The Effect of Professional Identity on Job Burnout: The Mediating Role of Work Engagement among Sport Lecturers (UJSSH-Paper-Title)

Abstract

The contemporary higher education sector is increasingly characterised by escalating administrative workloads and psychological demands, particularly for sport lecturers who must navigate the unique dual pressures of practical physical instruction and rigorous academic scholarship. This research specifically addresses the critical objective of delineating the psychological mechanisms that precipitate or prevent job burnout within this highly specialised demographic of sports science academia. Utilising a quantitative, cross-sectional methodological framework, empirical data were gathered from a purposive stratified sample of 551 sport lecturers across multiple institutions, employing validated psychometric instruments including the Professional Identity Scale, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory, with subsequent analysis conducted via advanced structural equation modelling. The primary results unequivocally emphasise that a robust professional identity significantly and negatively predicts job burnout, whilst crucial findings confirm that work engagement operates as a substantial partial mediator, effectively translating the latent resource of professional identity into an active psychological buffer against emotional exhaustion. In summary, the conclusions strongly suggest that higher education institutions must strategically intervene to cultivate professional identity and foster work engagement to mitigate the specific "delayed detonation" of psychological exhaustion prevalent among sport lecturers.