Mediation effects of job satisfaction in the relationships between job characteristics and the outcomes burnout and work engagement among Dutch judges

This study offers a novel approach to understand what predicts work-related well-being outcomes in Dutch judges (i.e., burnout and work engagement): are the job characteristics themselves important or rather the satisfaction with them? More specifically, we investigated the mediating effects of job satisfaction on the relationships between job characteristics (work pressure and social support) and burnout and work engagement in 257 Dutch judges (aged 34-67 years old; 64 % female). The results support mediation effects in all tested relationships. All assumed antecedents have a direct, and also an indirect relation with burnout and work engagement, respectively, via job satisfaction. Increased work pressure is related to decreased job satisfaction, leading to higher levels of burnout, and more social support is related to more job satisfaction, resulting in increased work engagement. Results indicate that not only the perception of job characteristics (i.e., the perception of the amount of work pressure and social support), but especially the evaluation of the job characteristics (i.e., job satisfaction) explains the risk for burnout and work engagement. Thus, assessing and keeping track of Dutch judges' judgments on their levels of work pressure and social support but especially their job satisfaction, can give courts more clarity how judges evaluate their work conditions, thereby offering opportunities to prevent burnout, enhance work engagement, and promote well-being at work.