Is Burnout Primarily Linked to Work-Situated Factors? A Relative Weight Analytic Study

Abstract

It has often been asserted that burnout is primarily linked to occupational-context factors, and only secondarily to individual-level (e.g., personality) and non-work (or general) factors. We evaluated the validity of this view by examining the links between burnout and an array of 22 work-situated (effort-reward imbalance, unreasonable work tasks, unnecessary work tasks, weekly working hours, job autonomy, skill development, performance feedback, and support in work life), work-unrelated (sentimental accomplishment, familial accomplishment, number of child[ren], leisure activities, residential satisfaction, environmental quality, security in daily life, and support in personal life), dispositional (neuroticism, sex, age, and physical condition), and intersecting (work–non-work conflict and non-work–work conflict) variables. The study involved schoolteachers from three different countries: France (N = 4,395), Spain (N = 611), and Switzerland (N = 514). Burnout was assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory for Educators. Most of our predictors were assessed based on widely used measures (e.g., neuroticism was assessed with the NEO-Five Factor Inventory). In order to assess sentimental accomplishment and familial accomplishment, we created two self-reported measures, namely, the Sentimental Accomplishment Inventory (SAI; 9 items) and the Familial Accomplishment Inventory (FAI; 9 items). The SAI and the FAI both showed strong reliability and high factorial validity. Exploratory structural equation modeling bifactor analysis and Mokken scaling suggested that both instruments could be considered essentially unidimensional. The study results showed that neuroticism, job strain, skill development, security in daily life, and work–non-work conflict were consistently associated with burnout across the three samples. Sample-specific predictors of burnout included sex, age, unreasonable work tasks, weekly working hours, job autonomy, support in work life, sentimental accomplishment, leisure activities, support in personal life, and non-work–work conflict. Relative weight analysis indicated that neuroticism was the best predictor of burnout in each sample. Our findings suggest that burnout’s nomological network may not be primarily job-related. We conclude that the tendency to de-emphasize individual-level and non-work factors in burnout research is unwise. This tendency may constitute a roadblock in the development of effective interventional strategies. The implications of our findings for burnout’s conceptual status are discussed. The neuroticism-burnout link should be further examined in longitudinal studies.

The physical activity paradox: a longitudinal study of the implications for burnout

“…Third, by showing that different physical activities and their interplay with physical job demands contribute to burnout, we expand the nomological network of a new definition of burnout (Schaufeli et al 2020). These findings confirm previous suggestions and findings that non-work factors could be antecedents of burnout (Bianchi et al 2021). Furthermore, the finding that the relations between the different physical activities and burnout did not differ based on whether core or secondary symptoms were included in the analyses is consistent with the notion that secondary burnout symptoms such as depressive and psychosomatic complaints are important indicators of burnout (Schaufeli et al 2020).…”

Exploring Well-being at Work—An Interview Study on How IT Professionals Perceive Their Workplace

“…In addition, basic conditions for performing the job, such as available technologies and equipment or room temperature and spatial design, can have a positive effect (Morgeson and Humphrey, 2006 ). However, the work environment is considered unfavorable when psychological, physical, and quantitative demands become excessive from the employee's point of view, causing burnout and physical problems in the worst case (Van der Heijden et al, 2020 ; Bianchi et al, 2021 ). In summary, responsibility and autonomy, the significance of the work and its holistic nature, task variety and feedback on the job, in addition to psychological, cognitive, and quantitative demands and general working conditions, are decisive work characteristics for promoting well-being at work.…”

“…Increased well-being could also be linked to informal learning activities in the workplace (Jenkins and Mostafa, 2015 ; Jeong et al, 2018 ). At the same time, opportunities to acquire new skills and knowledge reduce the risk of burnout (Bianchi et al, 2021 ). In contrast, burnout is promoted when family and work are difficult to reconcile (work-life conflict, Steffgen et al, 2020 ; Bianchi et al, 2021 ).…”

“…At the same time, opportunities to acquire new skills and knowledge reduce the risk of burnout (Bianchi et al, 2021 ). In contrast, burnout is promoted when family and work are difficult to reconcile (work-life conflict, Steffgen et al, 2020 ; Bianchi et al, 2021 ). Stress is also increased when employees perceive their job or specific job features as being at risk (quantitative and qualitative job insecurity, Chirumbolo et al, 2017 ).…”

Predictors of Burnout Among Physicians: Evidence From a National Study in Portugal

“…Nevertheless, according to Schaufeli et al (2009, pp. 211), "there is no scientific reason to use the term, burnout, when referring to exhaustion only" and this reductionist view of burnout as exhaustion-only may contribute to measurement artifacts such as cross-sectional associations between exhaustion (i.e., workrelated distress) and work-related stress measures (Schaufeli and Enzmann, 1998), specially when the items of both types of measures show content overlap (Bianchi et al, 2021).…”