The Dual Pathways of Work Stress: How Physical and Emotional Exhaustion Impair Female Employees’ Performance Through Burnout

Khusnutdinova Alesia
School of Business Administration, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, China
DOI – http://doi.org/10.37502/IJSMR.2025.8404

Abstract

This study examines how physical and emotional exhaustion affect female employees’ work performance through the mediating role of job burnout, with social support as a moderator. Using a sample of 416 female employees from SMEs (92.44% response rate), we tested a model integrating five key factors: physical exhaustion, emotional exhaustion, job burnout, social support, and job performance. Regression analyses revealed three key findings: First, both physical and emotional exhaustion are directly impair performance; Second, job burnout fully mediates these relationships and third, social support buffers burnout’s impact on performance and weakens the emotional exhaustion-burnout link, but not physical exhaustion effects. The results advance Job Burnout and Conservation of Resources theories by demonstrating gendered stress pathways in SMEs, where women face dual work-family pressures. Practically, the findings suggest organizations should combine structural interventions with psychological support systems, while recognizing social support’s limited efficacy against physical strain. This study provides empirical evidence for developing gender-sensitive wellbeing programs that address both physiological and psychological stress dimensions to sustain female employees’ performance and wellbeing.

Keywords: Female employees; Work stress; Job burnout; Social support; Work performance

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