The Measurement of Burnout Revisited

Throughout the literature, burnout has been conceptualized as encompassing three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. Interview and questionnaire data from 95 human service workers examine a conceptual model linking burnout to selected work characteristics and professionalism. Derived from theory and based on factor analysis, multiple-item subscales are established for work characteristics (autonomy, role conflict, role ambiguity and workload), professionalism (job involvement, intrinsic motwation and higher order needs satisfaction) and burnout (the three dimensions). Intercorrelations among the subscales and a path analysis lead to the conclusion that burnout requires reconceptualization theoretically and operationally. Of the three alleged dimensions of burnout, only emotional exhaustion is found to be a valid and reliable measure.