Are job characteristics associated with patient (de)humanization through the mediation of health providers’ well-being?

Healthcare professionals tend to assign a lower human status to patients. We hypothesized that two mindsets are responsible for this attribution: burnout (emotional exhaustion) and work engagement (vigor, dedication, and absorption in one's work). We predicted that exhaustion is negatively related to patient humanizing perceptions (Hypothesis 1), whereas engagement is positively related to them (Hypothesis 2). In addition, we formulated hypotheses on the relationship between job characteristics and humanity perceptions. Based on the Job Demands-Resources theory, we predicted that resources (e.g., performance feedback) are positively related to humanizing perceptions being positively linked to work engagement (Hypothesis 3a) and negatively linked to exhaustion (Hypothesis 3b). For demands (e.g., work overload), in contrast, they should be negatively related to humanizing perceptions, being positively linked to exhaustion (Hypothesis 4a) and negatively linked to work engagement (Hypothesis 4b). To test the hypotheses, we conducted an online survey. Participants were physicians and nurses (N = 302); a questionnaire was used. The mediation model was estimated by applying path analysis with observed variables. Findings supported the prediction that reduced humanizing perceptions are associated with care providers’ exhaustion (Hypothesis 1). No association was found between humanity perceptions and work engagement. For job aspects, resources were linked to higher humanizing perceptions through the mediation of lower exhaustion (Hypothesis 3b), whereas demands were linked to lower humanizing perceptions through the mediation of higher exhaustion (Hypothesis 4a). Findings suggest that appropriate manipulations of demands and resources may increase patient humanization and improve the therapeutic relationship.