Burnout: A Social Psychological Analysis CHRISTINA MASLACH, Ph.D. Berkeley es and describes a significant, but tudied phenomenon in the helping professions known as the burnout syndrome. A summary of the available research on this problem reveals the importance of several situational variables and suggests that the common-sense person-centered interpreta- tion may be erroneous. Several broad themes emerge from a social psychological analysis of the burnout syndrome, including biases in the attribution process, factors which promote a negative and dehumanized perception of recipients, and the special role This paper ident the annual convention of the American The research on which CHRISTINA MASLACH :3t that other people play in the attempts by the helping professional to cope successful . Finally, an argument is made for the practical is analysis both for the helping professions and for the field of social psychology as well, Burnout: A Social Psychological Analysis A recent trend in breakdown of the fami for the care and there has been a ‘of helping others. Such he only one aspect of t the context of a formal home environment of the rei such services have become impersonal and dehumanizing. Reci- picnts complain about being powerless and about being treated as objects by staff people who are cruel and uncaring. ‘Such an analysis, while correct in raising concern about the quality of service, fails to take account the heavy psychological burden that is placed on the providers of such ser- vices. They are usually required to work intensely and intimately ‘with people on a large-scale, continuous basis. They learn about these peaple’s psychological, social, and/or physical problems, and are expected to provide aid or treatment of some kind. Some aspects of this job involve work” (Hughes, 1971) which refers to tasks that are particularly upsetting or embarrassing ‘0 perform, even though necessary. This type of professional in- teraction arouses strong feelings of emotion and personal stressdetachment, By treating one's clients or remote, objective way, it becomes casier to perform the necessary interviews, tests, or operations without suffering strong psychological discomfort. This difficult ¢and almost paradoxical) process of having to distance oneself from people in order to help or cure them has been conceptualized as “detached concern” (Lier: ‘Although the importance of detachment pro- more clearly recognized in begins. Burnout involves the loss of concern for the people with whom ‘onc is working. In addition to physical exhaustion (and sometimes they are tabeled in derogatory ways and treated accordingly. As a result of this dehumanizing process, these people are viewed as somehow deserving of their problems and are blamed for their own vi ion (Ryan, 1971). Consequently, there appears to be a deterioration in the quality of care or service that they The professional who burns out is unable to successfully the overwhelming emotional stresses of the job, and this ire to cope can be manifested in a number of ways. For exam- ple, burnout appears to be @ factor in low worker morale, im- Paired performance, absenteeism, and high job turnover. A com- mon response to burnout is to quit and get out, either by chang- ing jobs, moving into administrative work (and away from direct CHRISTINA MASLACH 1 33 contact with patients or clients), or even leaving the profession en- tirely. Furthermore, burnout is correlated with various indices of per- sonal stress. People experiencing burnout often increase their use, {and abuse) of alcohol and drugs as a way of reducing their ten- sion and blotting out their strong emotional feclings. They repo ‘more mental illness, saying that they have become “bad people” ‘who are cold and callous, and some of them seek ‘counseling or they belicve to be their personal not be resolved while on the job, 1g day sj professional simply wants to get away from all people for as ‘but this desire for solitude usually comes at the expense of fami and friends. ‘Until recently, no research had been done on thi social problem; indeed, it was almost a taboo topic among the helping professions. Tt , pioneering work on the burnout ‘syndrome has been carried out by myself and my colleagues (Mastach, 1973, 1976, 1978a, 1978b, 1979; Maslach & Jackson, ; Maslach & Pines, 1977; Pines & press), as well as by ial research was to mensions of the burnout erpersonal stresses faced by (if any) that they had for techniques they used to discover the social and psyd syndrome, I wanted to identify the helping professionals, the preparat sonal effects of using such techniques. In ‘observations of helping professionals at work, we conducted ex- tensive questionnaire studies, followed by interviews with smaller groups of subjects. O1 samples consisted of a wide variety ‘of helping professionals: social welfare workers, physicians, psychiatrists, clinical ‘psychologists, poverty lawyers, child care staff, police officers, psychiatric nurses, prison personnel,34: Burnout isters, In our most recent research, we have begun to systematically test our hypotheses about bun- out in more controlled laboratory experiments (Maslach & Solomon, 1980) and have developed a scale measure to assess in- dividual differences in experienced burnout (Maslach & Jackson, 1981), ‘Although our subjects have varied considerably in the type of contact they have with patients or clients, they have reported @ remarkably similar pattern of response to this source of emotional stress. Our findings to date can be summarized under two headings: indi tors, After reviewing these results, we to some broad social psychological themes that emerge from this ses, biases in person perception, and the role of other people in coping