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Journal of Applied Psychology1996, Vol. S I . No. 2, 123-133
Copyright 1996 by the American Psychological Association,
Inc.002I-90IO/96/S3.00
A Meta-Analytic Examination of the Correlates of theThree
Dimensions of Job Burnout
Raymond T. LeeUniversity of Manitoba
Blake E. AshforthConcordia University
This meta-analysis examined how demand and resource correlates
and behavioral andattitudinal correlates were related to each of
the 3 dimensions of job burnout. Both thedemand and resource
correlates were more strongly related to emotional exhaustion
thanto either depersonalization or personal accomplishment.
Consistent with the conserva-tion of resources theory of stress,
emotional exhaustion was more strongly related to thedemand
correlates than to the resource correlates, suggesting that workers
might havebeen sensitive to the possibility of resource loss. The 3
burnout dimensions were differ-entially related to turnover
intentions, organizational commitment, and control
coping.Implications for research and the amelioration of burnout
arc discussed.
Over the past dozen years, the phenomenon of job
burnout has been investigated in a variety of service oc-
cupations and settings. The construct has been linked to
job stress and is thought to represent a unique response
to frequent and intense client-patient interactions
(Cordes&Dougherty, 1993; Maslach, 1982).
According to Maslach (1982), burnout consists of
three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonaliza-
tion (felt distance from others), and diminished personal
accomplishment. Recent efforts have been made toward
understanding how various correlates are associated with
each of the three dimensions (Burke & Richardsen,
1993; Cordes& Dougherty, 1993;Shirom, 1989).
The conservation of resources theory of stress
(Hobfoll, 1989; Hobfoll & Freedy, 1993) provides a
framework for understanding how such correlates are re-
Raymond T. Lee, Department of Business Administration.University
of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; BlakeE. Ashforth,
Department of Management, Concordia Univer-sity, Montreal. Quebec,
Canada.
Portions of this study were presented at the 13th World
Con-gress of Sociology: Sociology of Mental Health Working
Group,Bielefeld, Germany, July 1994.
This study was funded in part by a 1993-1994 University
ofManitoba, Faculty of Management research support grant.
We are indebted to Monica Filz for assistance with the
datacollection and Stephen Hladkyj for assistance with the
meta-analysis.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressedto
Raymond T. Lee, Department of Business Administration,Faculty of
Management, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg,Manitoba, Canada R3T
2N2. Electronic mail may be sent viaBitnet to
[email protected].
lated to burnout. The theory suggests that burnout oc-
curs when certain valued resources are lost, are inade-
quate to meet demands, or do not yield the anticipated
returns. The major demands of work include role ambi-
guity, role conflict, stressful events, heavy workload, and
pressure. The major resources include social support
from various sources; job enhancement opportunities,
such as control, participation in decision making, and au-
tonomy; and reinforcement contingencies (Burke & Ri-
chardsen, 1993; Cordes& Dougherty, 1993). The theory
also states that certain behavioral and attitudinal out-
comes arc likely to occur as a result of resource loss and
burnout. The major outcomes include behavioral coping
responses; turnover intentions; and erosion of organiza-
tional commitment, job involvement, and job satisfac-
tion (Burke & Richardsen, 1993; Kahili, 1988).
Using the conservation of resources framework, recent
studies have investigated how certain demand and re-
source predictors are associated with each of the burnout
dimensions (Lee & Ashforth, 1993a; Leiter, 1993;Leiter
& Maslach, 1988). Leiter and Maslach suggested that
work demands and resources are potential sources of
stress in the stress-strain-coping-self-evaluation process
(Cummings & Cooper, 1979; Lazarus & Folkman,
1984). Emotional exhaustion as a form of strain is di-
rectly affected by these correlates, whereas depersonaliza-
tion as a form of defensive coping and personal accom-
plishment as a form of self-evaluation are indirectly
affected through emotional exhaustion.
Leiter and Maslach's (1988) model has received par-
tial support. Lee and Ashforth (1993a, 1993b) found
several of the correlates to be associated with emotional
exhaustion and depersonalization, but the correlates
123
-
124 LEE AND ASHFORTH
were only weakly associated with personal accomplish-
ment. Moreover, Golembiewski's (1989) model and Lee
and Ashforth's (1993b) data have raised some doubts re-
garding the sequential ordering among the burnout di-
mensions as posited by Leiter and Maslach.
