High-risk Occupations: How Leadership, Stress, and Ability to Cope

Influence Burnout in Law Enforcement

Lisa M. Russell
Indiana University Southeast

Brooklyn M. Cole
Radford University

Raymond J. Jones, III

University of Minnesota Duluth

Due to a dearth of research in high-risk occupations and the interactive effects with stress in determining
the boundary conditions coping may have on first responder’s performance, we surveyed 9 police
agencies to determine the 3-way interaction between transformational leadership (TFL), coping, and
stress on burnout. Findings indicate when high levels of stress and coping are present there are
differences in perception of depersonalization between high and low-stress individuals with high and low
coping. Respondents with higher perceived task-coping skills engaged in higher overall levels of
depersonalization. Results indicate that the interaction of TFL and coping may actually augment burnout.

The primary focus of this paper is how leaders influence burnout in the high-risk occupation of law
enforcement, and how stress and coping interact to influence this relationship. The importance of research
in high-risk occupations is salient given the recent events at the Boston Marathon and the subsequent
explosion at the West Fertilizer plant in West, TX. High-risk occupations present unique challenges due
to increased levels of danger and exposure of workers to different types of stress than less risky
occupations. Moreover, organizations operating in dangerous or risky environments face higher employee
training and replacement, worker’s compensation, and healthcare costs than those functioning in less
risky environments (Deschamps, Pagnon-Badiner, Marchand & Merle, 2003). Thus, it is important to
study these relationships among police because this occupation includes the most stressful and high-risk
employee group (Dantzer, 1987).
There is substantial research in the police and criminal justice literature examining how stress affects
various outcomes (Deschamps et al., 2003) and considerable evidence documenting the effects of stress
on individual well-being (e.g., Asterita, 1985; Bakker & Heuven, 2006; Jamal & Baba, 2000), and
organizational performance (e.g., Bartone, 2006; Tang & Hammontree, 1992). In particular, officers
suffer higher rates of burnout, absenteeism, illness, and premature retirement than other workers (Hart,
Wearing and Headley, 1995; Violanti and Aron, 1993). There is a dearth of research in high-risk
occupational settings; however, and none centering on the influence of leader behavior on burnout and
how this relationship varies by levels of stress and coping ability. The purpose of this study is to analyze
the relationship between transformational leadership and the three dimensions of burnout (i.e., emotional

Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics vol. 11(3) 2014 49

exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment) in the high-risk occupation of law enforcement.
Furthermore, we explore how stress and coping individually as well as interactively moderate this
relationship. Thus, the research question addressed within this study is: What is the relationship between
transformational leadership and burnout in high-risk occupations as governed by the interactions of
stress and coping?

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND HYPOTHESES

Constructs of interest to this study include transformational leadership behavior, police stress and
coping, and three dimensions of burnout (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal
accomplishment). Figure 1 depicts the research model for this study proposing relationships between
transformational leadership and burnout as governed by stress and coping.

FIGURE 1
HYPOTHESIZED MODEL OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP, STRESS, COPING,
AND BURNOUT IN HIGH-RISK OCCUPATIONS

Transformational Leadership
Transformational leaders influence both values and aspirations of followers by activating higher-order
needs and arousing followers to transcend self-interest for the benefit of the organization (Bass, 1985;
Podsakoff, MacKenzie & Bommer, 1996: 259-260; Rowold & Schlotz, 2009; Yukl, 1989, 2012). These
behaviors are believed to augment the impact of transactional leader behavior on follower’s behavioral
and performance outcomes because followers trust and respect transformational leaders. In effect,
transformational leader behaviors influence followers' values, activate followers’ higher-order needs, and
motivate followers to self-less action on behalf of the leader’s organization (Bass, 1985; Podsakoff et al.,
1996: 259-260; Yukl, 1989, 2012).
It is appropriate to investigate transformational leader behaviors in police organizations due to the
importance of trust between transformational leaders and their followers. In essence, the same level of
trust between partners in life and death circumstances extends to supervisor-subordinate relationships
within organizations which allows police to trust transformational leaders to support officers when
bureaucracy, departmental policy, and life and death decision-making intersect. Leaders in police
organizations who effectively exhibit transformational leader behaviors to followers whose beliefs,
attitudes, and core values are changed enhance performance beyond what is required by the organization
(Podsakoff et al., 1996; Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Moorman & Fetter, 1990).

50 Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics vol. 11(3) 2014

 Researchers (Engel, 2001, 2002) identified behaviors (e.g., traditional, innovative, supportive, and
active) of front-line supervisors and follower behavior tied to lower level leader behavior. Officers with
more active (i.e., on the job) versus those with more innovative (i.e., transformational) supervisors
engaged in more self-initiated and problem solving versus administrative tasks. In effect, supervisors at
both higher and lower levels of the organization have the ability to influence officers with their leadership
styles. Other researchers argue that transformational leaders drive learning throughout the organization
through shared vision and this learning results in shared learning at all levels – including that of the
individual level (Loon, Lim, Lee, & Tam, 2012). Moreover, direction from the top as an exemplar of
model behavior is crucial in high-risk organizations because the consequence of failure can be loss of life
(Weik, Sutcliffe & Obstfeld, 1999, 2005). Evaluating transformational leaders within the context of this
study is both practical and beneficial because departments often have ranked officers serving in both top
level and supervisory capacities, while others have departmental leaders spend time with the rank-and-file
officers and deputies to stay connected with the troops.
Relationships between transformational leader behavior and outcomes have been empirically
substantiated. (2011, 2014) found that transformational leader behaviors mitigate burnout among
members in high-risk occupations under conditions of low stress but less so under increasingly stressful
conditions. Bartone (2006) found leaders in high-risk occupational settings shape the sense-making
process and interpretation of stressful circumstances through sharing positive construction or
reconstruction of shared stressful experience. Harris and Kacmar (2005) found that supervisor behavior
like leader-member exchange, participative decision-making, and supervisor-follower communication
moderates the relationship between perceptions of politics, a stressor, and outcomes like job satisfaction
and perceived strain like anxiety among organizational members of highly bureaucratic organizations.
Densten (2005) found that visioning leader behaviors of senior managers from a law-enforcement
organization influenced the burnout process among followers. Thus, transformational leadership is
beneficial in influencing outcomes such as burnout among police.

