Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education 13 (2013) 180–189

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Hospitality,
Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhlste

Practice Papers

Work motivation, job burnout, and employment aspiration

in hospitality and tourism students—An exploration using
the self-determination theory$
Liwei Hsu n
Graduate Institute of Hospitality and Tourism Education, National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism, No. 1, Songhe Road,
Xiaogang District, Kaohsiung City 81271, Taiwan

a r t i c l e in f o abstract

This study aims to examine a proposed structural equation model (SEM) using three
Keywords: constructs—work motivation, job burnout, and employment aspiration among hospitality
Self-determination theory and tourism (H&T) students. Participants comprised 927 students enroled in hospitality
Job burnout and tourism study programmes who had completed the relevant internships. They were
Employment aspiration asked to complete a questionnaire, which included the Work Motivation Questionnaire,
Internship the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), and one dichotomous question regarding their
willingness to return to the H&T industry. Goodness-of-fit indices verified that the
proposed SEM was appropriate for interpreting the relationships between the variables.
This study revealed that, in general, the higher an individual's intrinsic motivation, the
lower his/her job burnout will be. However, amotivation and introjected regulation did
not have significant effects on job burnout. Instead, integrated regulation proved to be the
strongest predictor of job burnout, and the reason for this was possibly linked to
diminished personal accomplishment. Finally, job burnout did not correlate with H&T
students' willingness to pursue careers in the H&T industry.
& 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

The onset and spread of globalisation has partly led to the H&T industry becoming the fastest growing in the world.
Consequently, this industry requires a large number of highly qualified employees to join the workforce (King & Hang, 2011).
In the same vein, in the past few years, there has been an increase in the number of international tourists coming into
Taiwan; therefore, the local government has started to pay attention to the qualifications of professionals in the H&T
industry. In response to this demand, higher education institutions (HEIs) in Taiwan have also committed to educate
qualified employees for the industry. According to official data by the Ministry of Education (MOE), in the 2001 academic
year, 15 HEIs offered hospitality programmes, and 23 HEIs had tourism management departments. By 2006 and 2010, the
number of hospitality management departments had increased to 43 and 64, respectively. The number of tourism
management departments also increased in these years, from 48 to 92, respectively.

☆
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permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
n
Tel.: þ886 7 8060505; fax: þ 886 7 8062354.
E-mail address: liweihsu@mail.nkuht.edu.tw

1473-8376/$ - see front matter & 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhlste.2013.10.001
 L. Hsu / Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education 13 (2013) 180–189 181

This boom in the number of H&T training programmes has been a popular research topic, as has the quality of education
imparted to students through these programmes. Owing to prevailing discussions on curriculum design and pedagogy,
scholars are drawn to the issue of the effectiveness or necessity of internships (Lam & Ching, 2007). Internships provide H&T
students with the opportunity to gain hands-on operational experience (Ju, Emenheiser, Clayton, & Reynolds, 1998).
In Taiwan, however, it is not unusual for some students who have successfully completed their internships to forego
pursuing a career in the H&T industry (Fidgeon, 2010; Raybould & Wilkins, 2005). Possible reasons for this are the long
working hours and biased working environment prevalent in Taiwan's H&T industry (Chen & Shen, 2012); such situations
place interns under tremendous pressure that, as teenagers and novices to the industry, they are not equipped to handle.
After working in an environment where their pre-existing negative perceptions about the industry are confirmed, students
who find it difficult to deal with pressure, both physically and psychologically, will face job burnout in the workplace. This
may deter them from pursuing a career in the H&T industry after their post-secondary education which, unfortunately,
would be a loss to the industry, the government, and the H&T students. Therefore, it is necessary to have a thorough
understanding of the association between students' work motivation, job burnout, and employment aspirations. This study's
aims are threefold:

(1) acquiring a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between H&T students' work motivation, job burnout, and
employment aspirations;
(2) establishing a structural equation model (SEM) to explore the causal relationships among the above-mentioned three
variables; and
(3) providing H&T industry stakeholders with empirical evidence about managerial and pedagogical practices.