In light of these findings, Leiter {1993) proposed a re-
vised model in which the demand and resource correlates
are posited to be differentially associated with the three
dimensions. Specifically, the demands are posited to be
more strongly related to emotional exhaustion, whereas
the resources are posited to be more strongly related to
either depersonalization or personal accomplishment. As
Hobfoll and Freedy (1993) stated, demands trigger strain
in the form of physical and emotional exhaustion,
whereas resources help to overcome the need for defen-
sive coping and enhance one's self-efficacy. Leiter (1991 b,
1993) also posited that outcomes reflecting withdrawal
tendencies (e.g., escape coping, low job involvement, and
desire to quit) are more related to either emotional ex-
haustion or depersonalization, whereas outcomes re-
flecting positive self-efficacy (e.g., control coping and
fa-
vorable work attitudes) are more related to personal
accomplishment.
Leiter's (1993) revised model also posits how the burn-
out dimensions themselves may be interrelated (cf. Go-
lembiewski, 1989; Leiter, 1989). Specifically, it is now
believed that both emotional exhaustion and personal ac-
complishment develop in parallel with (rather than fol-
lowing from) each other. Hence, both of these dimensions
are posited to be "reactions to different aspects of the
work environment that pose difficulties for human ser-
vice workers" (Leiter, 1993, p. 246).
Although the recent models are based in part on Hob-
foil's (1989) conservation of resources theory, the empir-
ical evidence has been piecemeal and limited in scope.
Thus, our meta-analysis assessed the associations be-
tween various correlates and each of the burnout dimen-
sions. Only studies using the Maslach Burnout Inventory
(MBI; Maslach & Jackson, 1981, 1986) were included
because the scale is the most widely used operationaliza-
tion of burnout. As a multidimensional measure, the
MBI makes it possible to determine whether the symp-
toms of burnout are empirically distinct from each other
and whether they are differentially associated with other
variables. Therefore, our study provides a summary of
the bivariate associations reported in the literature and
has implications for the diagnosis and the amelioration
of burnout.
Method
Literature Search
We undertook both computer and manual searches for pub-lished
articles that used the MBI. Using the key phrase "Mas-
lach Burnout Inventory," the computer search scanned the
ab-stract databases of clinical psychology, education,
management,nursing, psychology, social work, and sociology from
1982 to1994. The manual search scanned the reference lists of
Burkeand Richardsen (1993), Cordes and Dougherty (1993),
Kahili(1988), and Shirom (1989) for published sources not found
inthe aforementioned abstracts.
The search yielded 77 sources, of which 58 provided suffi-cient
information to conduct the meta-analysis. Of the remain-ing 19
sources, 11 examined a correlate unique to that study,and 8 did not
provide information on reliability estimates, in-tercorrelations
among the variables, or both. A letter requestingthe missing
information was sent to one of the authors of eachof these 8
articles. This request yielded 3 additional sources, fora total of
61.1 The remaining 5 and the 11 with unique corre-lates were
excluded from the analysis.
The 61 studies used in the meta-analysis covered 33 corre-lates
based on 56 independent samples. The sample sizes rangedfrom 34 to
906 (M = 198.07, SD = 172.08). Approximately80% of the studies
sampled human service providers (e.g.,teachers, nurses, counselors,
police officers, and social workers),whereas most of the remaining
studies sampled supervisors andmanagers of such service providers.
Because the symptoms ofburnout appear to be fundamentally similar
across hierarchicallevels (Lee & Ashforth, 1993a, 1993b;
Maslach & Jackson,1986), we did not differentiate the results
on these bases.
Each study was coded on whether the MBI used the
frequencyresponse format, the intensity response format, or both
(seeMaslach & Jackson, 1981); the reliability estimates of all
mea-sures; and the correlations among the burnout dimensions
andcorrelates.
Mela-Analytic Procedure
We followed the procedure given by Hunter and Schmidt(1990).
This procedure determines the extent to which corre-lation
differences across studies can be attributed to certain
sta-tistical artifacts. It is only after such artifacts are taken
into ac-count that the corrected correlations between variables, as
wellas the variance in correlations across studies, can be
estimated.
