In a changing world of work characterized by globalization, competitiveness, and organizational transformations, employees in human contact professions are increasingly exposed to complex emotional, social, and professional demands. Within these challenging contexts, psychological health at work has become a major concern in Morocco and across the Global South, particularly in education and healthcare, where interpersonal engagement forms the core of professional identity. Drawing on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017), this communication presents two complementary empirical studies conducted in educational and hospital settings to identify key predictors of psychological heath at work.
The first study (Azouaghe, 2019), carried out among Moroccan primary and secondary school teachers (N=1107), explored how job demands, including poor material conditions, emotional overload, and financial dissatisfaction, are associated with higher psychological distress and reduced well-being. Conversely, job resources such as social support, work climate, and particularly the perceived social utility of teaching enhances well-being and buffer the negative effects of demands on psychological health at work. The second study (Khaoudi, 2020), conducted with 442 nurses from public hospitals in Morocco, confirmed that high job demands (e.g., heavy workloads, difficult schedules, emotional labor) predicted lower well-being and higher burnout. In contrast, resources such as autonomy, social support, and the perceived job utility of caregiving fostered well-being, commitment, and lower exhaustion levels.
Together, these studies extend the JD-R framework (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017, 2023) by emphasizing the role of perceived job utility as a crucial determinant of psychological health in relational professions. They contribute to a broader African contextualization of work and organizational psychology, recognizing the symbolic and cultural dimensions that shape work meaning in the Global South. Enhancing these psychosocial resources may thus represent a strategic avenue for preventing burnout and promoting occupational well-being in human service professions across Africa.