Strain and Sustain: How Work Overload Impacts Organizational Commitment via Flexibility, Exhaustion, and Work-Life Balance

Abstract

This study examined the association between work overload (WO) and organizational commitment (OC) among school teachers in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Drawing on Conservation of Resources theory and the Job Demands-Resources model, the study tested whether work flexibility (WF) and emotional exhaustion (EE) functioned as statistical indirect pathways and whether work-life balance (WLB) moderated the WO-OC association. Data were collected from 200 teachers through an anonymous online survey using previously developed English-language self-report measures. Parallel statistical indirect effects were estimated with PROCESS Model 4, and moderation was tested separately with PROCESS Model 1. Gender, age category, marital status, monthly income, years of teaching experience, and social desirability were included as covariates. WO was negatively associated with OC at the total-effect level. Significant indirect associations were observed through lower WF and higher EE. The estimated indirect effect through WF was numerically larger than that through EE, although the two indirect effects were not formally contrasted. The WO x WLB interaction was significant. WO was negatively associated with OC at low WLB, unrelated to OC at mean WLB, and positively associated with OC at high WLB, indicating an unanticipated crossover pattern. These findings suggest that workload management, perceived flexibility, emotional exhaustion, and WLB may be relevant to teachers' commitment under demanding work conditions. Because the data were cross-sectional and self-reported, causal and temporal conclusions should not be drawn.

Keywords: emotional exhaustion, Gilgit-Baltistan, organizational commitment, teachers, work flexibility, work-life balance, work overload