To properly address the three proposed aims, it is necessary to first review relevant studies in order to develop the
theoretical framework for the linear model of variables. Based on the proposed model, details on the research methodology
—such as participants, the research procedure, and instrumentation—will be presented, followed by the results of the
statistical analyses. These results will then facilitate a discussion of the similarities and differences between the results of
this study and those of previous works. Finally, we articulate the implications of this study for the academic and industrial
sectors and list some limitations of the research.

2. Theoretical framework

2.1. Work motivation and the self-determination theory (SDT)

Pinder (1998) coined the term ‘work motivation’ to mean ‘a set of energetic forces that originate both within as well as
beyond an individual's being, to initiate work-related behaviour, and to determine its form, direction, intensity, and
duration’ (p. 11). Over the past decades, many researchers have attempted to articulate the issue of employee work
motivation from different perspectives. More recently, Boumans, de Jong, and Janssen (2011) elucidated how a person's age
is associated with his/her job satisfaction and future employment aspirations. Their study indicated that older employees,
compared to their younger counterparts, require more incentives to enhance their intrinsic motivation. Since younger
employees tend to have stronger intrinsic motivation than older employees, employers prefer to hire younger people.
Another study conducted by Curral and Marques-Quinteiro (2009) focused on the work motivation of self-led employees
and their goal orientation; their study revealed a positive correlation between intrinsic motivation and goal orientation.
However, this relationship does not seem to apply in the public sector. Manolopoulos (2008) investigated the extrinsic
motivation and driving force of Greek governmental officials towards their jobs; the results showed that a stronger power
than intrinsic motivation was at play—extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation, as posited by Moynihan and Moynihan
(2007), includes opportunities to provide public service, obtain promotions, feel a sense of achievement, and be part of a
collective culture. Based on the findings of previous studies, it can be stated that motivation—regardless of whether it is
intrinsic (self-commitment or self-achievement) or extrinsic (rewards or incentives)—will influence an employee's job
performance in some way or the other. In fact, as early as 1975, advocates of the cognitive evaluation theory had emphasised
the influence of external factors on intrinsic motivation, which drives behaviour for personal satisfaction. Based on the
rationale of the cognitive evaluation theory, Deci and Ryan (1985) further explored the process of internalising the driving
force towards a target, through the use of self-determination. Their theory is referred to as the self-determination theory
(SDT), according to which, an individual's motivation is dynamic, rather than static (Ryan & Deci, 2000b). However, the
cognitive evaluation theory regards motivation as static. Therefore, this theory probably overlooks different forms of
motivation and its relationship with job burnout and employment aspiration.
The present study applies the SDT to examine the work motivation of H&T students who successfully completed their
internships. The SDT systemises the process of internalisation of motivation into three categories: amotivation; extrinsic
motivation; and intrinsic motivation. Depending on which category of motivation they fall into, people will be oriented
differently and therefore behave accordingly (Ryan & Deci, 2000a, 2002). Based on these three classifications, six stages can
be formulated as the process of internalisation of motivation. Most of the stages take place as internally regulated states in
the transitions between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation (presented in Fig. 1).
182 L. Hsu / Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education 13 (2013) 180–189

External Intrinsic

Amotivation Regulatio Introjected Integrated Motivation

Identified
n

Internally Regulated
Low Autonomy High Autonomy
Low Sense of Control High Sense of Control
Low Competence High Competence
Low Relatedness High Relatedness

Fig. 1. Motivation continuum of self-determination theory.

Source: (Gillard, 2010, http://www.acacamps.org/sites/default/files/images/volunteers/care/documents/CARE_Self_Determination.pdf).

According to the continuum displayed in Fig. 1, the process of internalising regulation involves introjected regulation,
identified regulation, and integrated regulation. As motivation is gradually internalised, a person's autonomy becomes
stronger (Ryan & Deci, 2000a). For example, introjected regulation refers to an external drive with a lower level of self-
regulation. In other words, an individual may behave in a certain way in order to avoid negative feelings or justify his/her
behaviour. Identified regulation is also an external drive, but with a higher level of self-regulation. One example of identified
regulation is conducting oneself in such a way as to acquire certain instrumental values such as fame and reputation. In this
stage, more attention is paid to internal feelings. When a person moves on to the stage of integrated regulation, he/she
integrates the value associated with a certain behaviour with his/her own value; in this instance, motivation is highly
internalised (Stone, Deci, & Ryan, 2009). Needless to say, after this stage, motivation is completely internalised; this means
that people will behave or conduct themselves in a certain way out of personal willingness and satisfaction.

