The Impact of Psychological Contract, Physical and Mental Health on Burnout in Grassroots Civil Servants: Evidence from China

Mengyuan Sui; Zhongbiao Yu; Mingxing Zhou

doi:10.2147/PRBM.S423011

The Impact of Psychological Contract, Physical and Mental Health on Burnout in Grassroots Civil Servants: Evidence from China

Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2023 Aug 28:16:3461-3476. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S423011. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Mengyuan Sui¹, Zhongbiao Yu², Mingxing Zhou¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Administration and Law, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, People's Republic of China.
² School of Management, University of Sanya, Sanya, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Introduction: The report of the 20th Party Congress proposes to build a high-quality cadre capable of taking on the important task of national rejuvenation. Grassroots civil servants are facing great pressure and challenges, and alleviating burnout has become an important issue in the construction of grassroots civil servants. Empirically analysing the impact of psychological contract on burnout of grassroots civil servants in the Chinese context will help to build a high-quality grassroots civil service team.

Methods: Using a sample of 1824 grassroots civil servants in China, this study empirically examined the effect of the psychological contract on burnout among grassroots civil servants using the OLS methodology, conducted a robustness test by way of substituting variables and research methods, and then discussed the mediating effect of physical and mental health in the psychological contract and burnout among grassroots civil servants.

Results: The study showed that grassroots civil servants' psychological contract had a significant negative impact on burnout; transactional psychological contract was positively related to burnout, and relational and developmental psychological contracts were negatively related to burnout in grassroots civil servants. The results of the heterogeneity analysis showed that the effect of psychological contract on burnout differed by age, gender, exercise frequency, and sleep status. The results of the mediation analysis showed that higher psychological contract scores were related to better physical and mental health, thus inhibiting burnout among grassroots civil servants. This indicates a significant mediation effect of physical and mental health in the relationship between psychological contract and burnout of grassroots civil servants.

Conclusion: The psychological contract of grassroots civil servants has a significant negative effect on burnout, and physical and mental health mediate between the two. These conclusions are of great theoretical and practical significance for alleviating the stress of grassroots civil servants and improving their work performance.

Keywords: burnout; grassroots civil servants; physical and mental health; psychological contract.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by Hainan Provincial Philosophy and Social Science 2021 Research Base Subjects (Ref: JD(ZC)21-61), Postgraduate Scientific Research Innovation Project of Hunan Province, and the Projects of National Social Science Fund of China (grant number 21FGLB067).