Burnout
Burnout is defined as a particular type of response among human service providers to occupational
stress emanating from emotionally charged and demanding interactions with recipients (Bakker &
Heuven, 2006; Maslach, 1982; Maslach & Schaufeli, 1993). Research on burnout evolved from research
on emotion, arousal, and how individuals effectively cope with arousal (Maslach & Jackson, 1984). Early
burnout research focused on service professionals in the healthcare industry (i.e., nurses) but has since
expanded to include a wide range of occupational groups (Cordes, Dougherty & Blum, 1997; Maslach &
Jackson, 1984; Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996) and it is largely accepted that individuals in a wide
array of occupations involving a high degree of interpersonal interaction are prone to burnout (Cordes &
Dougherty, 1993). Police officers represent one such occupational group.
The burnout construct is multidimensional (Maslach, 1982) and the respective dimensions include
emotional exhaustion like diminished or depleted energy and fatigue; depersonalization such as cynicism
directed toward both the organization and its recipients; and personal accomplishment including
(decreased) feelings of professional efficacy (Cordes & Dougherty, 1993; Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter,
1996). High degrees of burnout are likely to occur when service providers experience increasing levels of
both depersonalization and emotional exhaustion, and decreasing levels of personal accomplishment
(Maslach et al., 1996). Low degrees of burnout are related to lower degrees of depersonalization and
emotional exhaustion coupled with higher degrees of personal accomplishment. Moderate levels of all
three dimensions result average levels of burnout.
Researchers associated with early conceptualizations of burnout (e.g., Maslach & Jackson, 1984)
propose a relationship among the dimensions, such that frequent interpersonal contact between a service
provider and recipient of the service increases the provider’s perceived levels of emotional exhaustion.
One way in which providers cope with this increase is to emotionally distance themselves from the
recipient through depersonalizing the exchange by viewing the recipient in a way that diminishes

Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics vol. 11(3) 2014 51

emotional affiliation is one such depersonalization strategy. Engaging in depersonalization may further
influence performance and result in diminished levels of personal accomplishment.

The Influence of Transformational Leadership on Burnout

Studies assessing relationships between leadership, and burnout among police (e.g., Densten, 2005;
Thompson, Kirk, & Brown, 2005) are noteworthy because they evaluate how leadership and supervisory
support influence burnout. In Denston’s (2005) study, the two facets of inspirational motivation exhibited
by law-enforcement senior managers appeared to perform disparate roles in the decrease of burnout
among followers, and the effectiveness of inspirational leaders appeared to be achieved through the
pivotal role emotional exhaustion played in burnout. Thompson et al. (2005) found supervisor support,
reduced role stressors among policewomen. Supervisor support specifically reduced work stressors such
as role overload and role ambiguity, which then influenced emotional exhaustion among respondents.
Thompson et al.’s findings indicate that supervisor support indirectly affects the family environment
through its impact on role stressors and emotional exhaustion.
Researchers have found that while the overall level of burnout among police compared to other
occupational groups (i.e., health care workers) is low, job demands, most notably work-family pressures,
are important predictors for all dimensions of burnout for this high-risk occupational group. Others
(Lambert, Altheimer & Hogan, 2010) contend that social support positively influences burnout.
Specifically, Lambert and colleagues suggest that although not all types of social support attenuated
burnout, each dimension of burnout perceived among correctional staff in their study was influenced by at
least one type of social support (i.e., management, coworker, supervisor, family-and-friends) pointing to
the importance of social support (particularly supervisory and managerial) in reducing burnout among this
high-risk occupational group. The Lambert study is particularly salient because of its tie to supervisory
and managerial role in providing social support. Transformational leaders, by definition, provide social
support to followers by attending to their needs. Moreover, Podsakoff’s scale items (used in the present
study) captured social support via items like Fosters collaboration among work groups and Encourage
employees to be “team players” (Podsakoff et al., 1990). Consequently, transformational leadership
encompasses supervisor social support.
Based on documented relationships between transformational leadership and outcomes in the burnout,
police and correctional literature (e.g., Densten, 2005; Lambert et al., 2010; Martinussen, Richardson, &
Burke, 2007; Thompson et al., 2005) and in accordance with observed associations between work
perceptions and burnout among police officers surveyed in this study (e.g., Bakker & Heuven, 2006;
Maslach, 1982; Maslach & Schaufeli, 1993), transformational leader behavior in police work is expected
to have a positive association with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and negative association
with personal accomplishment dimensions of burnout. Accordingly,

Hypothesis 1a: There is a negative relationship between transformational leadership and

emotional exhaustion.
Hypothesis 1b: There is a negative relationship between transformational leadership and
depersonalization.
Hypothesis 1c: There is a positive relationship between transformational leadership and
personal accomplishment.

The Role of Stress on the Leader-Burnout Relationship

For the purpose of this study, stress is defined as a relationship between a person and the environment
appraised as taxing or exceeding one’s resources and endangering his or her well-being (Lazarus &
Folkman, 1984). While there are extreme conditions under which stress is likely to result for nearly
everyone, individual differences create variability in response to stress. Of particular interest to this study
is how increasing levels of stress and coping influence the relationship between transformational
leadership and burnout among workers in high-risk occupations.