2.2. Job burnout

In 1970s, Freudenberger first coined the term ‘job burnout’ to refer to physical and/or psychological frustration towards a
job, which leads to lack of motivation to perform tasks relevant to that job (Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001). Much later,
Garland (2002) and Kokkinos (2007) attributed the occurrence of job burnout to the pressure that employees face but do not
know how to deal with appropriately.
Studies have reported that employees in the H&T industry, particularly those on the client-facing side, always experience job
burnout (Hayes & Weathington, 2007; Kim, Shin, & Umbreit, 2007; Li & Chen, 2011). Previous studies have analysed job burnout
from three perspectives—emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and diminished personal accomplishment (Hakanen, Bakker,
& Schaufeli, 2006). Emotional exhaustion is at the core of job burnout. This refers to when a person's emotions are consumed
during interaction with others or the environment while on the job, leaving him/her feeling exhausted afterwards.
Depersonalisation refers to the case in which a person views his/her counterparts, be it a customer or a co-worker, as an
item rather than a human being. Diminished personal accomplishment focuses on a person's self-evaluation. Negative self-
evaluation leads to lack of self-efficacy and self-determination to do the job and, subsequently, imminent burnout.
The relationship between the level of self-determination and job burnout has been widely examined in the academic
community. For instance, Lonsdale, Hodge, and Rose (2009), Lonsdale and Hodge (2011), and Curran, Appleton, Hill, and Hall
(2011) proved that someone with high self-determination is less likely to experience job burnout. However, these studies
were not conducted in the H&T context. Thus, the relationship between H&T students' work motivation and job burnout still
requires empirical exploration. Research in this regard would be beneficial to the industry, HEIs, and H&T students. As
already stated, the H&T industry is a client-facing industry wherein employees are expected to provide good-quality service
to guests and customers. For this reason, the present research aims to expand current knowledge on this topic and make
practical recommendations to industry stakeholders.

2.3. Employment aspirations of H&T students

In Taiwan, as is the case elsewhere, a large volume of academic research (Chen & Shen, 2012; Jenkins, 2001; King & Hang,
2011; King, McKercher, & Waryszak, 2003; Lam & Ching, 2007; Tse, 2010) have focused on the employment aspirations of
H&T students. Results from previous studies indicate that students' experiences during their internships have a certain level
of influence on whether they are willing or unwilling to continue working in the industry. In other words, if a student has a
positive experience during the internship, this will enhance his/her motivation to continue working in the H&T industry.
Alternatively, if a student has a negative experience, this will adversely affect his/her decision to pursue a career in the H&T
industry after graduation (Ko, 2008; Richardson, 2008). External factors such as familial expectations or peer pressure are
not as significant as a student's first-hand experience (Kwan, 2005). Therefore, the rationale of this research hypothesis is as
follows: the higher the internalisation of personal motivation during the internship; the lower the possibility of job burnout,
 L. Hsu / Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education 13 (2013) 180–189 183

Fig. 2. Proposed structural equation model of the present study.

Table 1
Demographic data of participants.

Number/frequency Percentage

Gender
Males 280 30.2
Females 647 69.8

Programme
Hospitality 383 41.3
Tourism 545 58.7

Length of internship
Summer/winter vacation full time 128 13.8
6-month full time 608 75.6
12-month full time 191 20.6

Department of internship
Hotel 486 52.4
F&B 22 26.1
Travel Agency 69 7.4
Theme Park 21 2.3
Resort 32 3.5
Others 77 8.3

and the greater the chance of that person returning to the H&T industry after post-secondary education. An SEM model
(shown in Fig. 2) was subsequently developed in this study to reflect the above hypothesis.