First, we calculated the uncorrected weighted mean correla-tion
(/) by using the zero-order correlations. Second,
becausereliability estimates might have varied widely across
studies, wecorrected each within-study zero-order correlation for
mea-surement unreliability (Hunter & Schmidt, 1990). Where
reli-ability estimates were not reported, we substituted the
weightedmean reliability (see Table 1) into the correction
formula.Then, we calculated the individually corrected weighted
meancorrelation (rc). Because so few studies reported scale
ranges,means, and standard deviations, it was not possible to
correctfor range restrictions.
Third, we computed the variance of the individually cor-rected
weighted mean correlation after removing the variances
1 The correlations were provided upon request for the articlesby
Constable and Russell (1986); Ross, Altmaier, and Russell(1989);
and Russell, Altmaier, and Van Velzen (1987).
-
META-ANALYSIS OF JOB BURNOUT 125
Table 1Weighted Mean Reliability Estimates oj All Variables
Correlate
Job stressorsRole ambiguityRole clarityRole conflictRole
stressStressful eventsWorkloadWork pressurePhysical comfort
SupportSocial supportSupervisor supportCoworker supportWork
friendsCommunity bondFamily resourcesPeer cohesionTeam cohesion
Job enhancement
opportunitiesAutonomyInnovationParticipationSkill utilizationTask
orientation"
k
66
1034
554
6121324252
114664
N
1,518929
2,612703903
1,238681433
1,0103,3773,340
153433244657156
2,177433
1,7631.489
433
xx
.78
.85
.79
.76
.87
.76
.79
.80
.69
.85
.86
.80
.80
.70
.74
.86
.79
.80
.83
.80
.75
Correlate
Reinforcement contingenciesUnmet expectationsContingent
rewardsNoncontingent rewardsContingent punishmentsNoncontingent
punishments
Frequency response formatEmotional
exhaustionDepersonalizationPersonal accomplishment
Intensity response formatEmotional
exhaustionDepersonalizationPersonal accomplishment
Behavioral and attitudinal outcomesControl copingPreventive
copingTurnover intentionsOrganizational commitmentJob
involvementJob satisfactionAttitudes toward workplace climate
k
22222
474747
999
32768
162
N
248496496496496
9,6689,6689,668
1,6371,6371,637
425470
1,2311,8661,0773,788
227
Rxx
.59
.96
.69
.84
.80
.86
.76
.77
.82
.78
.79
.83
.64.78.87.72.79.80
Note, k = number of samples providing reliability information; N
= total number of individuals in the k samples; 7?Xx = weighted
mean reliability
estimate of each variable across the k samples." Extent to which
the work environment emphasizes efficiency and good planning.
due to sampling error and measurement unreliability. We
alsocomputed the percentage of variance due to uncorrected
arti-facts. Fourth, we computed both the credibility and
confidenceintervals (Hunter & Schmidt, 1990). The credibility
intervalwas based on the standard deviation of the distribution of
effectsizes after correcting for statistical artifacts and provided
infor-mation on whether moderators were likely to be present.2
Theconfidence interval was based on the standard error of the
meaneffect size and provided information on the accuracy of the
in-dividually corrected weighted mean correlation estimate. Last,we
conducted a test for the homogeneity of effect sizes acrosssamples
by using Hunter and Schmidt's (1990) Q statistic. Be-cause of
disagreements over the appropriate ratio of artifacts tosample
variance to infer that the effect sizes are homogeneous(cf. Hunter
& Schmidt, 1990), we used both the credibility in-terval and
the Q statistic to detect moderators (Whitener,1990). Where the Q
statistic could not be calculated, we usedonly the credibility
interval.
To determine if the effect sizes are homogeneous, Whitener(1990,
p. 317) recommended that the credibility interval bechecked to see
if it is "sufficiently large" or includes zero. How-ever, it is
unclear what qualifies as a sufficiently large interval.Thus, the
effect sizes were considered homogeneous if the cred-ibility
interval did not include zero and the Q statistic was
notsignificant. We computed the confidence interval for
homoge-neous effect sizes by using the formula provided by
Whitener(1990, p. 316). The effect sizes were considered
heterogeneousif the credibility interval did include zero or if the
Q statistic was
significant (either case indicated that a moderator was
probablyoperating). We computed the confidence interval for
heteroge-neous effect sizes by using the formula provided by
Whitener(1990, p. 317).