strategies. teachers, counselors, and Individual Detachment Téctniques ‘Various verbal and nonverbal techniques are used by helping als to reduce the amount of personal stress in theit in- In different ways, each of these {a) see the other person as less th the other person in objec tive, analytical terms; a ional arousal. Most of these techniques allow the jing a genuine concern for their well-being. some forms of these techniques preclude any continued they can eventuate in the total detachment and dehumanization found in burnout, in these cases, the helping professional's at- tempts at psychological self-protection come at the expense of recipients. caring. Semantics of Detachment ‘A change in the terms used to describe people is one way of CUmISTINA MASLACH 735 making them appear more object-like and less human, Some of these terms are derogatory labels (“they're all just animals") while others are abstract terms referring to large anc tiated units ("the poor"), Another form of objective language is labels people in terms of the functional relationship the ual has with them (e.g. poverty lawyers often refer to “my docket”? when about their clients), In some cases, reci- pients are not referred to by name but by their immediate problem ‘Also, the inclusion of professional jargon in in- teeviews with recipients often serves the purpose of distancing the person from someone whom he or she finds emotionally upset ting. Inteltectuatizatior less personal terms. By deali than the more human tal patient who is being ver stand back and look get personally upset. ‘Situational Compartmentalization plicit agreements shop.” Some of our subjects even refused to tell people wh ions, they would roles that promote compartm« by forbidding staff to sociatize with their patients or clients outside of the job setting, AS a result of these devices, the experienced emotional stress is con- fined to a smaller part of the professional's life.36: Burnout Psychological Withdrawat other technique f¢ jize one's psychologict sionals in a number of ways. One obvious approach oneself physically from the other person (by standing further away, avéiding eye contact, ot keeping one’s hand on the door knob) even though continuing a minimal interaction. Psychological withdrawal is also evidenced by professionals who sts in more impersonal ways, such ‘of by spending more of het staff members. Other less obvious examples of psycholo, rawal are: (1) poor performance (to assure that no one will refer major problems to them), (2) avoidance of, tasks (‘it’s not my job”), and (3) hiding behind rules. Rules pro- als from any personal involvement with them to apply a formula (rather than solution) and to avoid taking ity Cor unpopular or painful decisions (‘I'm sorry, but —those are the rules around here, and I have to follow them Social Techniques attempting to deal with intense feelings, peopte often turn to jends for help and emotional support. To the extent that such actions reduce psychological stress and discomfort, they can be used by helping professionals to develop detachment. One type of social technique is to advice and comfort from other staff members after withdrawing from 2 difficult situation. Not only does such social support help to ease the stress and pain, but it helps the individual to achieve intellectual distance from the situa- tion. Social support also aids detachment by promoting @ per- ceived diffusion of responsibility. If several other staff people curisrina mastactl 2 37 adopt a particular course of action, then an individual often has fewer qualms about doing the same thing, Another social tech- nique is the use of humor. Being able to joke and laugh about a stressful event is one way of reducing the tension and anxiety that the professional might feel. It also serves to make the situation ious, Jess fr ing, and less overwhelming. The “sick © humor” of the field surgeons in M*A*S*H is a particularly apt example of this technique at work. Situational Factors in Burnout ‘So far, our research findings point to several factors fessional’s work situation that can have a major determi fluence on whether he or she will “burn out’ or will successfully cope with the personal stress of the job. Ratio The quality of the professional the number of people for whor care. As this number increases, the general resul cognitive, sensory, and emotional overload for the professio He or she works a greater number of hours in direct contact recipients, has fewer opportunities to take a break from work, and docs not feel in control of the job. ion is greatly affected by Antount and Variely of Personal Contact ‘The number of hours that a person works at a job is very likely to be related to that person's sense of fatigue, boredom, stress, ete, Consequé it ‘would result in a higher incidence of burnout. However, our data hours are correlated with more stress and negal only when they involve continuous direct contact, clients, This is especially true when the nature of the contact is very difficult and upsetting (e.g. recipients who are dying, who are38 + Bumout physically or verbally abusive, or who are involved in highly distasteful or taboo behaviors). The emotional strain of such pro- nged contact can be cased by varying the profess 's0 that he or she is not always working in high-stress situations and by providing opportunities for temporary withdrawals when needed. ‘The type of physical hdrawals that are available to helping ference between burnout and suc- re form of withdrawal is what I ‘outs are not merely short breaks iods or coffee breaks). Rather, they ty choose to do fe form of “escape. k from work always heavy emotional burden they tent becomes too much to bear. Event these guilt feelings wilt disappear for those professionals