Mediating Role of Burnout Level in the Relationship between Occupational Stress and Aberrant Driver Behaviors among Professional Drivers

Year 2018, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 1 - 13, 30.04.2018

Gizem Fındık , Timo Lajunen Türker Özkan

Abstract

Work stress is
defined as a reaction, due to mismatch between the requirements of the job and
the qualifications of employees, that challenge coping abilities of employees.
Burnout is one of the negative consequences that may emerge as a result of
prolonged exposure to work stress. Occupational stress and burnout may lead to
several negative individual and organizational outcomes among professional
drivers, in addition to having the potential to influence driver behaviors. The
purpose of the current study is to investigate the relationship between
occupational stress, burnout, aberrant driver behaviors and accidents among
professional drivers. For this purpose, data were collected from 120 male
professional drivers. The participants were asked to answer demographic and
stress questions, fill out Bergen Burnout Inventory-15 and Driver Behavior
Questionnaire. Findings suggest that total burnout scores have an indirect
effect on the relationship between occupational stress and aberrant driver
behaviors. Furthermore, when those professional drivers who were involved in at
least 1 accident and those who were not involved in any accidents are compared,
it was found that drivers who were involved in accidents had lower exhaustive
fatigue scores; higher frequencies of ordinary violations, errors, and lapses,
as compared to those who were not. When considered from road safety framework,
findings show that negative consequences of stress may extend beyond the
individual and influence other road users as well. For this reason, we suggest
that occupational stressors of professional drivers are defined and periodic
meetings as well as health check-ups are done.

Keywords

occupational stress, burnout, aberrant driver behaviors, professional drivers

Profesyonel Sürücülerde Mesleki Stres ve Sapkın Sürücü Davranışları İlişkisinde Tükenmişlik Seviyesinin Aracı Rolü

Abstract

İş kaynaklı stres, işin gerektirdikleriyle çalışanların sahip oldukları
özellikler arasındaki uyumsuzluğa verilen, çalışanların başa çıkma becerilerini
zorlayan bir tepki olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Tükenmişlik ise iş kaynaklı strese
uzun süre maruz kalma sonucunda oluşabilecek olumsuzluklardan biridir. Mesleki
stres ve tükenmişlik profesyonel sürücülerde birtakım olumsuz bireysel ve
kurumsal sonuçlara yol açabileceği gibi, sürücü davranışlarını da etkileme
potansiyeline sahiptir. Mevcut çalışmanın amacı, profesyonel sürücüler arasında
mesleki stres, tükenmişlik, sapkın sürücü davranışları ve trafik kazaları
arasındaki ilişkiyi araştırmaktır. Bu amaç doğrultusunda 120 erkek profesyonel
sürücüden veri toplanmıştır. Katılımcılardan demografik soruları ve mesleki stres
sorusunu cevaplamaları, Bergen Tükenmişlik Göstergesi-15’i (BTG-15) ve Sürücü
Davranışları Anketi’ni (SDA) doldurmaları istenmiştir. Bulgular göstermektedir
ki, toplam tükenmişlik seviyesi mesleki stres ile sapkın sürücü davranışları
arasındaki ilişkide dolaylı etkiye sahiptir. Ayrıca, son 5 yılda en az 1 kazaya
karışan ve hiç kazaya karışmayan profesyonel sürücüler karşılaştırıldığında,
kazaya karışan sürücülerin karışmayanlara kıyasla yorgunluk seviyelerinin daha
düşük olduğu; sıradan ihlal, ihmal ve hata sıklıklarının ise daha fazla olduğu
bulunmuştur. Yol güvenliği bakımından ele alındığında mevcut çalışmanın
sonuçları, stresin etkisinin bireyin ötesinde diğer yol kullanıcılarını da
tehdit edebileceğini göstermektedir. Bu nedenle, profesyonel sürücülerin
mesleki stres etmenlerinin belirlenmesi ve periyodik toplantılar ile kapsamlı
sağlık kontrollerinin yapılması önerilmektedir.

Keywords

mesleki stres, tükenmişlik, sapkın sürücü davranışları, profesyonel sürücüler

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