Although previous studies have highlighted the adverse effects of job burnout on organizational outcomes, the contributing factors to employee burnout have been relatively overlooked. This study aims to investigate how workplace incivility and transformational leadership affect employee burnout and how burnout, in turn, influences employee satisfaction, affective commitment, and turnover intention. Using partial least square structural equation modeling with data from 338 participants recruited via Prolific, the findings reveal that workplace incivility—particularly from customers and supervisors—is positively associated with employee burnout. Conversely, transformational leadership is negatively associated with burnout. Furthermore, employee burnout significantly affects satisfaction, affective commitment, and turnover intention. This study offers valuable insights for academia and the restaurant industry, emphasizing the importance of addressing employee burnout and implementing effective strategies to foster employee well-being.
AbubakarA. M.MegeirhiH. A.ShneikatB. (2018). Tolerance for workplace incivility, employee cynicism and job search behavior. The Service Industries Journal, 38(9–10), 629–643.
2.
AdilM. S.BaigM. (2018). Impact of job demands-resources model on burnout and employee’s well-being: Evidence from the pharmaceutical organisations of Karachi. IIMB Management Review, 30(2), 119–133.
3.
AkhtarS.LuqmanR.RazaF.RiazH.TufailH. S.ShahidJ. (2017). The impact of workplace incivility on the psychological well-being of employees through emotional exhaustion. European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences, 6(3), Article 492.
4.
AliA.HamidT. A.NaveedR. T.SiddiqueI.RyuH. B.HanH. (2022). Preparing for the “black swan”: Reducing employee burnout in the hospitality sector through ethical leadership. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 1009785.
5.
AmissahE. F.Blankson-Stiles-OcranS.MensahI. (2022). Emotional labour, emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction in the hospitality industry. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 5(5), 805–821.
6.
AmpofoE. T.KaratepeO. M. (2022). The effects of on-the-job embeddedness and its sub-dimensions on small-sized hotel employees’ organizational commitment, work engagement and turnover intentions. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 34(2), 509–533.
7.
AyachitM.ChittaS. (2022). A systematic review of burnout studies from the hospitality literature. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 31(2), 125–144.
8.
BassB. M.RiggioR. E. (2006). Transformational leadership. Psychology Press.
9.
BavaniS.AbdullahM. S.ManafA. H. A. (2016). The influence of dimensions of job burnout on employees’ commitment: A perspective of Malaysia. Saudi Journal of Business and Management Studies, 1(4), 169–178.
10.
BazzyJ. D.WoehrD. J. (2017). Integrity, ego depletion, and the interactive impact on counterproductive behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 105, 124–128.
BoukisA.KoritosC.DauntK. L.PapastathopoulosA. (2020). Effects of customer incivility on frontline employees and the moderating role of supervisor leadership style. Tourism Management, 77, Article 103997.
13.
BurnfieldJ. L.ClarkO. L.DevendorfS. A.JexS. M. (2004). Understanding workplace incivility: Scale development and validation [Conference session]. 19th annual conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Chicago, IL, United States.
14.
CazaA.CazaB. B.PosnerB. Z. (2021). Transformational leadership across cultures: Follower perception and satisfaction. Administrative Sciences, 11(1), Article 32.
15.
ChenH.EyounK. (2021). Do mindfulness and perceived organizational support work? Fear of COVID-19 on restaurant frontline employees’ job insecurity and emotional exhaustion. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 94, Article 102850.
16.
ChenJ.GhardallouW.ComiteU.AhmadN.RyuH. B.Ariza-MontesA.HanH. (2022). Managing hospital employees’ burnout through transformational leadership: the role of resilience, role clarity, and intrinsic motivation. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(17), Article 10941.
17.
ChinW. W.PetersonR. A.BrownS. P. (2008). Structural equation modeling in marketing: Some practical reminders. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 16(4), 287–298.
18.
ChoM.BonnM. A.HanS. J.LeeK. H. (2016). Workplace incivility and its effect upon restaurant frontline service employee emotions and service performance. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 28(12), 2888–2912.
19.
ChoiJ. (2024). Does foodservice employees’ burnout influence their in-role and extra-role food safety behaviors? A structural modeling approach. Journal of Food Protection, 87(1), Article 100200.
20.