3. Research methodology

3.1. Participants

The participants comprised 927 students from H&T programmes (n¼ 927) in 19 HEIs in Taiwan who had successfully
completed their internships. All participants consented to take part in this study. Prior to participating, they were informed
that they could withdraw from the study at any point without providing an explanation or being penalised. Furthermore,
participants were reassured that their responses to the questionnaire would be used for the purpose of the current research
only, and no personal information would be revealed to any third party. The participants' demographic data are presented in
Table 1.
184 L. Hsu / Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education 13 (2013) 180–189

3.2. Instruments

Participants completed a questionnaire consisting of several scales. In order to assess individual work motivation, we
adopted and compiled questions from three questionnaires developed by Ryan and Connell (1989): Academic Self-
Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-A); Learning Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-L); and Exercise Self-Regulation Ques-
tionnaire (SRQ-E). We then extracted items that were relevant to work motivation, ultimately reaching 30 questions that
tapped on six major facets (amotivation, external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, integrated
regulation, and intrinsic motivation), in accordance with the SDT.
The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), developed by Maslach and Jackson in 1981, is a popular instrument designed to
examine job burnout. This inventory was created specifically for professionals in the service industry and has been proven to
be of good reliability and validity (Naudé & Rothmann, 2004). Therefore, it suits the needs of the present study. In line with
previous research on this topic, the MBI evaluates job burnout from three major standpoints: emotional exhaustion;
depersonalization; and diminished personal accomplishment. To avoid misleading participants with the complex wording
used to describe ‘job burnout’, some modifications were undertaken to elicit genuine responses from the participants. With
regard to employment aspirations, dichotomous questions were included to investigate H&T students' decision to return to
the industry upon graduation.
Once the instruments were completed, three professors from hospitality, tourism, and education programmes, were
invited to review the questions to ensure construct validity. A pilot study was conducted using 391 students from 10 high
schools in southern Taiwan who were enroled in hospitality study programmes. The pilot study helped determine the
reliability and validity of the instruments used in this study. These students were selected for participation, as they had all
successfully completed their internships and were willing to take part in the pilot study. Item and factor analyses were
conducted on the items. Items that were below the thresholds (Cronbach ɑ 4.60 after being deleted and/or factor
loading o.60) were excluded from the questionnaire. Details of the pilot study are provided in Table 2.

Table 2
Reliability and validity of the research instrument.

Work motivation Job burnout

Item ɑ Value after being deleted Factor loading Item ɑ Value after being deleted Factor loading

1 .833 .718 1 .631 .695

2 .843 .665 2a .808 .426
3 .827 .718 3 .653 .614
4 .824 .723 4 .673 .535
5a .880 .516 5 .644 .655
Reliability of amotivation ¼ .869 6a .720 .432
6 .668 .525 Reliability of emotional exhaustion ¼.735
7a .647 .416 7 .741 .714
8 .588 .706 8 .714 .699
9 .613 .699 9 .723 .552
10 .628 .524 10 .725 .560
a
Reliability of external regulation¼.680 11 .771 .564
11 .695 .735 12a .783 .614
12 .724 .715 Reliability of depersonalisation ¼ .769
13 .756 .603 13a .727 .550
14a .811 .620 14 .505 .584
15 .738 .667 15 .482 .683
Reliability of introjected regulation ¼.787 16 .481 .700
16 .887 .766 17 .515 .635
17 .886 .763 18a .659 .399
18 .887 .719 Reliability of diminished personal accomplishment ¼ .617b
20 .904 .685
Reliability of identified regulation ¼.909
21 .854 .638
22 .845 .658
23 .851 .676
24 .834 .730
25 .846 .655
Reliability of integrated regulation ¼.873
26 .864 .684
27 .866 .720
28 .875 .611
29 .854 .769
30 .860 .673
Reliability of intrinsic motivation ¼ .888

a
Items being deleted.
b
Item 4 was deleted because of too many missing data.
 L. Hsu / Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education 13 (2013) 180–189 185

Table 3
Cutoff criteria for several fit indexes.