52 Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics vol. 11(3) 2014

 Factors contributing to stress in police work include tough physical demands and life threatening
situations (Moon & Jonson, 2012). Moreover, economic, social, and technical changes are transforming
societal expectations creating new work demands of police officers (Deschamps et al., 2003). While
organizational and operational factors contribute to police stress, organizational factors are repeatedly
identified as the strongest police stressors (Shane, 2010; Violanti & Aron, 1995). Organizational stressors
include interdepartmental practices (e.g., authoritarian structure; lack of participation in decision making
which directly influence accomplishment of daily tasks; punishment-centered managerial philosophy;
unfair discipline; and lack of administrative support), while operational stressors include job specific tasks
(e.g., shift work, danger, apathetic public perceptions, boredom, and contending with suffering and
death). Police face stressful events with the potential to encounter harm (e.g., Anshel, 2000; Anshel,
Robertson & Caputi, 1997; Deschamps et al., 2003; He, Zhao & Archbold, 2002; Violanti & Aron, 1995)
including stopping, contacting, and arresting unlawful and often dangerous people. Officers also face
what they perceive as unfair workplace treatment such as forced overtime and completing paperwork off
the clock and a general lack of support.
These factors result in more stress-related complaints among police than for workers in other
professions (Hart et al., 1995; Lobel & Dunkel-Schetter, 1990; Violanti & Aron, 1993). Police also suffer
more illness, absenteeism, burnout, and premature retirement as a result of these stress-related problems
(Band & Manuele, 1987; Brown & Campbell, 1990, 1994; Burke, 1993). Also, compared to the general
population, police officers face increased rates of heart disease, stomach disorder, alcohol and drug abuse,
divorce, and suicide due to ineffective coping with stress (Lord et al., 1991; Rogers, 1976). There is
evidence showing the effects of stress on both individual well-being of police and organizational
performance (e.g., Asterita, 1985; Bakker & Heuven, 2006; Bartone, 2006; Jamal & Baba, 2000; Tang &
Hammontree, 1992). More recently, researchers (Gerber, Hartman, Brand, Holsboer-Trachler & Pühse,
2010) found that stressful shift work significantly increased sleep complaints and decreased use of
primary health care among Swiss police. Cynicism was negatively associated with leadership among
officers in a study of Norwegian police and their leaders (Martinussen et al., 2007). These researchers
also found that social support negatively influenced both emotional exhaustion and cynicism dimensions
of burnout among police in their study. Shane (2010) found a negative relationship between leadership
and performance outcomes of followers in his study of stressors among officers in urban police in North
America indicating that police in these types of departments find it difficult to perform under the
leadership styles in some bureaucratic police organizations. Clearly, the level of stress among police
officers is not simply an inherent component of police work but results from a combination of situational
factors including perceived levels of burnout and how departmental leadership influences these
relationships under increasingly stressful circumstances (Lazerus & Folkman, 1984). Thus, increasing
levels of stress will tend to mitigate the effect transformational leaders have on follower’s perception of
burnout in the workplace. Accordingly,

Hypothesis 2: The relationship between transformational leadership and burnout

depends upon stress.
Hypothesis 2a: The relationship between transformational leadership and emotional
exhaustion is moderated by stress such that when stress is perceived to be high the
negative impact between leadership and emotional exhaustion is weaker than when
stress is perceived to be low.
Hypothesis 2b: The relationship between transformational leadership and
depersonalization is moderated by stress such that when stress is perceived to be
high the negative impact between leadership and depersonalization is weaker than
when stress is perceived to be low.
Hypothesis 2c: The relationship between transformational leadership and personal
accomplishment is moderated by stress such that when stress is perceived to be high
the positive impact between leadership and burnout is weaker than when stress is
perceived to be low.

Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics vol. 11(3) 2014 53

The Influence of Coping on the Leader-Burnout Relationship
In defining coping, we have incorporated a multidimensional interaction model of stress and coping
(Endler, 1997). As such coping is defined as dynamic cognitive and behavioral efforts aimed at managing
both internal and external demands appraised by an individual as straining or surpassing one’s resources
(Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). The definition of coping used here is sufficiently broad in that it includes
both cognitive and behavioral efforts used by an individual and encompasses both internal and external
demands of taxing transactions exceeding an individual’s ability to adequately deal with the situation
(Folkman, Lazarus, Dunkel-Schetter, Delongis, & Gruen, 1986; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Latack &
Havlovic, 1992). For the purpose of this paper, coping is defined as task-oriented, emotion-oriented, and
avoidance coping mechanisms (Endler & Parker, 1999). The theoretical and empirical rational
underpinning these three dimensions begins with a general consensus in the coping literature of the basic
distinction between problem-focused and emotion-focused coping, as most coping measures include
scales assessing these two dimensions (e.g., Billings & Moos, 1981, 1984; Folkman & Lazarus, 1980,
1985, 1986; Endler & Parker, 1999; Pearlin & Schooler, 1978). Because there is disagreement among
researchers as to the role coping plays in attenuating stress, and due to the stressful and sometimes and
life-threatening nature of police work, it is important to study the role of coping among police.
Researchers generally agree that task focused coping is among the coping dimensions most
commonly researched (e.g., Billings & Moos, 1981, 1984; Endler, 1997; Endler & Parker, 1999; Lazarus
& Folkman, 1984). This dimension is described as a task-oriented effort focused toward problem solving,
cognitive restructuring to better understand or reassess a problem or attempts by an individual to change
the situation or circumstances surrounding the problem (Endler & Parker, 1999). Due to these
characteristics of task-focused coping and because police officers report more problem-focused focused
coping strategies in response to stressful work events and use fewer emotion-focused coping strategies
(Evans, Coman, Stanley & Burrows, 1993), the present study focuses on task-focused coping.
Empirical studies highlight the importance of coping to the relationships proposed in the present
research. For example, Arter (2008) suggests highly stressed police officers are more likely to engage in
deviant, as opposed to citizenship, behaviors. Results from Arter’s study also demonstrate adoption of
adaptive, as opposed to maladaptive, coping strategies diminished the levels of deviance reported by
officers in all three of the categories evaluated. Researchers (Kohan & Mazmanian, 2003) evaluating the
influence of stress on other behavioral outcomes find coping strategies moderate the relationships.
Specifically, these researchers find that problem- and emotion-focused coping moderates, but does not
mediate, modeled relationships. Moreover dispositional affect had neither moderating nor mediating
effects on the relationship between work experiences and evaluated outcomes in this study. Thus, coping
plays an integral role in diminishing the effects of stress on various outcome variables.
While researchers (Pienaar, Rothmann, & Van De Vijver, 2007) evaluated the role of multiple
variables and found coping strategies predicted suicide ideation among South African Police, no research
studies have incorporated leadership into their models or looked at a 3-way interaction model of stress,
coping and leadership. To reiterate, there is a negative relationship between transformational leadership
and depersonalization, suggesting higher levels of transformational leadership reduce burnout (Densten,
2005; Thompson et al., 2005). Further, extant research supports both coping and stress as moderators of
this relationship (Anshel, 2000; Anshel et al., 2009; Billings & Moos, 1981).

