Mental Toughness and Job Performance: The Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction Among Frontline Healthcare Workers

The present research was conducted to determine the relationship between mental toughness, job satisfaction and job performance among frontline healthcare workers. Group differences were also investigated across demographics in relation to study variables. A purposive sample (N=400) of frontline healthcare workers including Doctors (n = 254), Nurses (n= 90) and Paramedical staff (n= 56) having age range of 22 to 47 years. The sample was selected from private and public hospitals located in Peshawar, Islamabad/ Rawalpindi, Multan and Charsadda. Measures of Job Performance Scale (Wright et al., 1995), Job Satisfaction Scale (War et al., 1979), Mental Toughness Questionnaire (Clough et al., 2002) were used to assess job performance, job satisfaction, mental toughness respectively. Data was analyzed by using SPSS 23 and AMOS 22. The findings of this study showed that job satisfaction is positively correlated with job performance and mental toughness. Findings indicated that job satisfaction acts as a mediator between mental toughness and job performance. The results further revealed that the extrinsic job satisfaction of female frontline healthcare worker was shown to be greater than that of male counterparts. Furthermore, significant differences were found in job performance, mental toughness, and job satisfaction across designation and area of specialty. The study contributed to the literature by examining the impact of job satisfaction and mental toughness on job performance and provided practical and theoretical implications for the establishment of better organizational settings specifically healthcare settings.