The Burnout Phenomenon

Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: Burnout is a multidimensional psychological syndrome that evolves as a reaction to chronic stress in the workplace. It results in an irrevocable depletion of a persons energies and emotional resources with various negative consequences for individuals and organizations. In the past 30 years researchers tried to understand the burnout construct in its complexity and offered diverse answers to questions of why burnout appears and how it can be measured. But despite the broad academic research on burnout, the knowledge base is still lacking a comprehensive approach on how to prevent burnout from happening and how to alleviate organizations from its the negative implications. This thesis gives insights by integrating various research findings with tangible management techniques. A theoretical model is constructed for offsetting burnout and its consequences. A list of 12 multidirectional propositions is given that managers may apply to proactively decrease burnout and its effects. The implementation of effective individual, managerial or organizational patterns to deal proactively with burnout depends largely on managers clear and accurate understanding of the burnout construct, before acting on its consequences. For that reason it is inevitable for managers to comprehend the burnout phenomenon in its multidimensional and holistic whole. Accordingly, chapter two will explicate the theoretical burnout construct to a managerial audience. A summary of the historical and empirical research activities will be given in section 2.1 in order to provide a better understanding of how the knowledge base on burnout evolved over time to its current state. Section 2.2 offers explanations for the three burnout dimensions, its construct validity, and the measurement of burnout based on Maslachs model, who, until today, happens to be the most influential scholar in this field. Chapter three will clarify the antecedents of burnout, identifying various individual and situational factors that have been significantly related to the different dimensions of burnout. The understanding of the psychological conceptualizations of burnout is of central importance, but it does not provide managers with clear and concrete tools to counter the appearance of the burnout phenomenon in their organizations. This has largely been neglected by most burnout researchers. Therefore, in chapter four of this thesis a theoretical model is constructed that can [...]