3-Way Interaction of Leadership, Stress, and Coping on Burnout

To further refine the conditions in which the transformational leadership-depersonalization
relationship is facilitated or impeded by coping ability in highly stressful situations, the interaction
between stress, coping and transformational leadership perceptions are incorporated. Both intuition and
theory (e.g., Bass, 1985; Podsakoff et al., 1990, 2003) support the contention that transformational leader
behavior should mitigate stress due to the vision, expectations, support, model and stimulation provided
by the leader. Indeed, researchers (Densten, 2005; Engel, 2001, 2002) have found that transformational
leadership is beneficial in diminishing stress, but less so under highly stressful circumstances (Russell,
2011, 2014). Thus, it appears that transformational leadership is constrained in its effectiveness by

54 Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics vol. 11(3) 2014

various levels of stressful situations. While we are cognizant of variation in low and high levels of stress
on the transformational leadership-burnout relationship (Russell, 2014), we gear our hypothesis toward
higher stress. This is due to extant literature supporting police work as higher stress than many other
occupations (Hart et al., 1995; Lobel & Dunkel-Schetter, 1990; Violanti & Aron, 1993), thus making this
focus of particular interest. Therefore, those officers having lower coping abilities and higher stress find
transformational leadership more important thus reducing depersonalization vs. those that have higher
coping abilities and are in higher stress situations, making transformational leadership less influential on
depersonalization. Therefore, as employee coping ability increases in highly stressful situations, the
negative transformational leadership-burnout relationship is weakened.

Hypothesis 3: The relationship between transformational leadership and burnout

depends upon the interaction between coping and stress.
Hypothesis 3a: Stress and coping will jointly moderate the relationship between transformational
leadership and emotional exhaustion such that the negative relationship between
transformational leadership and emotional exhaustion is stronger for low coping employees
with high stress than for high coping employees with high stress.
Hypothesis 3b: Stress and coping will jointly moderate the relationship between transformational
leadership and depersonalization such that the negative relationship between
transformational leadership and depersonalization is stronger for low coping employees with
high stress than for high coping employees with high stress.
Hypothesis 3c: Stress and coping will jointly moderate the relationship between transformational
leadership and personal accomplishment such that the negative relationship between
transformational leadership and personal accomplishment is weaker for low coping
employees with high stress than for high coping employees with high stress.

METHODS

Survey
The paper-based survey, used as part of a larger study, consists of 15 sections, each containing
multiple sections. Most of the 302 items, including 12 demographic questions in the survey require
Likert-style responses. Two of the items are open-ended questions asking respondents to provide their
thoughts and opinions about variables. A pilot study was used to assess the validity and reliability of the
survey and the instrument was found to be reliable and valid with the pilot study data.

Sample and Procedure

Multiple police departments in the southern and southwestern United States served as the sample for
this study. This sample is well suited for study because officers in these departments are responsible for
responding to multi-state natural disasters in addition to performing normal police activities (e.g., local,
community and state policing, crime response and prevention, etc.). Moreover, the demanding nature of
police work (e.g., unpleasant and even dangerous contacts and interactions with civilian and inmate
populations), the fact that police face limited resources (particularly financial constraints) and the fact that
leadership and stress-related and attitudinal outcomes are salient to this group make them a strong match
to the target population.
To begin the data collection efforts, the Chiefs, Sheriffs, and Directors of nine departments were
contacted and asked to participate. Researchers were given access to all officers (482) at daily briefings
and shift changes where respondents were informed that participation was voluntary. Respondents were
also informed that researchers would keep individual responses confidential and were told about the goals
of the study and specifics of informed consent. Survey data were collected over a two-week period during
shift changes and daily briefings by researchers on premises for all but two departments, where sealed
surveys were collected by the watch sergeants and then sent to researchers. Chi Squared tests revealed no
differences among respondents where data were collected on premises by researchers and those that were

Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics vol. 11(3) 2014 55

collected internally and sent to researchers. A total of 379 respondents (78.6% response rate) completed
the survey (Table1).
TABLE 1
SURVEY RESPONSE RATE

Agency # of Surveys Distributed Response Rate

1 90 (86 usable) 95.6%
2 90 (71 usable)* 78.9%
3 45 (32 usable) 71.1%
4 20 (15 usable) 75.0%
5 30 (15 usable) 50.0%
6 30 (17 usable) 56.7%
7 12 (7 usable) 58.3%
8 15 (11 usable) 73.3%
9 150 (143 usable)* 95.3%
Total 482 (379 usable) 78.6%
* Internal data collection

The majority of the respondents were non-Hispanic white men, between the ages of 32 and 45. Most
officers were married with at least one child living at home and had at least some college experience. Just
under half of those responding reported working in urban departments and equally classified their
respective agencies as city, county, or state agencies with less than 100 officers. Over 40 percent of the
respondents worked for agencies employing between 100 and 500 officers. The majority of respondents
ranked themselves as either officers or deputies, having less than 15 years experience in police work, and
as working in patrol capacity.

Measures
Transformational Leadership
A 28-item (α = 0.96), previously validated measure (Podsakoff et al., 1990) was used to assess
transformational leadership. Respondents were instructed to rate how accurately statements like “Always
gives me positive feedback when I perform well” describe their supervisor (Sergeant, Lieutenant, or
higher) on a scale of one to five (1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree).

Burnout
The 24-item (Emotional Exhaustion α = 0.87), previously validated MBI measure (permission
granted by CPP, 2009) was used to assess burnout. Respondents read statements like “I feel burned out
from my work” and rated how often an event occurred on a scale of zero to six (0 = never to 6 =
everyday).

Stress
A 60-item (α = 0.95) previously validated measure (Spielberger, Westberry, Grier & Greenfield,
1981) was used to assess the stress levels among police officers. The first event listed, assignment of
disagreeable duties, was given a rating of 4, a moderate amount of stress, in the first column. Subsequent
events such as making arrests alone and delivering a death notification are rated proportionately higher or
lower in stress in comparison to being assigned disagreeable duties, which is generally considered
moderately stressful by individuals in a variety of occupations (Spielberger et al., 1981). Officers
indicated the number of times they personally experienced the event in the past six months by selecting
the corresponding number in the second column. A stress index for the Police Stress Survey was created
by averaging the summed, product of perceived stress (1 = no perceived stress to 7 = high amount of
perceived stress) and frequency ratings (0 = never to 7 = 7+ times).

