Perfectionism as a moderator of the association of work connectivity behavior after-hours (WCBA) and burnout

Modern life is typified by vagueness of boundaries between work and private life. This produces symptoms of job burnout that decrease the effectiveness of work performance in the long run. This research addressed the relation between work connectivity behavior after work hours (WCBA) and burnout. Moreover, personality traits such as perfectionism may play a role in this association. We predicted that perfectionist employees that are highly connected to work after work hours will report lower burnout than non-perfectionist employees as they strive for perfection in their work duties and WCBA enables them to fulfill this desire and therefore to experience lower burnout. 112 participants, from a high-tech company and a bank completed the Job Burnout Scale, Perfectionism inventory and a diary-based Demographic Questionnaire and Measure of Connectivity to Work in after Work Hours. WCBA was positively correlated with burnout, and perfectionist workers reported higher burnout. Perfectionist employees that were highly connected to work after working hours reported lower burnout than perfectionist employees who were not connected to work. The current study was based on a diary that reflected the objective work-related activities that the participants have been involved in after working hours.