Verification of the Moderating Effect of Resilience in the Relationship Between Job Stress and Burnout of Social Workers: Focusing on the Differences Between the MZ Generation and the X Generation

This study aims to examine the moderating effect of resilience in the relationship between job stress and burnout among social workers and to verify differences between the MZ and X generations. To achieve this, a survey was conducted among 500 social workers employed at social welfare facilities in Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province, and responses from 367 participants were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 and Process Macro V4.2 (Model 1). The results showed that in the overall social worker group and the MZ generation social worker group, higher job stress was associated with increased burnout, while higher resilience was associated with decreased burnout. However, the moderating effect of resilience was not statistically significant. In contrast, among X-generation social workers, higher job stress led to increased burnout, and higher resilience led to decreased burnout. Additionally, in the high-resilience group, the impact of job stress on burnout was relatively lower, confirming the buffering effect of resilience. Based on these findings, this study suggests strategies for stress management and resilience enhancement to prevent burnout among social workers.