Index General rule for acceptable fit Results Model fit

Absolute/predictive fit
x2 The smaller the better (P Z α) 913
x2/df o3 2.987 Yes
GFI 4.9 .909 Yes
AGFI 4.8 .861 Yes
RMSEA o .05 .046 Yes

Comparative/incremental fit
NFI 4.9 .766 Marginally acceptable
NNFI 4.8 .751 Marginally acceptable
CFI 4.9 .825 Marginally acceptable

Parsimonious fit
PNFI 4.5 .539 Yes
PGFI 4.5 .598 Yes
CN 4200 353 Yes

Table 4
Path analysis of the proposed model.

Estimate

Job burnout←Amotivation  .062

Job burnout←External regulation .296nnn
Job burnout←Introjected regulation  .070
Job burnout←Identified regulation .161nnn
Job burnout←Integrated regulation .361n
Job burnout←Intrinsic motivation .116n
Willing←Job burnout .064
A 4←Amotivation .748nnn
A 3←Amotivation .812nnn
A 1←Amotivation .751nnn
ER 5←External regulation .329nnn
ER 4←External regulation .873nnn
ER 3←External regulation .616nnn
ER 1←External regulation .325nnn
IR 5←Introjected regulation .356nnn
IR 3←Introjected regulation .444nnn
IR 2←Introjected regulation .784nnn
IR 1←Introjected regulation .813nnn
IDR 4←Identified regulation .491nnn
IDR 3←Identified regulation .408nnn
IDR 2←Identified regulation .998nnn
IDR 1←Identified regulation .617nnn
IDR 5←Identified regulation .323nnn
IGR 4←Integrated regulation .263nnn
IGR 3←Integrated regulation .497nnn
IGR 2←Integrated regulation .514nnn
IGR 1←Integrated regulation .145n
IGR 5←Integrated regulation .563nnn
IM 4←Intrinsic motivation .636nnn
IM 3←Intrinsic motivation .249nnn
IM 2←Intrinsic motivation .837nnn
IM 1←Intrinsic motivation .624nnn
IM 5←Intrinsic motivation .525nnn
Emotional exhaustion←Job burnout  .058
Depersonalisation←Job burnout .659nnn
Diminished personal accomplishment←Job burnout .854nnn

n
p o.05.
nnn
Po .001.

The overall reliability of the work motivation inventory was .806, while that of job burnout was .739; both facets were
internally consistent. After item analysis was conducted, three items were removed from the work motivation inventory,
and six items were deleted from the job burnout questionnaire. The revised inventories then achieved an even higher
reliability, with .850 for work motivation and .742 for job burnout.
186 L. Hsu / Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education 13 (2013) 180–189

4. Results

4.1. Model fit

Before we interpret the findings of this study, we must examine the general adequacy of the proposed SEM (Hsu, 2012; Yuan,
2005). Typically, three goodness-of-fit indices are overviewed—absolute fit indices, comparative fit indices, and parsimonious fit
indices. Absolute fit indices indicate how well the proposed model fits the data collected from the participants (McDonald & Ho,
2002); these indices can be presented using the chi-square, goodness-of-fit index (GFI), adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI),
and root-mean-square-error-of-approximation (RMSEA). Using these indices, the results of this study demonstrated a good
model fit. The comparative fit indices include Bollen's incremental fit index, Bentler and Bonett's non-normed fit index (NNFI,
also known as the Tucker–Lewis index, or BBNFI), and Bentler and Bonett's normed fit index (NFI). Although the indices were
below the acceptance levels in this study, the overall model fits were still reasonable enough, considering the sample size
(Hooper, Coughlan, & Mullen, 2008; Yu & Yang, 2005). In particular, when NFI, NNFI, and CFI are lower than .9, it implies that
certain improvements should be made to the proposed model. However, the cut-off criteria for comparative/incremental fit
indices is still a debatable issue among academics (Huang, 2004). Further, model fit is easily influenced by sample size; in other
words, if the sample size is too large, the model will be rejected, regardless of whether the data are acceptable (Hox & Bechger,
1998). Nevertheless, the complexity of the proposed model, the large sample size, and the parsimonious fit indices of the SEM
showed its appropriateness. More details on the goodness-of-fit indices are provided in Table 3.

