Job Burnout

Job burnout has been looked at in many different ways, but the most used dentition is “a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, cynicism (depersonalization) of others, and a feeling of reduced efficacy (personal accomplishment)” (McShane and Von Glinow, 2005). It is a condition that is on the rise among workers in the twenty-first century. Burnout is a type of stress response most commonly displayed by individuals who have intense contact and involvement with others during the course of their normal workday. Burnout was first seen as occurring within the “helping” professions such as nursing and education, but it is now seen as a widespread issue. At first, burnout was studied from an emotional arousal perspective. This essay will look at the three major components of burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, reduced personal accomplishment, and how stress is related. After examination of the concept of job burnout, its presence in the field of athletic training will be expounded upon.
This first stage of burnout is emotional exhaustion. Emotional exhaustion is considered to be the most important of the three components. It is characterized by a lack of energy and a feeling that one’s emotional resources are used up. This may coexist with feelings of frustration and tension. Some think that emotional exhaustion is feelings of being emotionally overextended and drained by one’s contact with other people. This emotional exhaustion can display itself in physical characteristics such as waking up just as tired as when going to bed or lacking required energy to take on another task or face-to-face encounter.
There are many keys to emotion exhaustion. The first, is work overload which is too much work to accomplish in the time available. This organizational situation often forces employees to exert more energy and spend more time on work then they are capable of. Role conflict is a second source of emotion exhaustion. Different individuals within an organization will impose conflicting expectations upon employees. Reconciling these differences can be both frustrating and emotionally stressful for employees. Personal expectations also contribute to emotional exhaustion. Most young employees are overachievers with unrealistic expectations of both themselves and the organization they work for. High expectations at work can create intrinsic demand and stress. These expectations, when not met, can lead to emotional exhaustion. Workers who are highly involved with their job or who view it as central to their life are more likely to experience emotional exhaustion. The last determinant of emotional exhaustion is interpersonal interactions. Frequent and intense, or emotionally charged, interactions are thought to be more taxing on a person and more likely to cause to emotional exhaustion.