Results
Table 1 reports the number of studies, the total sample
size, and the weighted mean reliability estimate for each
variable. Tables 2-5 report the uncorrected weighted
mean correlation, the individually corrected weighted
mean correlation, the variance, the lower and upper
range of the uncorrected weighted mean correlation
based on the 95% confidence interval, and the results of
the Q test for each correlate.
Mela-Correlations Among the Burnout Dimensions
Of the 61 studies included in the meta-analysis, 33
used the frequency response format, 11 used the intensity
2 A credibility interval that includes zero indicates the
prob-ability of a disordinal moderator, where the relationship
be-tween two variables is positive in certain samples and
negativein others. However, a moderator is still possible even when
theinterval does not include zero but is large enough to suggest
thatthe effect sizes are heterogeneous (Whitener, 1990).
-
126 LEE AND ASHFORTH
response format, and the remaining 17 used both, asMaslach and
Jackson (1981) did originally. Of the 17studies that used both
formats, 9 provided intradimen-
sional correlations between response formats. Across all
three dimensions, the individually corrected weighted
mean correlations were greater than .90, suggesting that
the two formats are largely redundant and that only oneis
necessary (Maslach & Jackson, 1986; Schaufeli, Enz-
mann, & Girault, 1993).Table 2 shows the meta-correlations
among the three
burnout dimensions. For the frequency response format,
emotional exhaustion was strongly related to depersonal-ization
(rc = .64), whereas both dimensions were moder-
ately negatively related to personal accomplishment (rcs= .33
for emotional exhaustion and .36 fordepersonalization). The
individually corrected weighted
mean correlations among the three dimensions for the
intensity response format were similar in magnitudes.Given the
high correlations between the two response for-
mats and that only a few studies used the intensity re-sponse
format, all subsequent meta-analyses examinedthe three dimensions
using only the frequency response
format.
Homogeneity of Effect Sizes
Before examining the individually corrected weighted
mean correlations between the correlates and the burn-out
dimensions, we determined the number of homoge-
neous effect sizes. For emotional exhaustion, the effect
sizes were homogeneous for 13 of 32 correlates; for de-
personalization, the effect sizes were homogeneous for 16
of 33 correlates; and for personal accomplishment, theeffect
sizes were horn ogeneous for 10 of 3 2 correlates. Be-
cause of the small number of studies per variable, it was
not possible to conduct any moderator analysis on corre-
lates with heterogeneous effect sizes. Their
individuallycorrected weighted mean correlations should thus be
in-
terpreted with caution, especially where both the credi-
bility and confidence intervals include zero (Whitener,
1990).
Mela-Correlations Between the Correlates and the
Burnout Dimensions
For the demand correlates, Table 3 shows that the indi-
vidually corrected weighted mean correlations betweenemotional
exhaustion and role conflict, role stress, stress-
ful events, workload, and work pressure were all greater
than or equal to .50. Table 4 shows that the
individuallycorrected weighted mean correlations between
deperson-alization and role ambiguity, role conflict, role
stress,
stressful events, and workload were all greater than orequal to
.34. Table 5 shows that the individually correctedweighted mean
correlations between personal accom-
plishment and the demand correlates were generally
weak, with the highest being .22.For the resource correlates,
Table 3 shows that the in-
dividually corrected weighted mean correlations between
emotional exhaustion and social support, supervisor sup-port,
community bond, innovation, participation, unmet
expectations, and noncontingent punishment were all
greater than or equal to | .301. Table 4 shows that the
in-dividually corrected weighted mean correlations between
