Burnout is an important employee outcome that results from an employee's cognitive processing of a complex array of worklife experiences into a coherent story. Using survey data from 409 employees, this study seeks to empirically test theoretical predictions about the role of employee narratives in determining attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. By using dispositional creativity as an indicator variable, this study pinpoints the role of narrative crafting in the relationship between worklife experiences and burnout. Findings indicate that creative employees interact differently from less creative employees with their worklife experiences and that their creative processing has significant consequences for their resulting feelings of burnout. Effects of organizational commitment...[ Read more ]

Burnout is an important employee outcome that results from an employee's cognitive processing of a complex array of worklife experiences into a coherent story. Using survey data from 409 employees, this study seeks to empirically test theoretical predictions about the role of employee narratives in determining attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. By using dispositional creativity as an indicator variable, this study pinpoints the role of narrative crafting in the relationship between worklife experiences and burnout. Findings indicate that creative employees interact differently from less creative employees with their worklife experiences and that their creative processing has significant consequences for their resulting feelings of burnout. Effects of organizational commitment are also evaluated within this model and are found to have strong direct effects on burnout.