ChrisA. C.ProvencherY.FoggC.ThompsonS. C.ColeA. L.OkakaO.González-MoralesM. G. (2022). A meta-analysis of experienced incivility and its correlates: Exploring the dual path model of experienced workplace incivility. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 27(3), 317–338.
21.
ClearyM.HuntG. E.WalterG.RobertsonM. (2009). Dealing with bullying in the workplace: Toward zero tolerance. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 47(12), 34–41.
22.
CordesC. L.DoughertyT. W. (1993). A review and an integration of research on job burnout. Academy of Management Review, 18(4), 621–656.
23.
CortinaL. M.MagleyV. J.WilliamsJ. H.LanghoutR. D. (2001). Incivility in the workplace: Incidence and impact. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 6(1), 64–80.
24.
DemeroutiE.BakkerA.NachreinerF.EbbinghausM. (2002). From mental strain to burnout. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 11(4), 423–441.
25.
EisenbergerR.StinglhamberF.VandenbergheC.SucharskiI. L.RhoadesL. (2002). Perceived supervisor support: Contributions to perceived organizational support and employee retention. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(3), 565–573.
26.
FaeqD. K.IsmaelZ. N. (2022). Organizational culture as a mediator between employee dissatisfaction and turnover intention. International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 7(5), 95–108.
27.
FishbeinM.AjzenI. (1975). Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior. Addison-Wesley.
28.
FornellC.LarckerD. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50.
29.
GanjiS. F. G.JohnsonL. W.SorkhanV. B.BanejadB. (2021). The effect of employee empowerment, organizational support, and ethical climate on turnover intention: The mediating role of job satisfaction. Iranian Journal of Management Studies, 14(2), 311–329.
30.
HairJ. F.Jr.HowardM. C.NitzlC. (2020). Assessing measurement model quality in PLS-SEM using confirmatory composite analysis. Journal of Business Research, 109, 101–110.
31.
HairJ. F.Jr.SarstedtM.HopkinsL. G.KuppelwieserV. (2014). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM): An emerging tool in business research. European Business Review, 26(2), 106–121.
32.
HanS.HaroldC. M.OhI. S.KimJ. K.AgolliA. (2022). A meta-analysis integrating 20 years of workplace incivility research: Antecedents, consequences, and boundary conditions. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 43(3), 497–523.
33.
HanJ. W. (2022). A review of antecedents of employee turnover in the hospitality industry on individual, team and organizational levels. International Hospitality Review, 36(1), 156–173.
34.
HanS. J.BonnM. A.ChoM. (2016). The relationship between customer incivility, restaurant frontline service employee burnout, and turnover intention. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 52, 97–106.
35.
HanY.LeeS. H.HurW. M.LeH. S. (2023). The mixed blessing of coworker support: Understanding family-work conflict, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. Baltic Journal of Management, 18(2), 141–156.
36.
HayatA.AfshariL. (2022). CSR and employee well-being in hospitality industry: A mediation model of job satisfaction and affective commitment. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 51, 387–396.
37.
HeY.WalkerJ. M.PayneS. C.MinerK. N. (2021). Explaining the negative impact of workplace incivility on work and non-work outcomes: The roles of negative rumination and organizational support. Stress and Health, 37(2), 297–309.
38.
HenneD.LockeE. A. (1985). Job dissatisfaction: What are the consequences?International Journal of Psychology, 20(2), 221–240.
39.
HerreraJ.De Las Heras-RosasC. (2021). The organizational commitment in the company and its relationship with the psychological contract. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, Article 609211.
40.
HobfollS. E. (2001). The influence of culture, community, and the nested-self in the stress process: Advancing conservation of resources theory. Applied Psychology, 50(3), 337–421.
41.
HolmK.TorkelsonE.BäckströmM. (2023). Coping with workplace incivility in the foodservice industry. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 22(3), 489–512.
42.
Huertas-ValdiviaI.Gallego-BurínA. R.Lloréns-MontesF. J. (2019). Effects of different leadership styles on hospitality workers. Tourism Management, 71, 402–420.
43.
HussainM. K.KhayatR. A. M. (2021). The impact of transformational leadership on job satisfaction and organisational commitment among hospital staff: A systematic review. Journal of Health Management, 23(4), 614–630.
44.
KaratepeO. M. (2012). The effects of coworker and perceived organizational support on hotel employee outcomes: The moderating role of job embeddedness. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 36(4), 495–516.
45.
