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Abstract This paper suggests that role stressors (role ambiguity, conflict and overload) influence emotional exhaustion both directly and indirectly through their effects on negative mood. Fifty-three instructors in the military (M age = 30.8 years) completed questionnaires at the end of each work day for between 10 and 20 workdays (M= 17.8 days). Path analyses showed that only role overload exerted a direct effect on emotional exhaustion, that mood mediated the effects of both role overload and role ambiguity on emotional exhaustion, and that role conflict exerted neither direct nor indirect effects on emotional exhaustion. The model obtained using daily data was replicated using cross-sectional data. These results provide an innovative way of understanding the effects of role stressors on emotional exhaustion, and suggestions for further research are offered.
Barling et al. (Fri,) studied this question.