Table 2Mela-Correlations Among the Job Burnout Dimensions
95% CI
Burnout dimension-burnout dimension k N r rc VAR Lower Upper%
due toartifacts Q statistic
Frequency response format
Emotional exhaustion-depersonalizationEmotional
exhaustion-personal accomplishmentDepersonalization-personal
accomplishment
474747
9,6688,9778,977
.52-.27-.29
.64-.33-.36
.029
.024
.053
.54-.46-.52
.75-.21-.26
88.7655.6988.00
36.4010.4449.01*
Intensity response format
Emotional exhaustion-depersonalizationEmotional
exhaustion-personal accomplishmentDepersonalization-personal
accomplishment
999
1,6371,6371.637
.53-.18-.27
.65-.22-.34
.050
.082
.085
.53-.37-.54
.77-.08-.15
86.6786.6987.48
69.53**67.70**71.92**
Note. The boldface r^s indicate that the 95% credibility
interval did not include zero. In cases where the corrected
variances were less than zero, theQ statistic could not be
calculated. When credibility intervals did not include zero and the
Q statistic was not significant, the confidence interval (CI)for
homogeneous effect sizes was constructed. Otherwise, the CI for
heterogeneous effect sizes was constructed, k = number of studies;
N = combinedsample size; r = uncorrccted weighted mean correlation;
rc = weighted mean correlation after correcting for within-study
measurement unreliability;VAR = variance of after correcting for
sampling error and measurement unreliability; % due to artifacts =
percentage of variance due to artifactsother than sampling error
and measurement unreliability.V :.()]. **/>
-
META-ANALYSIS OF JOB BURNOUT 127
Table 3Meta-Correlations With Emotional Exhaustion
(Frequency)
95% CI
Correlate
Job stressors (demands)Role ambiguityRole clarityRole
conflictRole stressStressful eventsWorkloadWork pressurePhysical
comfort
Support (resources)Social supportSupervisor supportCoworker
supportWork friendsCommunity bondFamily resourcesPeer cohesionTeam
cohesion
Job enhancement opportunities
(resources)InnovationAutonomyParticipationSkill utilizationTask
orientation'
Reinforcement contingencies (resources)Unmet
expectationsContingent rewardsNoncontingent rewardsContingent
punishmentsNoncontingent punishments
Behavioral and attitudinal outcomesControl copingTurnover
intentionsOrganizational commitmentJob involvementJob
satisfactionAttitudes toward workplace climate
k
66
1134
654
613142
425
2
4
11
674
22
222
377
8172
N
1,518929
2,824703903
1,450681433
1,0103,5893,552
153433244
657156
4332,1771,7631,701
433
248496496496496
4251,2312,0781,0774,000
227
r
.16
-.30.42
.50
.45
.52
.41
-.09
-.26-.31-.18
,05-.38-.16-.08-.20
-.24-.13-.26-.20-.20
.38-.24
.12
.09
.27
-.26.37
-.38-.03-.26-.11
rc
.21-.35
.53
.62
.52
.65
.50-.11
-32-.37-.22
.05-.48-.17-.10-.22
-.30-.15
.31-.28-.26
.53-.26
.15
.10
.32
-.30.44
-.43-.04-.31
-.13
VAR
.215
.012
.032
.002
.039
.009
.006
-
128 LEE AND ASHFORTH
Table 4
Meta-Correlations With Depersonalization (Frequency)
95% Cl
Correlate
Job stressors (demands)Role ambiguityRole clarityRole
conflictRole stressStressful eventsWorkloadWork pressurePhysical
comfort
Support (resources)Social supportSupervisor supportCoworker
supportWork friendsCommunity bondFamily resourcesPeer cohesionTeam
cohesion
Job enhancement opportunities
(resources)InnovationAutonomyParticipationSkill utilizationTask
orientation"
Reinforcement contingencies (resources)Unmet
expectationsContingent rewardsNoncontingent rewardsContingent
punishmentsNoncontingent punishments
Behavioral and attitudinal outcomesControl copingPreventive
copingTurnover intentionsOrganizational commitmentJob
involvementJob satisfactionAttitudes toward workplace climate
k
66
1124
554
7121324
25
2
4I I
5
64
222
22
324
76
122
A"
1,518929
2,824286903
1,033681433
1,1763,1723,135
153433244657156
4332,1771,3461,663
433
496496496496496
425470564
2.078749
2,102227
/
.25-.28
.27
.41
.39
.24
.18
.04
-.16-.19-.17-.07-.36-.15-.14-.28
-.22-.10-.14-.29- .23
.13-.10
.18
.08
.20
-.24-.25
.24-.33-.09-.33-.12
re
.34-.27
.37
.54
.50
.34
.22
.06
-.21-.24-.22-.08-.46-.21-.20-.34
-.28-.13-.17-.39-.29
.19-.11
.25
.10
.25
-.28-.37
.31-.42-.11-.44-.15
VAR
.030
.004
.056
-