4.2. Path analysis

Table 4 lists the standardised holistic effects among the variables used. Since this study focuses on the relationship
between H&T students' work motivation, job burnout, and employment aspirations, as well as their willingness to pursue a
career in the H&T industry, we first analysed the path coefficients of the six stages of motivation to job burnout. There was
no direct association between job burnout, amotivation, and introjected regulation. Instead, integrated regulation had the
highest coefficient (path coefficient ¼.361, p o.05), followed by external regulation (path coefficient ¼.296, po.001).
Intrinsic motivation had the lowest effect coefficient, at .116.
In terms of the three constructs of job burnout—emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and diminished personal
accomplishment—the SEM results indicated that the coefficient of emotional exhaustion was not significant, while
depersonalisation and diminished personal accomplishment were both significant at the .001 level. Diminished personal
accomplishment had the highest path coefficient (.854) towards job burnout, followed by depersonalisation (.596).
Therefore, it can be said that job burnout did not significantly influence a student's decision on whether or not to pursue
a career in the H&T industry after graduation.

5. Findings and discussion

The SEM yielded some interesting, yet counterintuitive, findings. The process leading up to the internalisation of work
motivation did not have a systematic correlation with job burnout. According to the SDT, when a person's motivation is
internalised, he/she is satisfied with the job; therefore, job burnout will be lower (Richer, Blanchard, & Vallerand, 2002).
In other words, an individual with amotivation should experience job burnout easily; however, this study found no salient
association between amotivation and job burnout. The reason for this might be that students with amotivation have no
expectations and, therefore, their efforts, contribution, or performance are meaningless; this, according to the expectancy-
value approach, lowers the value and relatedness of internship for these students (Vansteenkiste, Lens, & Deci, 2006). It is
only natural then that these students would not experience job burnout easily. The present study also found an insignificant
correlation between introjected regulation and job burnout, which can be explained by the fact that an individual with
introjected behaviour will behave in a certain way in order to avoid negative feelings or to justify his/her behaviour (Ryan &
Deci, 2000b). However, since most H&T interns in Taiwan receive minimum wages, they do not experience job burnout
easily because they believe that they are being sufficiently compensated for their contribution in a non-monetary way;
therefore, job burnout may be mediated by introjected regulation. In other words, H&T interns are motivated to accomplish
their tasks to demonstrate their worth within a team or among their peers. Another reasonable explanation is the
psychological ethos of individuals with introjected regulation, who do not take pleasure in the job but, nonetheless, dedicate
their efforts to maintain their contingent self-esteem (Ryan & Deci, 2000b). A comprehensive look at the three constructs of
job burnout indicates that emotional exhaustion is also insignificant. Alternatively, if emotional exhaustion is not significant
to job burnout, then it is reasonable to state that introjected regulation cannot be a powerful predictor of job burnout.
SEM revealed that the four other variables (external regulation, identified regulation, integrated regulation, as well as
intrinsic motivation) of SDT were significantly associated with job burnout, a result that is consistent with those of
antecedent studies (Curran et al., 2011; Lonsdale & Hodge, 2011; Lonsdale et al., 2009; Pisarik, 2009), which posited that the
higher an individual's internalised motivation, the lower the occurrence of job burnout. However, the present study also
found that integrated regulation was significantly correlated with job burnout, at the .05 level. In other words, when an
employee's behaviour on the job matches his/her personal values, he/she will start to further integrate the value associated
with personal efforts with personal value. Upon reconsidering diminished personal accomplishment (the most significant
 L. Hsu / Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education 13 (2013) 180–189 187

