Burnout: The effect of psychological type on research findings*

Abstract

In this study dimensions of burnout were compared in a human services sample of 8 1 nurses and a non-human services sample of 194 mid-career managers on an MBA course.A measure of burnout, and certain postulated facets of burnout, were assessed through a self-report questionnaire. An indicator of psychological type was also administered since, it is argued, a confounding of personality with occupation may have occurred in early studies of burnout. It was found that emotional demands and a lack of caring for others were associated with the measure of burnout only for that psychological type which is overrepresented in the human services. For a different psychological type, which is overrepresented in managerial occupations, the measure of burnout was associated instead with mental demands and lower ambitiousness. This suggests that previous findings about burnout may merely be a product of research being conducted in an occupation, the human services, within which is a predominance of a particular psychological type. * This paper is based on research conducted for the author's doctoral dissertation, Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, 1985. 'I' Request for reprints. j: It is largely the claim that such jobs are more prone to burnout than others (Carroll & White, 1982, p.46). that has justified the continuation of the tradition of selecting the human services as a research site. This is in spite of the lack of empirical evidence to support such a notion. Indeed, what limited empirical evidence there is suggests that students score higher on measures of burnout than human service workers (see Pines et al., 1981, p. 172; and Garden, 1985a, p. 5 1). Persons who are oriented to life primarily through thinking typically develop strong powers of analysis, objectivity in weighting events with regard to logical outcomes and a tough-minded scepticism. Persons who are oriented to life primarily through feeling typically develop sensitivity to questions of what matters most to people, a need for affiliation, capacity for warmth, (and) a desire for harmony (McCaulley, 1981, p. 300).

Burnout: An Overview of 25 Years of Research and Theorizing

“…According to Jungian theory, feeling types are better in handling emotional demands, whereas thinking types cope better with mental demands. Garden (1989) observed that regardless of the type of job, emotional demands predict burnout in feeling types, while mental demands are predictive for burnout in thinking types. Thus, burnout is most strongly associated with the kind of demand each personality type is "naturally" adapted with.…”

“…For instance, Garden (1989) found that burnout is associated with the Jungian "helping type", which is over-represented in the human services and is characterized by a need for affiliation, a capacity for warmth, and a desire for harmony (see Section 19.6.1). Furthermore, positive associations with burnout have been found with empathy (Williams, 1989) and with poor communal orientation; that is, with a low desire to give and receive benefits in response to the needs of others (Van Yperen et al, 1992; see also Section 19.6.2).…”

Análisis de impacto de la crisis económica sobre el síndrome de Burnout y resiliencia en el personal de enfermería

“…La influencia de los factores de personalidad en la etiología del burnout es compleja y multifacética, y probablemente poco explorada. Garden llegó a la conclusión de que ciertos tipos de personalidad auto-seleccionan a los individuos hacia ocupaciones específicas, y que posteriormente los mismos individuos interactúan con ambientes ocupacionales estresantes que son conducentes a la experiencia del burnout (26,27). …”

A narrativa como proposta metodológica para o estudo do Burnout

“…Já a despersonalização e a baixa realização profissional teriam surgido pela amostra selecionada nos estudos, exclusiva de trabalhadores que prestam serviço a outras pessoas, os quais teriam uma tendência a apresentar uma reação particular de despersonalização. Se realizadas com outras amostras de trabalhadores, o modelo multidimensional proposto não necessariamente se apresentaria (Garden, 1987(Garden, , 1989. Schaufeli (2003) ressalta que, apesar do MBI ser psicometricamente adequado para avaliar o Burnout, um problema básico permanece: a predominância absoluta do MBI nas pesquisas leva a equiparação do conceito de Burnout à forma como ele é medido.…”