56 Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics vol. 11(3) 2014

Coping
The 48-item (Task-focused α = 0.88; Emotion-focused α = 0.88; Avoidance α = .89), previously
validated Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) measure (Endler & Parker, 1999) was used to
assess coping. Examples of task-focused items are “Schedule my time better”; examples of emotion-
focused coping items are “Preoccupied with aches and pains”; and examples of avoidance include “Think
about the good times I’ve had”. Respondents were asked to read each item and indicate how much they
engage in these types of activities when they encounter a difficult, stressful, or upsetting situation on a
scale ranging from 1 to 5 (1 = not at all to 5 = very much).

Control Variables
Based on a review of the extant literature (Kohan & Mazmanian, 2003; Liu, Spector & Shi, 2008;
Violanti & Aron, 1993, 1995; Wolfgang, 1995) and to help minimize spurious relationships, controls for
gender (male = 1, female = 2), ethnicity (White (non-Hispanic) = 1, African-American = 2; Asian-
American = 3, Hispanic = 4, Other = 5), age (18-24 years = 1, 25-31 years = 2, 32-38 years = 3, 39-45
years = 4, Over 45 years = 5), current rank (Officer/Deputy = 1, Sergeant = 2; Lieutenant = 3, Captain =
4, Chief or Higher = 5), and department size in number of sworn officers (< 10 = 1, 11-50 = 2, 51-100 =
3, 101-500 = 4, > 500 = 5) were used. Ethnicity, organizational size, and age were coded in groupings to
help respondents feel that their ratings were confidential and would not be easy to identify.

Analytical Approach
Hierarchical multiple regression (HMR) analyses was used to test direct hypothesis and hierarchical
multiple moderated regression (HMMR) analyses were used to test moderated hypotheses. HMR and
HMMR are appropriate because it is important to determine any significant increase in predictive power
beyond that of the control variables. Of equal importance is distinguishing between the main and
interaction effects, given that moderating and 3-way interaction variables are investigated in this study.
Moreover, the order in which the variables are entered into the regression is theoretically important. Tests
of moderation were conducted in accordance with Barron and Kenny (1986). To avoid potential
autocorrelation between the interaction effect of the independent and moderating variables, independent
and moderating variables were centered for the HMMR analyses in this study (Aiken & West, 1991).

RESULTS

Pearson Product-Moment correlation coefficient was used to assess the bivariate relationships among
variables in this study. Means, standard deviations and intercorrelations are shown in Table 3.
Correlations between predictor and outcome variables are significant and in the expected direction.
Correlations associated with the moderator variable are also as expected. The highest correlation between
the three variables is .0492, which provides evidence, that although correlated, they are measuring
different constructs.
With respect to the control variables, gender is positively correlated with ethnicity (p < 0.01),
indicating that women are more likely to be classified as minority in this study. Gender is negatively
correlated with department size (p < 0.01) indicating that the percentages of female officers decreases as
an overall percentage, as department size increases. As expected, more mature officers tend to achieve
higher ranks within departments, and larger departments have fewer ranked officers than smaller
departments as a total percentage of officers.
Departments with more ethnically diverse work forces appear to have lower levels of
depersonalization and higher levels of avoidance coping behaviors by officers. Age, however is positively
associated with emotion coping and negatively associated with avoidance coping behaviors indicating that
ethnicity and age play disparate roles in guiding coping decisions for officers in this study. Department
size appears to play a role in driving stress levels with smaller departments accounting for larger
proportions of reported stress.

Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics vol. 11(3) 2014 57

58
TABLE 2
BIVARIATE CORRELATIONS.

N
EE
PA

SD
DP

Age
TFL
Task
Cope

Cope

Rank
Cope

Mean
Stress
Avoid-

Gender
Ethnicity
DeptSize
Emotion-
Gender 1.10 0.29 388 -
Ethnicity 1.32 0.88 383 .116* -
Age 3.42 1.15 385 .095 .061 -
DptSize 3.98 0.96 378 -.116* -.040 -.070 -
**
Rank 1.49 0.89 382 -.019 -.056 .432** -.147 -
TFL 3.43 0.80 397 -.076 .011 -.098 .104* -.004 -
**
Stress 10.8 7.66 397 .030 -.032 .042 -.173** .038 -.261 -
2
TaskCope 3.71 0.59 397 .051 .004 -.027 .034 .086 .207** .009 -
Emotion- 2.39 0.71 397 .041 -.004 .108* -.038 .083 -.003 .201** .008 -
Cope
AvoidCope 2.52 0.73 397 .050 .110* -.167** -.077 -.076 .002 .147** .079 .303** -
EE 1.82 1.16 397 .072 .018 .053 -.056 .085 -.351** .402** -.094 .379** .101* -

Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics vol. 11(3) 2014

PA 3.63 1.10 397 .052 -.018 .013 -.049 .037 .152** -.052 .243** -.179** -.013 -.126* -
DP 2.16 1.34 397 -.050 -.100* -.086 -.084 -.087 -.232 .429** -.016 .164** .022 .492** .043 -
DptSize = Department Size; TFL = Transformational Leadership; TaskCope = Task-Focused Coping; EmotionCope = Emotion-Focused Coping; AvoidCope =
Avoidance Coping; EE = Emotional Exhaustion; PA = Personal Accomplishment; DP = Depersonalization
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
 Transformational leader behavior is significantly correlated with stress and the relationship is in the
expected direction. Task-focused coping is also positively correlated with transformational leader
behaviors, as is personal accomplishment, as expected. Emotional exhaustion is also negatively associated
with leader behavior. Stress is positively associated with emotion-focused and avoidance coping,
emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization among officers surveyed in this study. Emotion-focused
coping and avoidance coping are correlated and both are correlated with emotional exhaustion in
accordance with theory. Emotion-focused coping is also correlated with both of the other dimensions of
burnout. Avoidance coping is also related to the emotional exhaustion dimension of burnout.
The effects of transformational leadership on the emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and
personal accomplishment were examined in a separate hierarchically arranged multiple regression
analyses. Results are presented in Table 3. Gender, age, ethnicity, current rank, and department size were
used as control variables in these analyses.