factor in job burnout), it is realistic to state that when interns have integrated regulation, they perceive themselves as part of
the organisation and, therefore, consider their performance within the organisation as a personal accomplishment. When
personal accomplishment is diminished, job burnout will increase; this result can be used in response to the statement that
the student interns may consider the internship as an opportunity to make a contribution to the industry (Tse, 2010). Thus,
personal accomplishment seems to outweigh other factors. As noted by Lam and Ching (2007), student interns' satisfaction
will improve if they are given the authority to make decisions, instead of merely following standard operation procedures.
Nevertheless, a topic for further studies is an investigation of how integrated regulation affects job burnout if personal
accomplishment is not a significant factor.
Results showed that emotional exhaustion was not a significant construct for job burnout. In general, H&T programme
interns tend to have extroverted personality traits (Boudreau, Boswell, Judge, & Bretz, 2001) or service orientations (Lee,
Olds, & Lee, 2010); therefore, they are less likely to suffer from emotional exhaustion. On the contrary, in this study,
diminished personal accomplishment showed the strongest correlation with job burnout, followed by depersonalisation.
The former implies that when H&T students/interns are faced with failure or unmet expectations, they tend to evaluate
themselves negatively (Kim et al., 2007). In other words, if a student encounters many performance-related failures or
receives negative feedback, he/she will be more likely to experience job burnout, as compared to students who are
successful performers. Job burnout could also be the result of poor interpersonal relationships with peers; this result is in
line with that of Lam and Ching (2007), who postulated that team spirit can generate a positive perception towards an
internship experience. Another possible factor for job burnout is lack of communication between employees, which can
demotivate interns (Collins, 2002).
In terms of employment aspirations in the H&T industry, this study found no direct evidence suggesting that job burnout
during internships hinders students from pursuing a career in the H&T industry. This is contrary to the findings of
Richardson (2008), Ko (2008), and Kang and Gould (2002). Therefore, it is appropriate to state that job burnout cannot be
acknowledged as a primary factor influencing H&T students' employment aspirations.

6. Conclusions and suggestions for further study

This study explored the comprehensive relationship between three important aspects of internships undertaken by H&T
students—work motivation, job burnout, and employment aspirations. Work motivation was considered a dynamic process,
rather than a static one; therefore, the SDT was applied to assess this process. From the perspective of job burnout, emotional
exhaustion, depersonalisation, and diminished personal accomplishment were adopted as the three variables. In order to
examine the association between work motivation and job burnout and how they are interconnected with employment
aspiration, an SEM was developed and assessed. The goodness-of-fit indices proved that although the model was not a perfect fit,
it was fair enough to provide empirical and informative evidence. According to the SEM results, amotivation and introjected
regulation did not correlate significantly with job burnout. Integrated regulation, however, was the greatest predictor of job
burnout. One potential explanation is the fact that students integrate the value associated with personal efforts with personal
value, and diminished personal accomplishment can undermine this value. Once this value is weakened, job burnout is
generated; nevertheless, no relationship was found between job burnout and the employment aspirations of H&T students.
This study seeks to provide in-depth information and suggestions for HEIs that include internships as part of their
curriculum design; it also seeks to enlighten HEI industry partners who consider internships as an opportunity to select
prospective employees. From an educational standpoint, many scholars and practitioners think that internships should help
H&T students internalise motivation. Results from this study showed impartial, yet systematic, relationships between
motivation internalisation and job burnout. Even so, integrated regulation should be interpreted with caution; this means
that job burnout may not be the result of lack of motivation, as Jenkins (2001) pointed out. On the contrary, the present
study identified job burnout as a result of a mismatch between a given student intern's motivation and the manner in which
the internship can accommodate his/her expectations for personal accomplishment.
Based on the findings of this study, we can provide a number of practical recommendations. Industrial partners must
learn how to encourage employees' autonomy and support their self-determination in order to lower the occurrence of job
burnout (Stone et al., 2009). Acknowledging student interns' contributions and paying more attention to creating a friendly
working atmosphere will also be helpful in reducing job burnout during internships. This study did not find any direct
causal relationship between job burnout and students' unwillingness to return to the H&T industry after graduation;
however, further studies that include samples with diverse backgrounds would be able to provide more in-depth insights
and clarity regarding this issue.

Acknowledgement

This research was financially supported by the National Science Council of Taiwan (NSC97-2511-S-328-006-MY2).
The author would also like to thank the research assistant of this research project—Ms. Hsu Wei-yao for her efforts in
collecting the data and Editor's constructive comments on earlier version of this manuscript.
188 L. Hsu / Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education 13 (2013) 180–189

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Dr. Liwei Hsu is an Associate Professor in the Graduate Institute of Hospitality Education, National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism, Taiwan.
His research interests mainly focus on, Curriculum Design, Computer Assisted Learning and English for Specific Purpose. Meanwhile, he also teaches Casino
Management courses at the University.