Leadership climate prevents emotional exhaustion in German police officers

DOI10.1177/1461355718786295
AuthorBabette Renneberg,Christine Wolter,Andreas Santa Maria,Franziska Wörfel,Sinha Engel,Dieter Kleiber
Date01 September 2018
Published date01 September 2018
Subject MatterArticles
PSM786295 217..224
Article
International Journal of
Police Science & Management
Leadership climate prevents emotional
2018, Vol. 20(3) 217–224
ª The Author(s) 2018
exhaustion in German police officers
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DOI: 10.1177/1461355718786295
journals.sagepub.com/home/psm
Sinha Engel
(Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, and Division of Prevention and Psychosocial Health Research,)
Freie Universita¨t Berlin, Germany
Franziska Wo
¨ rfel
(Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, and Division of Prevention and Psychosocial Health Research,)
Freie Universita¨t Berlin, Germany
Andreas Santa Maria
(Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, and Division of Prevention and Psychosocial Health Research,)
Freie Universita¨t Berlin, Germany
Christine Wolter
(Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, and Division of Prevention and Psychosocial Health Research,)
Freie Universita¨t Berlin, Germany
Dieter Kleiber
(Division of Prevention and Psychosocial Health Research,) Freie Universita¨t Berlin, Germany
Babette Renneberg
(Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy,) Freie Universita¨t Berlin, Germany
Abstract
Police officers are exposed to a high amount of work effort in their everyday employment. This increases their
risk of developing emotional exhaustion, the key symptom of the burnout syndrome. Previous research suggests
that leadership climate is important for employees’ health and thus might be protective against emotional
exhaustion. This study investigated whether a positive leadership climate prevents emotional exhaustion and
buffers the negative impact of work effort in police officers. Data from a cross-sectional health survey in a
German police department (N ¼ 570) were used to test the assumptions. Results of the hierarchical linear
regression analysis showed that high work effort was correlated with high levels of emotional exhaustion and
positive leadership climate was associated with low levels of emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, both predictor
variables interacted, indicating a buffer effect of a positive leadership climate under stressful working conditions.
This is the first study to show both direct and indirect protective effects of a positive leadership climate in
police officers. In police work, stressful working conditions such as high work effort are hard to avoid. Thus, it
is crucial to promote preventive factors such as a positive leadership climate to protect police officers’ health.
Suggestions of how police supervisors and departments might establish a positive leadership climate are
presented.
Corresponding author:
Sinha Engel, Division of Clinical Psychological Intervention, Freie Universita¨t Berlin, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
Email: s.engel@fu-berlin.de

218
International Journal of Police Science & Management 20(3)
Keywords
Policing, emotional exhaustion, burnout, leadership climate, leadership behaviour, leadership style, work effort,
hierarchical linear model
Submitted 18 Dec 2017, accepted 06 Apr 2018
Police officers practise a highly demanding profession that
A large body of evidence has indicated that leader-
is characterized by numerous stressors. Among them are
ship behaviours directly influence employees’ health. A
extreme events such as exposure to death (Brown et al.,
recent meta-analysis (Montano et al., 2017) showed that
1999; Darius and Bo¨ckelmann, 2012; Klemisch et al.,
transformational leadership style, relations-oriented
2005), personal threat (Darius and Bo¨ckelmann, 2012),
leadership behaviours, tasks-oriented leadership beha-
violence or injury (Brown et al., 1999; Klemisch et al.,
viours and positive leader–follower interactions pro-
2005), as well as organizational stressors. The latter occur
moted employees’ mental health, whereas destructive
frequently in routine police work, making them especially
leadership behaviours impaired it. These effects extend
relevant for the development of stress-related health prob-
to emotional exhaustion as specific outcome variable
lems (Beerlage et al., 2008).
(Bakker et al., 2005; Laschinger and Fida, 2014; Scher-
One particularly stressful work demand is work effort.
muly and Meyer, 2016).
It is conceptualized by high workload, high time pressure
Although a positive leadership climate directly pro-
and operating difficulties (Siegrist et al., 2004). Police
motes employees’ health, it is evident that other working
officers’ work effort is increasing steadily as staff require-
conditions might have an impact on their well-being, too.
ments grow and maintaining public safety and order
Thus, it might be interesting to investigate possible inter-
becomes more complex. High work effort increases the
actions between leadership climate and specific risk factors
risk of developing health problems. For instance,
for employees’ health. Influential theories such as the job
researchers have identified it as a predictor of emotional
demands–resources model (Demerouti et al., 2001) assume
exhaustion (Bakker et al., 2003, 2004; Schaufeli and Bak-
such interactive effects between health-promoting (job
ker, 2004; Schaufeli and Enzmann, 1998). Emotional
resources) and health-impairing (job demands) working
exhaustion, a negative, stress-related psychological symp-
conditions. Accordingly, on the one hand, the health-
tom, is defined by feelings of being overextended and
promoting effects of a positive leadership climate might
depleted of one’s emotional and physical resources.
increase under highly stressful working conditions. On the
Furthermore, emotional exhaustion is considered the cen-
other hand, the negative impact of stressful working con-
tral quality of the burnout syndrome and is directly related
ditions might be decreased by a positive leadership climate.
to other adverse health outcomes, like anxiety, depression
This assumption has been confirmed by a study in employ-
or substance abuse (Maslach et al., 2001).
ees of an education institute in which the quality of the
The close connection between work effort and emo-
relationship with the supervisor moderated the negative
tional exhaustion has already been confirmed in the context
impact of perceived work–home inference on emotional
of policing. A longitudinal study in Australian police offi-
exhaustion (Bakker et al., 2005).
cers showed that workload and working overtime predicted
However, to our knowledge, neither direct health-
emotional exhaustion 12 months later (Hall et al., 2010). A
promoting nor indirect interactive effects of positive
cross-sectional study in German police officers also
leadership behaviours have been investigated in police
detected the influence of working overtime on emotional
officers, to date. By transferring knowledge about the
exhaustion (Ohlemacher et al., 2002). Furthermore, overall
health-promoting effects of leadership climate to the con-
work effort led to emotional exhaustion in a cross-sectional
text of policing, we might inform preventive interventions
study in English police officers (Willis et al., 2008) as well
for this professional group that is exposed to a high risk of
as in a longitudinal study in Italian police officers (Garbar-
developing stress-related health problems. Thus, we
ino et al., 2013).
investigated whether a positive leadership climate might
On the one hand, high work effort increases health risks,
serve as a preventive factor for emotional exhaustion in a
but on the other hand, it is unavoidable in police work.
group of German police officers. First, we tested a direct
Thus, it is imperative to learn how officers’ health can be
preventive effect of positive leadership climate for emo-
protected despite being exposed to this risk factor. For this
tional exhaustion. Second, we tested possible interactive
purpose, working conditions that prevent health...

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