TABLE 3
HIERARCHICAL REGRESSION MODELS FOR DIRECT RELATIONSHIPS (H1 a-c)

Emotional Exhaustion Depersonalization Personal Accomplishment

Step 1 Step 2 Step 1 Step 2 Step 1 Step 2
β β β β β β
Gender 0.063 0.038 -0.058 -0.075 0.042 0.055
Ethnicity 0.035 0.046 -0.079 -0.072 0.015 0.009
Age 0.051 0.006 -0.025 -0.057 -0.036 -0.013
Department Size -0.021 0.013 -0.025* -0.081 -0.066 -0.083
Current Rank 0.064 0.088 -0.103* -0.087 0.050 0.037
TFL -0.328*** -.232*** 0.173***
F Change 1.216 8.021 2.099 5.145 0.669 2.327
R2 0.017 0.121 0.015 0.029 0.009 0.038
ΔR2 0.017 0.104 0.065 0.052 0.009 0.029
TFL = Transformational Leadership; TF-Cope = Task Focused Coping
* p < 0.10.
** p < 0.05.
*** p < 0.01.

Hypotheses 1 (a-c) address the main effects between transformational leadership and each dimension
of burnout. Hypotheses 1 (a-c) are supported (β = -.328; p < 0.01; β = -.232; p < 0.01; β = .173; p < 0.01).
The change in R2 indicates police stress explains 10, 5, and 3 percent of the variance beyond that
explained by the control variables for emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal
accomplishment respectively. Of the three dependent variables, emotional exhaustion explains the largest
percentage of variance (10%). None of the control variables are significant for emotional exhaustion and
personal accomplishment outcome variables. For depersonalization, only department size and current
rank are marginally significant (β = -.025; p < 0.10; β = -.103; p < 0.10).
Hypothesis 2 states the relationship between transformational leadership and burnout depends upon
perceptions of stress. Hypotheses 2a-c state that the stress influences the direct transformational
leadership-burnout relationship such that perceptions of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization
increase and perceptions of personal accomplishment diminish when high levels of stress are perceived.
Results from HMMR analysis for H2 and H2 (a-c) are depicted in Table 4.

Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics vol. 11(3) 2014 59

60
TABLE 4
HIERARCHICAL MULTIPLE MODERATED REGRESSION MODELS FOR DIRECT RELATIONSHIPS (H2 a-c)

Emotional Exhaustion Depersonalization Personal Accomplishment

Step1 Step2 Step3 Step4 Step1 Step2 Step3 Step4 Step1 Step2 Step3 Step4
β β β β β β β β β β β β
Gender .063 -.038 .040 .039 -.058 -.075 -.074 -.073 .042 .055 .055 .054
Ethnicity .035 .046 .052 .54 -.079 -.072 -.064 -.069 .015 .009 .009 .018
Age .051 .006 .001 .001 -.025 -.057 -.062 -.062 -.036 -.013 -.012 -.013
Dept. -.021 .013 .063 .064 -.104** -.081 -.021 -.023 -.066 -.083 -.086 -.082
Size
Cur.Rank .064 .008 .088 .088 -.103* -.087 -.086 -.087 .050 0.037 .037 .039
TFL -.328*** -.249*** -.228* -.232*** -.137*** -.185 .173*** .168*** .257**
Stress .326*** .380*** .390*** .264** -.020 .213
TFL x -.055 .126 -.234
Stress
F Change 1.216 41.350 43.003 .080 2.009 19.814 61.889 .424 .669 10.525 .138 1.186
R2 .017 .121 .217 .217 .029 .081 .219 .220 .009 .038 .039 .042
ΔR2 .017 .104 .096 .000 .029 .052 .138 .001 .009 .029 .009 .003
Dept. Size = Department Size; Cur.Rank = Current Rank; TFL = Transformational Leadership; TF-Cope = Task Focused Coping
* p < 0.10.
** p < 0.05.

Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics vol. 11(3) 2014

*** p < 0.01.
 Hypothesis 2 is not supported. Stress does not moderate the relationship between transformational
leadership and any of the dimensions of burnout. There is no statistically significant moderated
relationship for stress between transformational leadership and emotional exhaustion (β = -.005; ns),
depersonalization (β = .126; ns), or personal accomplishment (β = -.234; ns).
Hypothesis 3 states stress and coping interact to influence the relationship between transformational
leadership and burnout. Specifically, hypotheses 3a-c state that stress and coping interact to influence the
direct transformational leadership-burnout relationship such that perceptions of emotional exhaustion and
depersonalization increase and perceptions of personal accomplishment diminish when high levels of
stress are perceived and that these relationships are stronger (weaker for personal accomplishment) for
employees with higher perceived coping skills. Results from HMMR analysis for H3 and H3a-c are
depicted in Tables 5-7.

TABLE 5
3-WAY HIERARCHICAL MODERATED MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS FOR
EMOTIONAL EXHAUSTION

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8

β β β β β β β β
Gender .063 .038 .040 .044 .044 .043 .043 .043
Ethnicity .035 .046 .052 .054 .057 .057 .053 .053
Age .051 .006 .001 -.003 -.003 -.003 -.006 -.007
Department Size -.021 .013 .063 .065 .066 .066 .067 .067
Current Rank .064 .088 .088* .096* .096* .096* .095* .095*
TFL -.328*** -.249*** -.231*** -.207** -.168 -.291 -.382
Stress .326*** .330*** .391** .396** .104 -.094
TF-Cope -.070 -.071 -.047 -.216 -.275
Stress x TFL -.061 -.065 -.118 .102
TFL x TF-Cope -.050 .137 .259
Stress x TF-Cope .356 .562
Stress x TFL x TF-Cope -.235
F Change 1.216 41.350 43.003 2.060 .09 .013 1.272 .042
R2 .017 .121 .217 .221 .222 .222 .225 .225
ΔR2 .017 .104 .096 .005 .000 .000 .003 .000
TFL = Transformational Leadership; TF-Cope = Task Focused Coping
* p < 0.10.
** p < 0.05.
*** p < 0.01.

Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics vol. 11(3) 2014 61

 TABLE 6
3-WAY HIERARCHICAL MODERATED MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS MODEL FOR
DEPERSONALIZATION

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8

β β β β β β β β
Gender -.058 -.075 -.074 -.074 -.074 -0.067 -.067 -.070
Ethnicity -.079 -.072 -.064 -.064 -.069 -0.073 -.080* -.081*
Age -.025 -.057 -.062 -.062 -.061 -0.064 -.071* -.067
Department Size -.104** -.081 -.021 -.021 -.023 -0.019 -.016 -.020
Current Rank -.103* -.087 -.086 -.088 -.089* -0.085 -.087 -.090*
TFL -.232*** -.137** -.140** -.189** -0.568 -.795** .126
Stress .390*** .389*** .262 0.216 -.321 1.674*
TF-Cope .012 .013 -0.219 -.530** .065
Stress x TFL .127 0.169 .073 -2.150**
TFL x TF-Cope 0.477 .821* -.480
Stress x TF-Cope .655** -1.427
Stress x TFL x TF-Cope 2.370**
F Change 2.099 19.814 61.889 .063 .430 1.182 4.349 4.342
R2 .029 .081 .219 .219 .220 .223 .223 .242
ΔR2 .029 .052 .138 .000 .001 .003 .010 .010
TFL = Transformational Leadership; TF-Cope = Task Focused Coping
* p < 0.10.
** p < 0.05.
*** p < 0.01.

TABLE 7
3-WAY HIERARCHICAL MODERATED MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS MODEL FOR
PERSONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8

β β β β β β β β
Gender .042 .055 .055 .040 .039 .035 .035 .032
Ethnicity .015 .009 .009 .001 .009 .011 .010 .009
Age -.026 -.013 -.012 .001 .001 .002 .001 .004
Department Size -.166 -.083 -.086 -.094* -.091* -.094* -.093* -.096*
Current Rank .50 .037 .037 .009 .011 .008 .008 .006
TFL .173*** .168** .105* .186** .417 .373 1.075*
Stress -.020 -.036 .176 .204 .100 1.620
TF-Cope .249*** .248** .389 .329 .782*
Stress x TFL -.212 -.238 -.257 -1.951*
TFL x TF-Cope -.290 -.224 -1.160
Stress x TF-Cope .126 -1.461
Stress x TFL x TF-Cope 1.806
F Change .669 10.525 .138 22.125 1.038 .378 .138 2.137
R2 .009 .038 .039 .096 .099 .100 .100 .100
ΔR2 .009 .029 .000 .057 .003 .001 .000 .006
TFL = Transformational Leadership; TF-Cope = Task Focused Coping
* p < 0.10.
** p < 0.05.
*** p < 0.01.

62 Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics vol. 11(3) 2014

 Hypothesis 3b is supported for depersonalization (β = 2.370; p < 0.05). Hypotheses 3a and 3c are not
supported for emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment respectively (β = -0.235; ns; β = 1.806;
ns). None of the control variables remain significant through all steps of the regression. Only ethnicity
and current rank remain marginally significant in the final step of the regression (β = -0.081; p < 0.10; β =
-0.090; p < 0.10).
The 3-way moderated relationship of transformational leadership on burnout by stress and coping is
depicted in Figure 2. To the degree that high levels of stress and coping are present there is a distinct
difference in perception of depersonalization between individuals categorized as high-stress/high and low
coping and low-stress/high and low coping. Thus, higher levels of stress appear to drive higher
engagement in depersonalization, regardless of coping perception.

FIGURE 2
3-WAY INTERACTION OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND COPING FOR
DEPERSONALIZATION

55

45 (1) High Stress, High

Cope
Depersonalization

35 (2) High Stress, Low

Cope
(3) Low Stress, High
25 Cope
(4) Low Stress, Low
15 Cope

5
Low TFL High TFL

The ordinal relationships depicted in Figure 2 indicate that for officers perceiving both high and low
levels of stress, respondents with higher perceived task-focused coping skills engaged in higher overall
levels of depersonalization behavior, contrary to expectations. Moreover, officers in the high stress-high
high coping category perceive the highest levels of depersonalization, thus the interaction of high levels
of stress and coping appear to intensify perceptions of depersonalization and these perceptions increase to
the degree that leaders exhibit increasing levels of transformational leader behavior.

DISCUSSION

Empirical and theoretical studies associated with transformational leadership (e.g., Bartone, 2006;
Densten, 2005; Engel, 2001, 2002; Podsakoff et al., 1990, 1996; Russell, 2011, 2014) and burnout (e.g.,
Bakker & Heuven, 2006; Densten, 2005; Maslach, 1982; Lambert et al., 2010; Martinussen et al., 2007;
Maslach & Schaufeli, 1993; Thompson et al., 2005) suggest that there is an inverse relationship between
transformational leadership and burnout (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and (diminished)

Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics vol. 11(3) 2014 63

personal accomplishment). Findings in this study support these conclusions. Specifically, the linear
relationships between transformational leadership and each dimension of burnout was significant and in
the hypothesized direction.
Theories of motivation (e.g., expectancy theory and social exchange theory) provide connectional
frameworks for the argument that coping interacts with stress to influence the effect of transformational
leader behavior on burnout. Expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964) states that individuals are motivated to
exert high levels of effort when they believe the outcome will be positive performance appraisal and
organizational reward such as bonus or promotion and that the reward will satisfy the employee’s
personal goals. Social exchange theory (Blau, 1964) is based on the idea that individuals maximize
pleasurable and minimize less pleasurable exchanges (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005). Integration of these
two theories provides theoretical grounding for the exchange between leaders and followers in
organizations. Transformational leaders attempt to motivate followers to transcend self-interest for the
benefit of the organization by influencing both values and aspirations of followers by activating higher-
order needs and followers work to accomplish tasks and achieve organizational goals in exchange for
mutually agreed upon or implicit benefits such as salary, bonus, rewards and leader recognition.
Findings in this study support this conclusion, but results are more complex than expected. While
results for hypotheses H3 and H3a are in line with both expectancy and social exchange theories, there is
a point at which high levels of transformational leadership, stress, and coping converge and officers find it
necessary to distance themselves and depersonalize from circumstances surrounding the stressful events.
Specifically, officers in this study using high task-focused coping under high-perceived stress engaged in
increasingly higher levels of depersonalization, contrary to expectations. Moreover, engagement in
depersonalization increased at increasing rates for high stress-high coping officers at increasing levels of
transformational leadership. The question is why leader behavior and coping do not converge to
overcome the negative effects of stress on burnout.
While researchers identify main and interaction or “buffering” effects associated with coping and
social support (e.g., Patterson, 2003), others (Turner, 1983) underscore the importance of examining
whether coping strategies and social support remain statistically significant where individuals are exposed
to increasingly higher levels of stress. Moreover, some researchers (Chrisholm, Kasl, & Mueller, 1986;
Kauffmann & Beehr, 1986) found that social support increased, rather than decreased, effects on well-
being – a “reverse buffering effect”. Researchers (Volanti, 1992) also found that the more coping
strategies used by police recruits, the greater the distress, whereas, fewer coping strategies resulted in
lower levels of distress. Researchers recently found that educational attainment and rank were correlated
with both increased and decreased use of coping strategies among police (Patterson, 2000). Reverse
buffering effects coupled with the potential for increased distress due to increased task-focused coping
among police may help explain the increase in depersonalization despite higher levels of task-focused
coping and perceived transformational leader behaviors in the present study. Moreover, it could be that
officer’s fall back on training in increasingly stressful circumstances and increased leader behaviors
simply add to the stress. Thus, it is important to control for the type of stress (i.e., life-threatening,
bureaucratic, administrative, task-specific, etc.) in future studies.

