obtained from 157 teachers working at educational institutions in the private sector in Karaman province of Turkey using the method of non-probability sampling, namely purposive sampling, and survey technique. To evaluate the data, the authors apply the methods of descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. In the study, job burnout consists of three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and the absence of personal accomplishment. According to the research findings, job burnout affects social loafing and this is partially mediated by employee sabotage. At that, employees’ tendency towards sabotage behaviours reinforced when they experienced an increase in each of the three dimensions of job burnout. The study is of interest for researchers, company managers and teachers when developing strategies for minimizing undesirable social loafing behaviour, as well as investigating and guiding employee conduct in the workplace.