이용시설 사회복지사의 직무자율성과 소진이 이직의도에 미치는 영향 = The Effects of Job Autonomy and Burnout on Turnover Intention among Social Workers in Community-Based Welfare Facilities

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The Effects of Job Autonomy and Burnout on Turnover Intention among Social Workers in Community-Based Welfare Facilities yongjun yang Advisor : Prof. Seong-Bae Jeong, Ph.D. Department of Social Welfare, Graduate School of Chosun University This study aims to examine the effects of job autonomy and burnout on turnover intention among social workers employed in community-based welfare facilities, with a particular focus on verifying the mediating role of burnout in the relationship between job autonomy and turnover intention. In contemporary South Korea, the demand for social welfare services has been rapidly increasing due to demographic and social changes, including population aging, the rise in single-person households, the expansion of long-term care needs, and the diversification of social risks. According to recent national statistics, the proportion of older adults continues to grow at an unprecedented rate, while the number of individuals requiring continuous care and support within the community is steadily increasing. These structural changes have led to a transformation of the social welfare service delivery system from institution-centered protection to community-based service provision. As a result, community-based welfare facilities have become a central component of the social welfare system, providing services such as counseling, case management, program operation, and resource linkage to individuals who continue to reside within their communities. In this context, social workers in community-based welfare facilities play a crucial role in maintaining service accessibility and continuity, while simultaneously responding to diverse and complex client needs. However, despite their growing importance, social workers in these settings are often exposed to challenging working conditions, including excessive workloads, emotional labor, role ambiguity, and insufficient organizational support. In particular, the nature of community-based services requires continuous face-to-face interaction with clients, which increases emotional demands and psychological burden. These conditions may lead to burnout, a psychological syndrome characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment, ultimately contributing to an increased intention to leave the organization. Given that social welfare services are highly dependent on human resources, high turnover rates among social workers can result in service disruption, reduced service quality, increased organizational costs, and weakened trust between service providers and clients. Therefore, understanding the factors that influence turnover intention is essential for ensuring the sustainability and effectiveness of social welfare services. Previous studies have identified a wide range of factors affecting turnover intention, including job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job stress, and burnout. Among these, job autonomy has been emphasized as a key job-related factor that enhances employees’ intrinsic motivation, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment while reducing turnover intention. Job autonomy refers to the degree to which employees are granted discretion and control over their work processes, including decision-making authority, work methods, scheduling, and prioritization of tasks. Higher levels of job autonomy allow employees to perceive greater control over their work, which can reduce stress and enhance psychological well-being. On the other hand, burnout has been widely recognized as a critical psychological factor that negatively affects job attitudes and increases turnover intention. While previous studies have examined the relationships between these variables, most have focused on isolated relationships and have not sufficiently explored the structural relationship among job autonomy, burnout, and turnover intention, particularly within the context of community-based welfare facilities. Accordingly, this study seeks to address this gap by examining both the direct and indirect effects of job autonomy on turnover intention through burnout. This study utilizes secondary data from the “2024 Social Worker Statistical Yearbook,” a nationally representative dataset jointly published by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korean Association of Social Workers. The dataset includes comprehensive information on social workers’ demographic characteristics, working conditions, job perceptions, and turnover intention. For the purpose of this study, the sample was restricted to social workers employed in community-based welfare facilities, excluding those working in residential facilities and public institutions in order to ensure homogeneity in job characteristics and working environments. The final sample consisted of 1,300 respondents. This study adopts a cross-sectional research design and employs statistical analysis using SPSS and the PROCESS macro 4.2. Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses were conducted to examine the general characteristics of the sample and the relationships among variables. Multiple regression analysis was then performed to test the direct effects of job autonomy and burnout on turnover intention. Furthermore, mediation analysis using bootstrapping techniques was conducted to verify the mediating effect of burnout in the relationship between job autonomy and turnover intention, thereby providing a more comprehensive understanding of the structural relationships among the variables. The findings of this study reveal that job autonomy has a significant negative effect on turnover intention, indicating that higher levels of autonomy are associated with lower intentions to leave the organization. In addition, job autonomy was found to have a negative effect on burnout, suggesting that greater autonomy can alleviate psychological exhaustion and reduce emotional strain among social workers. Burnout, in turn, was found to have a significant positive effect on turnover intention, confirming that higher levels of burnout increase the likelihood of leaving the organization. Importantly, the mediation analysis demonstrates that burnout partially mediates the relationship between job autonomy and turnover intention. This result indicates that job autonomy not only directly reduces turnover intention but also indirectly reduces it by lowering burnout levels. In other words, job autonomy functions as a protective factor that mitigates burnout and subsequently decreases turnover intention among social workers in community-based welfare facilities. Based on these findings, this study provides several important implications. From a theoretical perspective, this study contributes to the literature by integrating job-related and psychological factors into a unified analytical framework and empirically verifying the structural relationship among job autonomy, burnout, and turnover intention in the context of community-based welfare facilities. From a practical perspective, the findings suggest that organizations should actively promote job autonomy by granting social workers greater discretion in decision-making, task management, and service delivery processes, which can enhance job satisfaction and reduce burnout. Additionally, it is necessary to implement organizational strategies to prevent and manage burnout, such as improving working conditions, reducing excessive workloads, providing emotional support programs, and strengthening supervisory support. From a policy perspective, the results highlight the need for institutional support aimed at improving the working environment of social workers, including fair compensation, stable employment conditions, and policies that enhance organizational support and professional autonomy. Despite its contributions, this study has several limitations. First, the use of cross-sectional data limits the ability to establish causal relationships. Second, the analysis was limited to community-based welfare facilities, which may restrict generalizability. Future research should employ longitudinal designs and include a broader range of settings. Nevertheless, this study provides meaningful insights into the relationships among job autonomy, burnout, and turnover intention and offers practical and policy implications for the social welfare sector. Key words: Job Autonomy, Burnout, Turnover Intention, Social Workers, Community-Based Welfare Facilities, Mediation Effect

