Exploring the Link Between Daily Job Burnout and Violent Extremist Attitudes

Objective: This study investigated whether daily experiences of job burnout are linked to violent extremist attitudes in the workplace, examining the mediating role of negative affect and the moderating influence of perceived organizational support. The theoretical framework integrates the existential model of burnout, significance quest theory, and general strain theory. Method: A 5-day daily-diary study was conducted with 627 full-time employees in Greece, yielding 3,135 observations. Participants reported daily levels of burnout symptoms, negative affect, perceived organizational support, and violent extremist attitudes. Multilevel path analysis assessed direct, indirect, and moderated effects, and two-part modeling addressed floor effects in the distribution of extremist attitudes. Results: Daily burnout symptoms were positively associated with both the likelihood and intensity of violent extremist attitudes. Negative affect significantly mediated this relationship, consistent with general strain theory’s emotional pathway. Perceived organizational support mitigated the emergence—but not the intensity—of extremist attitudes in the direct burnout–extremism link. Moderated mediation analyses further revealed that organizational support weakened the indirect effect of burnout on extremist attitudes via negative affect. Conclusions: Daily job burnout fosters the development and escalation of violent extremist attitudes through increased negative affect. However, supportive organizational environments can disrupt this process. These findings emphasize the critical role of organizational climate in preventing attitudinal radicalization in the workplace.