Contemporary psychology, Vol. 18 No. 1, 2015.
Original scientific paper
Role of socio-demographic characteristics and working conditions in experiencing burnout
Eva Boštjančič
; Department of Psychology, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Gaja Zager Kocjan
; Department of Psychology, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Janez Stare
; Faculty of Administration, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
In the present study we attempted to identify those demographic variables and working conditions that differ significantly between groups of individuals with different profiles of expression of the basic dimensions of burnout. The study, which took place in Slovenia, included 942 participants, who completed the Maslach Burnout
Inventory and a working conditions measure. We identified four distinctive clusters: low burnout, high burnout, high emotional exhaustion, and low personal accomplishment. We found that individuals in different clusters differ significantly from each
other in terms of age and number of children in the household. The highest proportion of younger respondents (under 30 years) was in the low personal accomplishment and high emotional exhaustion clusters, while the low burnout cluster had the highest proportion of respondents over 49 years. The high emotional exhaustion cluster had the highest proportion of respondents with small children, whereas the highest share of respondents without children were in the low personal accomplishment cluster. An unstimulating working environment was the main contributor to the feeling of burnout. Our results point to the existence of profiles of individuals with different constellations of burnout dimensions and are thus an important complement to previous theoretical findings based on a variable-centred approach.
Keywords
burnout; working conditions; socio-demographic characteristics
Hrčak ID:
149200
URI
Publication date:
20.7.2015.
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