META-ANALYSIS OF JOB BURNOUT 129
Table 5Meta-Correlations With Personal Accomplishment
(Frequency)
95% CI
Correlate
Job stressors (demands)Role ambiguityRole clarity
Role conflictRole stressStressful eventsWorkloadWork
pressurePhysical comfort
Support (resources)Social supportSupervisor supportCoworker
support
Work friendsCommunity bondFamily resourcesPeer cohesionTeam
cohesion
Job enhancement opportunities
(resources)InnovationAutonomyParticipationSkill utilizationTask
orientation8
Reinforcement contingencies (resources)Unmet
expectationsContingent rewardsNoncontingent rewardsContingent
punishmentsNoncontingent punishments
Behavioral and attitudinal outcomesControl copingTurnover
intentionsOrganizational commitmentJob involvementJob
satisfaction
Attitudes toward workplace climate
k
66
1034754
7
1315242
52
411664
}
2y
22
32
76
1 ]
2
N
1,131929
2,271703903
1,616681433
1,1763,5893,614
153433244657
156
4332,1771,763
1,663433
496496496496496
425286
2,078749
2,241227
r
.09-.03
-.15.00.18
-.07-.07
-.06
.16
.11
.10
.37-.21-.09-.17
.09
-.21.06.23.13
-.26
-.13.13
-.13.02
-.13
.42-.13-.02-.10
.22
.23
rc
.11-.03-.21
.00
.22-.09-.09-.07
.20
.14
.13
.49-.26
-.12-.22
.12
-.26.07.30.24
-.33
.19
.14-.17
.02-.16
.52-.16-.02-.11
.29
.28
VAR
.374
.066
.105
.040
.160
.068
.007
-
130 LEE AND ASHFORTH
affected by the stressors. For many service providers, thekey
decision is the amount of one or more resources theyneed to invest
to meet the demands and to protect them-selves from further
resource depletion. Strain occurs whenthe workers feel they no
longer have sufficient emotional
resources to handle the interpersonal stressors (cf. Hob-foil,
1989; Maslach, 1982). Instead, many adopt the de-
fensive strategy of withdrawal (rather than engagement)
through depersonalization (Lee & Ashforth, 1993a).
Thus, it is not surprising to find that depersonalization
wasalso strongly associated with role stress (rc = .54) and
stressful events (rc = .50).A surprising finding was the weak
associations (i.e., rcs
< .30) between personal accomplishment and most ofthe
resource correlates. The two exceptions were work
friends (rc = .49) and participation (rc = .30). To theextent
that work acquaintances provide individuals witha sense of
competence through support, self-efficacy and
self-appraisal may be heightened (Jayaratne & Chess,
1986). Similarly, to the extent that participation leads to
greater felt mastery and control (i.e., empowerment) over
the work environment, self-efficacy and self-appraisal
may also be enhanced.Although gains in resources are viewed by
most work-
ers as less salient than the prevention of loss, gains are
not
inconsequential (Hobfoll & Freedy, 1993). Resourcesmay
directly compensate for certain losses, but they mayalso indirectly
help workers cope with work demands. Forexample, with weak social
support, interpersonal stres-
sors will likely lead to emotional strain, but with strong
support, their relationship will likely be attenuated
(Jayaratne & Chess, 1986; Russell, Altmaier, & Van
Vel-zen, 1987). This proposition is consistent with interac-
tionist accounts of organizational behavior (see Mitchell&
James, 1989).
Consistent with Leiter's (1993) model, our findings re-
veal that the three dimensions were differentially associ-
ated with several of the behavioral and atliludinal corre-lates.
Emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were
strongly associated with turnover intentions and organi-zational
commitment but were weakly associated with
control coping. As a caveat, it is unclear whether the weak
associations reflect the underuse of such a coping behav-ior or
its lack of effectiveness and subsequent abandon-
ment. In any case, the lack of an effective coping response
might have served to reinforce subsequent feelings of
helplessness and futility (Lee & Ashforth, 1993a). In
contrast, personal accomplishment was strongly related
to control coping, suggesting that a problem-focused re-sponse
and a positive self-appraisal may be mutually re-
inforcing (Lazarus &Folkman, 1984;cf. Leiter, 1991b).