목차 (Table of Contents)

• 제1장 서 론 1
• 제1절 연구 목적 1
• 제2절 연구 범위 및 연구 방법 4
• 1. 연구 범위 4
• 2. 연구 방법 5
• 제2장 이론적 배경 6
• 제1절 이용시설 사회복지사 6
• 1. 이용시설 사회복지사 개념 6
• 2. 이용시설 사회복지사의 특징 8
• 제2절 이직의도 10
• 1. 이직의도 개념 10
• 2. 이용시설 사회복지사의 이직의도 영향요인 11
• 제3절 직무자율성 12
• 1. 직무자율성 개념 12
• 2. 이용시설 사회복지사의 직무자율성 영향요인 14
• 제4절 소진 15
• 1. 소진 개념 15
• 2. 이용시설 사회복지사의 소진 영향요인 16
• 제5절 선행연구 17
• 1. 이용시설 사회복지사의 직무자율성 관련 선행연구 17
• 2. 이용시설 사회복지사의 소진 관련 선행연구 18
• 3. 이용시설 사회복지사의 이직의도 관련 선행연구 20
• 4. 직무자율성, 소진, 이직의도 간의 관계에 관한 선행연구 21
• 제3장 연구 설계 22
• 제1절 연구 모형 및 연구 가설 22
• 1. 연구 모형 22
• 2. 연구 문제 및 가설 23
• 제2절 분석자료 및 연구대상 24
• 1. 분석자료 24
• 2. 연구대상 24
• 제3절 변수구성 및 측정 25
• 1. 변수 구성 26
• 2. 종속변수: 이직의도 28
• 3. 독립변수: 직무자율성 29
• 4. 독립변수: 소진 31
• 제4절 자료 분석 방법 32
• 제4장 연구결과 및 분석 34
• 제1절 조사대상자의 개인적 특징 34
• 제2절 주요변수의 특징 36
• 1. 주요변수의 기술통계 36
• 2. 주요변수들의 상관관계 37
• 3. 일반적 특성에 따른 주요 변수 차이검증 40
• 4. 연구모형 검증 50
• 5. 연구문제 및 가설검증 56
• 제5장 결론 및 제언 58
• 제1절 연구결과 요약 58
• 제2절 연구 시사점 60
• 1. 정책적 시사점 60
• 2. 실천적 시사점 62
• 제3절 향후 연구 방향 64
• 참고문헌 67