Working with wildlife: the effects of stressors and resources on burnout and engagement for animal caretakers

The present study was designed to identify the impacts of stressors experienced by animal caretakers within zoos, aquariums, and shelters. To analyze these impacts, I administered a survey to individuals within this population which assessed interactions with environmental, social, and financial stressors for animal caretakers in relation to engagement and burnout. In total, 112 animal caretakers participated in the study. Results supported that physical stressors were most commonly encountered within the workforce, but coworker conflict was the only stressor to have consistent significant effects on burnout and engagement. Specifically, more coworker conflict was associated with more burnout and less engagement. In terms of resources, safety climate and work centrality were not found to moderate the effects of stressors on any outcomes. Based on these results, interventions may need to focus on addressing coworker conflict, as well as stressors unique to these occupations that are harder to capture with traditional measures.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Author dc:creator

• Burns, Destiny

Contributors dc:contributor

• Black, Kristen Jennings, 1991-
• Foerder, Preston G.; Cunningham, Christopher J. L.
• College of Arts and Sciences

• Animal specialists
• Burn out (Psychology)
• Work environment

Licence

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English, eng

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/654

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1813