Our findings suggest that outcomes that stem fromemotional
exhaustion and reflect the desire to withdraw
may be offset by outcomes that stem from personal
ac-complishment and reflect the desire to seek control.Whichever
response (either withdrawing or seeking
control) predominates may thus depend on the relativestrengths
of emotional exhaustion and personal accom-
plishment as each develops independently over time (Lee
& Ashforth, 1993a; Leiter, 1993).
Study Limitations
One limitation is that the meta-correlations show only
the strength of the relations among the burnout dimen-
sions and by no means deal with the controversy regard-ing their
sequential ordering (Golembiewski, 1989;
Leiter, 1989). The arguments over the correct sequence
are based on circumstantial evidence of how stronglyeach
dimension is related to certain antecedent and out-
come variables (Cordes & Dougherty, 1993; e.g., see Lee
& Ashforth, 1993b).A second limitation is that the strong
association found
between emotional exhaustion and five of the demand
stressors may be partly attributed to a measurement arti-
fact. Three of Maslach and Jackson's (1981, 1986) emo-tional
exhaustion scale items (i.e., "I feel emotionally
drained from my work," "Working with people directly
puts too much stress on me," and "Working with peopleall day is
really a strain for me") are direct measures of
individual stress reactions. These items correspondclosely to
items that tap perceived stress found in fre-
quently used scales of role overload, role conflict, role
ambiguity, stressful events, and work pressure.
A third limitation is that only certain demands and re-sources
were examined here. The fact that emotional ex-
haustion was strongly associated with several of the cor-
relates does not necessarily imply the absence of
othercorrelates that may be more strongly associated with the
other two dimensions.
Two sets of correlates not examined here are demo-graphic (e.g.,
sex, age, and education) and dispositional
attributes (e.g., Type A personality, psychological hardi-ness,
and locus of control). Although these attributes
have been linked to burnout (Cordes & Dougherty, 1993;
Mclntyre, 1984;Nowack, 1986), their potential as mod-erators
requires further clarification and investigation.
Implications for Future Research
Although the demand and resource correlates of jobburnout have
been the focus of much attention, their
links to stress-coping and adjustment require further
study. According to the primacy of loss hypothesis, indi-viduals
are more sensitive to demands and thus overcom-pensate in the
amount of resources expended to preventfurther loss (Hobfoll &
Freedy, 1993). To the extent that
-
META-ANALYS1S OF JOB BURNOUT 131
burnout develops because of this overcompensation, twoquestions
are worth investigating: (a) To what extent can
individuals deal with or even overcome burnout by reap-
praising their demands as potential gains (challenges)
rather than certain losses (obstacles; Lazarus &
Folkman,
1984; Tversky & Kahneman, 1981) and (b) if demandscan indeed
be reframed as potential gains, how can re-
sources be used to change the way stressors are appraised?For
example, with the right kind of supervisory support,
workers may come to perceive ambiguous role expecta-
tions as opportunities to carry out their own initiatives
(potential gains) rather than as restrictions on their ac-tions
(certain losses).
A broader question that needs to be addressed is the
extent to which the burnout phenomenon is generaliz-able to
occupations other than human services (Shirom,
1989). Perhaps the most distinguishing aspect of burn-
out is not so much its psychological and behavioral symp-
toms but rather the demands and the resources perceivedto be the
most salient in service settings (cf. Cordes &
Dougherty, 1993). Service providers may work in situa-
tions with demands and resources that are different from
those experienced by, say, production workers in manu-
facturing settings. If true, this suggests that stress re-
searchers should identify and include demands and re-sources
perceived by their study participants to be themost relevant for
their work context (Maslach, 1982).
Moreover, a comparison of the perceived importance of acommon
core of demands and resources between service
and nonservice workers may reveal how and why stressful
situations are dealt with differently between occupations.
Last, longitudinal designs may show that how workershandle
burnout is guided by the type and the frequency
of feedback on the usefulness of their initial coping be-
haviors (Leiter, 1991 b). This longitudinal approach sug-
gests several forms of reciprocal relationships involvingburnout
and adjustment responses (cf. Cummings &
Cooper, 1979). Multiple data points over time may thushelp
determine the kinds of feedback required to amelio-rate or prevent
burnout. Such longitudinal data collec-
tion should lead to a better understanding of how burnout
develops and contribute to the broader research on
stress-coping.
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Received December 20, 1994
Revision received August 3, 1995
Accepted October 27, 1995