KargetiH. (2023). The role of Emotional Intelligence in Building Effective Workplace: A quantitative study. Journal of Cardiovascular Disease Research, 12(4), 2558–2565.
46.
KhanS.JehanN.ShaheenS.AliG. (2018). Effect of burnout on organizational citizenship behaviors: Mediating role of affective and continuance commitment. Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences, 2, 1–13.
47.
KimH.ImJ.ShinY. H. (2021). The impact of transformational leadership and commitment to change on restaurant employees’ quality of work life during a crisis. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 48, 322–330.
48.
KimH.QuH. (2019). Employees’ burnout and emotional intelligence as mediator and moderator in the negative spiral of incivility. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31(3), 1412–1431.
49.
KimT. Y.GilbreathB.DavidE. M.KimS. P. (2019). Self-verification striving and employee outcomes: The mediating effects of emotional labor of South Korean employees. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31(7), 2845–2861.
50.
KlineR. B. (2023). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. Guilford Press.
51.
KloutsiniotisP. V.MihailD. M.MylonasN.PateliA. (2022). Transformational leadership, HRM practices and burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of personal stress, anxiety, and workplace loneliness. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 102, Article 103177.
52.
KooB.YuJ.ChuaB. L.LeeS.HanH. (2020). Relationships among emotional and material rewards, job satisfaction, burnout, affective commitment, job performance, and turnover intention in the hotel industry. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 21(4), 371–401.
53.
KoonV. Y.PunP. Y. (2018). The mediating role of emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction on the relationship between job demands and instigated workplace incivility. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 54(2), 187–207.
54.
KoteraY.Maxwell-JonesR.EdwardsA. M.KnuttonN. (2021). Burnout in professional psychotherapists: Relationships with self-compassion, work–life balance, and telepressure. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(10), Article 5308.
55.
LabragueL. J.NwaforC. E.TsarasK. (2020). Influence of toxic and transformational leadership practices on nurses’ job satisfaction, job stress, absenteeism and turnover intention: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Nursing Management, 28(5), 1104–1113.
56.
LeeR. T.AshforthB. E. (1996). A meta-analytic examination of the correlates of the three dimensions of job burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81(2), 123–133.
57.
LinC. C.LuS. C.LaiF. Y.ChenH. L. (2023). The role of coworker exchange in the relationship between coworker incivility and employees’ behaviors: The moderating effect of servant leadership. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 38(8), 624–642.
58.
LiuW.ZhouZ. E.CheX. X. (2019). Effect of workplace incivility on OCB through burnout: The moderating role of affective commitment. Journal of Business and Psychology, 34, 657–669.
59.
LockeE. A.LathamG. P. (1990). Work motivation and satisfaction: Light at the end of the tunnel. Psychological Science, 1(4), 240–246.
60.
LooP. T.Khoo-LattimoreC.BooH. C. (2021). How should I respond to a complaining customer? A model of Cognitive-Emotive-Behavioral from the perspective of restaurant service employees. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 95, Article 102882.
61.
MadanP.SrivastavaS.GuptaB.TripathiP. M. (2025). Does resilience buffer the negative effects of tolerance of workplace incivility in the hospitality context?International Journal of Hospitality Management, 126, Article 104005.
62.
MeyerJ. P.AllenN. J. (1991). A three-component conceptualization of organizational commitment. Human Resource Management Review, 7, 61–89.
63.
MohamedN. A.MohamedY. A.MohamudR. Y. H.GabowA. A. (2025). Evaluation of the prevalence and risk factors of burnout syndrome among healthcare workers: A cross-sectional study. World Journal of Psychiatry, 15(2), Article 98496.
64.
MoustafaM. A.ElrayahM.AljoghaimanA.HasaneinA. M.AliM. A. (2024). How does sustainable organizational support affect job burnout in the hospitality sector? The mediating role of psychological capital. Sustainability, 16(2), Article 840.
65.
MuhammadL.SarwarA. (2021). When and why organizational dehumanization leads to deviant work behaviors in hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 99, Article 103044.
66.
PalanS.SchitterC. (2018). Prolific.ac: A subject pool for online experiments. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, 17, 22–27.
67.
PapZ.VîrgăD.NotelaersG. (2021). Perceptions of customer incivility, job satisfaction, supervisor support, and participative climate: A multi-level approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 713953.
68.
ParkJ.MinH. K. (2020). Turnover intention in the hospitality industry: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 90, Article 102599.
