Relationship between COR theory and burnout

Conservation of resources theory (COR) states that if an individual loose his/her resources,

he/she is susceptible to a certain level of stress. The theory is presented in two principles; the

first principle states that a person would be more stressful if he/she loses the resources than the

way he/she would be happy if he/she gain new resources. The second principle states that people

tend to invest in more resources so as to shield from resources loss, gain new resources and to

recover from a previous loss of the resources. Loss of resources by an individual leads to a

mental state called burnout. Burnout is a state of mind that involves either physical, mental or

emotional exhaustion resulting from work-related activities. People experiencing burnout have

either lost the resources or at threat of resources loss (Lee and Ok, pp.176-187, 2014).

Conservation of resources theory is used to explain the burnout of workers as a result of work-

related stress. The theory explains how the workers burn out and how to design model to prevent

workers' burnout and the consequences of workers' burnout. Some workers are maybe

experiencing burnout, but they tend to hide from their clients so that they can maintain them as

part of their resources. The behaviour of workers concealing that they have burnout at workplace

is called surface acting. Surface acting helps the workers to maintain their jobs and ensure

clients' satisfaction. This may eventually reduce the burnout since they will maintain their jobs

which is one of their valuable resources (Alarcon, pp.549-562, 2011).

References

Alarcon, G.M., 2011. A meta-analysis of burnout with job demands, resources, and

attitudes. Journal of vocational behaviour, 79(2), pp.549-562.

Lee, J.J. and Ok, C.M., 2014. Understanding hotel employees’ service sabotage: Emotional labor

perspective based on conservation of resources theory. International Journal of Hospitality

Management, 36, pp.176-187.