A Preliminary Test of a Stress-Strain-Outcome Model for Reconceptualizing the Burnout Phenomenon

A stress-strain-outcome model of burnout was tested on 91 social workers who completed Maslach's (1981) burnout inventory, the MBI, and scales assessing work-specific stress, social support, and the negative outcomes of dissatisfaction with and intention to quit one's job. Significant relationships of stress with emotional exhaustion (an MBI subscale conceptualized as strain), and exhaustion with negative outcomes provided support for the model: as predicted, there was no direct effect of stress on outcomes. Predicted buffering-type interaction effecls of social support and personal accomplishment (another MBI subscale) moderated the exhaustion→intention to quit relationship. High exhaustion resulted in less inclination to quit among social workers who experienced social support or a sense of personal accomplishment. The results supported a reconceptualization of measured burnout in which emotiona1 exhaustion represents the essence of burnout and personal accomplishment is a separate variable that buffers the impact of exhaustion on negative work consequences. Implications for burnout interventions were discussed.