Limitations
A potential limitation to this study is mono-method bias, a threat to construct validity due to the use
of only one method of measurement (Trochim & Donnelly, 2007). Procedural and statistical remedies
(e.g., use of previously validated measures, post hoc comparisons to archival demographic data, partial
correlation procedure, scale trimming, the use of a panel of experts to determine appropriate exclusions,
scale reordering, altering the design of the questionnaire such that the dependent and criterion variables
are randomly placed throughout the questionnaire, etc.) were applied to minimize the effects of
consistency artifacts (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, & Podsakoff, 2003; Podsakoff & Organ, 1986).
Moreover, Harmon's one-factor test and confirmatory factor analysis revealed the presence of multiple
factors, with Eigenvalues greater than one, accounting for various levels of variance indicating no
common factor is present (Podsakoff et al., 2003). Researchers recommend using structural equation

64 Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics vol. 11(3) 2014

modeling (SEM) to minimize the effects of common method variance (Podsakoff et al., 2003). SEM was
not the a suitable statistical analysis for assessing relationships in this study because tests of moderation
were required. Correlations in the bivariate correlation analysis point to the notion that common method
variance, although present, presents less of a concern in our study (Spector, 2006). Thus, while every
effort was used to minimize potential effects, it is impossible to rule out potential bias due to common
method variance.
The sample in this study represents a variety of individuals from various agencies. Only one high-risk
occupation, however, was examined in this study. Officers from multiple agencies from the city, county,
and state level were surveyed representing a wide cross-section of police agencies. In addition, rural,
suburban, and urban departments ranging in size from a few officers to well over 500 officers were
included in this study. Nonetheless, external validity is limited and generalizing results from this study
should be done with caution. It could be that police officers have differing needs for transformational
leadership, so it will be important to investigate these relationships in a variety of high-risk and less risky
occupations to address this limitation.

Theoretical and Managerial Contributions

There is an abundance of research evaluating the relationship between stress and burnout among
police (e.g., Bakker & Heuven, 2006; Densten, 2005; Maslach, 1982; Maslach & Schaufeli, 1993;
Lambert et al., 2010; Martinussen et al., 2007; Thompson et al., 2005). Few studies look at the
relationship between transformational leadership and burnout, and fewer still evaluate how stress and
coping influence this relationship (e.g., Barton, 2006; Griffin, Hogan, & Lambert, 2012; Lambert, Hogan,
Barton-Ballessa, & Jiang, 2012). This study provides a first step in addressing this important gap in the
literature. As such, one of the major theoretical contributions of this study is the assessment of the
moderating role of stress and coping on the relationship between leadership and burnout among
individuals in high-risk occupational settings.
Results from this study also have implications for managers. First and foremost, findings are in
alignment with research in the area (Bakker & Heuven, 2006; Barton, 2006; Densten, 2005; Lambert et
al., 2010; Martinussen et al., 2007; Russell, 2011, 2014; Thompson et al., 2005) confirming that
transformational leadership is inversely associated with perceptions of emotional exhaustion and
depersonalization and directly associated with perceptions of personal accomplishment. Specifically,
followers’ perceptions of each dimension of burnout increases as perceptions of leader’s transformational
behavior are perceived. Moreover, followers are able to reduce perceived burnout by using low levels of
task-focused coping strategies when stress levels are low, but have less influence when using high levels
of task-focused coping strategies at increasing stress levels and when leaders are exhibiting high levels of
leadership behaviors. The intersection of high levels of these three appears to create circumstances where
a “reverse buffering effect” is present and officers engage in higher levels of depersonalization.
Potentially these results allow managers to better understand how to structure supervisor-subordinate
relationships in order to minimize the effects of stress on perceived burnout at varying levels of stress.
Accordingly, the positive impacts of transformational leadership should be understood and encouraged, to
the extent that it is effective in reducing burnout, facilitating positive coping and diminishing the negative
effects of lower levels of stress. Managers should aware that providing transformational leadership is a
good thing – under less stressful circumstances. Under highly stressful circumstances, a different
leadership style (e.g., participative, authentic leadership, or supportive leadership) might be better suited
to attenuate perceived burnout, particularly when coping is necessary.

Future Research
It is important that future research efforts investigate these hypotheses with other samples from other
high-risk and less risky occupations to determine the robustness of results. Moreover, longitudinal design,
collecting data from multiple sources, and conducting field interviews will help address questions
centering on common method variance. Adding additional outcome variables will expand the
nomological network related to these associations.

Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics vol. 11(3) 2014 65

CONCLUSION

An abundance of leadership research exists, the majority showing the positive associations with
desired individual and organizational outcomes. Research and managerial recommendations about
transformational leadership have implicitly stated that this type of leader behavior is beneficial. This
study found that although transformational leadership has positive direct main effects on burnout,
interactive effects of stress and coping are more interesting and complex than once thought – particularly
under increasingly stressful circumstances. More specifically, results indicate that the interaction of
leadership and coping may actually augment burnout, particularly at higher stress levels. It may be that
there is too much of a good thing when it comes to transformational leader behavior and task-focused
coping – questions for further study. My hope is that this study will stimulate additional questions and
that future investigations will further knowledge about the associations regarding transformational
leadership behaviors, task-focused coping, stress and burnout in addition to other important variables.

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