Background

Job burnout impairs many public employees. A new construct grounded in positive psychology, collective hope in the workplace, describes employees’ perceptions of being in an organization that works toward common goals. Theoretically, being in an organization capable of reaching common goals reduces burnout. 

Aims

To test for the existence of collective hope in the workplace and its relationship to lower burnout, the newly developed collective hope in the workplace scale (CHWS) was administered to a large sample of public employees in the US (N = 15,892).

Method

Multiple subsamples were drawn to test for Collective Hope in the Workplace. First, a randomly selected calibration subsample (n’ = 958) was used for an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) on items theorized to measure Collective Hope in the Workplace. Snyder’s Dispositional Hope Scale (DHS) was used for comparison. A second randomly selected validation subsample (n’ = 1346) was then used to perform a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the factors recovered from the EFA. Finally, the “holdout sample” (n’ = 13,588) was used to test structural relationships of the recovered factors to lower job burnout. Burnout was measured using the Oldenburg Burnout Scale.

Results

Results indicated the initial EFA recovered two distinct factors: 1.) the CHWS; and 2.) the DHS. A subsequent CFA with the validation subsample that modeled the CHWS and the DHS as unique factors produced acceptable fit (Χ² = 906.7, df = 76; p < .001; RMSEA = .09 [90% CI: .085, .095]; CFI: .944). Finally, a structural equation model using the holdout sample again provided good fit and indicated CHWS scores were more robustly correlated (β = -.53, p < .001) with lower job burnout relative to DHS scores (β = -.25, p < .001). 

Conclusion

The results suggest that the CHWS measures a unique psychological state that may be important for further study in the reduction of job burnout among public employees.