69.
PourbarkhordariA.ZhouE. H.PourkarimiJ. (2016). Role of transformational leadership in creating a healthy work environment in business setting. European Journal of Business and Management, 8(3), 57–70.
70.
PuB.SangW.JiS.HuJ.PhauI. (2024). The effect of customer incivility on employees’ turnover intention in the hospitality industry: A chain mediating effect of emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 118, Article 103665.
71.
RheeS. Y.HurW. M.KimM. (2017). The relationship of coworker incivility to job performance and the moderating role of self-efficacy and compassion at work: The job demands-resources (JD-R) approach. Journal of Business and Psychology, 32, 711–726.
72.
Romero-CarazasR.Almanza-CabeR. B.Valero-AnccoV. N.Espíritu-MartínezA. P.Espinoza-CascoR. J.Garro-AburtoL. L.Vizcarra-QuiñonesA. M.Samaniego-MontoyaC. M.Denegri-VelardeM. I.Ochoa-TatajeF. A. (2024). Burnout and physical activity as predictors of job satisfaction among Peruvian nurses: The job demands-resources theory.Journal of Primary Care & Community Health, 15, Article 256265.
73.
RossG. F. (1997). Career stress responses among hospitality employees. Annals of Tourism Research, 24(1), 41–51.
74.
SalamaW.AbdouA. H.MohamedS. A. K.ShehataH. S. (2022). Impact of work stress and job burnout on turnover intentions among hotel employees. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(15), Article 9724.
75.
SchaufeliW. B. (2017). Applying the job demands-resources model: A “how-to” guide to measuring and tackling work engagement and burnout. Organizational Dynamics, 46(2), 120–132.
76.
SchaufeliW. B.BakkerA. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: A multi-sample study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25(3), 293–315.
77.
ShinY.HurW. M. (2019). When do service employees suffer more from job insecurity? The moderating role of coworker and customer incivility. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(7), Article 1298.
78.
ShinY.HurW. M. (2021). Supervisor incivility and employee job performance: The mediating roles of job insecurity and amotivation. In Leadership and supervision (pp. 81–102). Routledge.
79.
SinghJ.VerbekeW.RhoadsG. K. (1996). Do organizational practices matter in role stress processes? A study of direct and moderating effects for marketing-oriented boundary spanners. Journal of Marketing, 60(3), 69–86.
80.
SrivastavaS.MadanP.LuuT. T. (2024). Effect of supervisor incivility: Role of internal whistleblowing as a coping mechanism by hotel employees. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 120, Article 103763.
81.
Van JaarsveldtW.JacobsM. (2024). Unpacking fatigue: How burnout and engagement influence commitment and overtime among South African workers. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 50, Article 14.
82.
WenY.LiangL. J.ChoiH. C.YuM. (2024). Stop being mean! Customer incivility influencing employee incivility via employee burnout: A hospitality context. Journal of China Tourism Research, 20(3), 545–564.
WuT. J.ZhangR. X.LiJ. M. (2024). How does emotional labor influence restaurant employees’ service quality during COVID-19? The roles of work fatigue and supervisor–subordinate Guanxi. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 36(1), 136–154.
85.
XuY.JieD.WuH.ShiX.BadulescuD.AkbarS.BadulescuA. (2022). Reducing employee turnover intentions in tourism and hospitality sector: The mediating effect of quality of work life and intrinsic motivation. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(18), Article 11222.
86.
YangM.LuuT. T.QianD. X. (2021). Linking transformational leadership to team service innovation in the hospitality industry: A team-level mediation and moderation investigation. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 49, 558–569.
87.
YinJ.JiY.NiY. (2023). Supervisor incivility and turnover intention of the employees in the hospitality industry of China. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 35(2), 682–700.
88.
ZakariaN.ZakariaN. H.RassipM. N. A. B. A.LeeK. Y. (2022). Burnout and coping strategies among nurses in Malaysia: A national-level cross-sectional study.British Medical Journal Open, 12(10), Article e064687.
89.
ZhanX.GuoY.YangY.LiZ.LiX. (2023). Why can customer incivility be contagious in the service context? A resource scarcity perspective. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 109, 103418.
90.
ZhengJ.GuY.LiP.LuoL.WuG. (2025). Research evolution and thematic breakthroughs in project leadership: A bibliometric analysis. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 32(3), 1970–2002.