who ‘begin to burn out and to lose their sense of caring and concern. Social-Professional Support Systert ‘The availability of formal or informal programs in which help- ing professionals can get together to discuss problems, and get ad- vice and support, is another way of helping them to cope with job stress more successfully, Such a support system provides oppor- tunities for analysis of both the problems they face and their per- CHRISTINA MASLACH = 39 sonal feelings about them, for humor, for comfort, and for social comparison. Burnout rates seem to be lower for those professionals who have access to such systems, espec are well-developed and supported by the larger institution. Analysis of Personat Feelings Since the arousal of strong emotions is a common feature of health and social service professions, efforts must be made to deal ‘with them constructively and to prevent the emotional exhaustion of burnout. Burnout rates are lower for those profes actively express, analyze, and share U their colleagues. Not only do they consciously gct things off their chest, but they have an opportunity to get useful feedback from other people and to develop new perspectives and understanding of their rel is process is greatly enhanced if the relevant institution establishes an appropriate mechanism for doing so. Thi Jude social-professional support groups, special staff meetings, or workshop group ses- sions. In general, we found that those professionals who are trained to treat psychological problems were better able to recognize and deal with their own feelings. Interpersonal Skills sms clear from the research fi professionals need to have speci ings to date that helping people, As one poverty lawyer put it, h people who would be lems, hour after ho legal matters per se.’40: Burnout yunted to knowing how to make “small viewed as pleasant, but as basically unimportant. In my such a viewpoint is sadly in error, for it trivializes an essential aspect of the helping and fails to recognize that both the helper and the recipient are human beings whose personal at titudes and emotions can affect not only the defivery of service and health care, but also how and even whether it is accepted. Explaining Situational Stress in Dispositional Terms miship between con- Before examining the tion. By turning the heat on themselves, hefping profess to make more self-deprecatory remarks, to qué for this line’ of work, and in general to I 5 which are essential for a helping professional, namely mnfidence, sense of humor, and a balanced perspective. The alleged personal flaws of helping professionals do not go unno- i fies who are willing to argue whether the matter in- , or a character ther head,"* “you have to be crazy to be a psychiatrist, from cops, since they are all sadistic types to | begin with"’—so goes the diagnostic analysis. Is further assumed (without any suppor- ting evidence) that more money is the best remedy to soothe the first signs of burnout. Either “that’s what the complaints are really all about,” ox “‘a better breed of workers” wil CHRISTINA MASLACH 41 by better salaries. By pointing a damning finger at recipients, the helping profes- sionals develop hostility and resentment toward them. Moral justifications for a dehumanized relationship with them are then easy to come by once it is evident that they are the “problem” (Bandura, Underwood, & Fromson, 1975). Finally, whether the ied by staff or by recipients, blaming jon by the properties of the situation to these erroneous disposi- sources of joberelated stresses. The prevalence of the phenomenon and the range of scemingly disparate professionals who arc af- fected by it suggest that the search for causes is beter directed cycle of identifying the “bad people” al and structural point at which the number of rot ten apples in the barrel warrants examination of the barrel itself. ‘The “Mea Culpa" Reac ‘The bias toward disposi out is one that was shared by many of the helping professionals whom we studied. Although the actor-observer hypothesis (Jones & Nisbett, 1971) would predict that these professionals would ional forces42: Burnout several professionals into some form of individual therapy. Even when they recognized the special situational stresses of theit work, people were still prone to lay blame on some flaw within themselves (“I should have been able to handle it"). Consequent- ly, they expeticnced a sense of failure and a loss of self-esteem, and a state of depression would often set Given the evidence for situational determinants of burnout, Tike other people, have @ tendency to overesti ‘of personal or dispositional variables relative to environmental in- fluences, a tendency known as the fundamental attribution error {Ross, 1977). Moreover, people are often unable to identify ac- curately 1 variables that influence their behavior (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977). There are several factors in the helping, inference in an ad icity and gradual escala- by coworkers, and chronic (as opposed to working closely with re of the daily routine. What varies is the tolerance of the helping professional fo ‘wears away under the never-ending onslaught of emo .n problems begin to occur in th recipients, there is no disercte situational key this response. To put it in terms of Kelley’s attribution theory (1967, 1971), the helping professional is unable to see a situational cause whieh covaries with the observed effect! Therefore, he or she is often left with a choice of dispositional attributions: the problems are caused either by the recipient or by oneself. ‘A dispositional attribution to self is more likely if the person believes that his or her reaction is a unique one not shared by others. Such a belief is likely to occur in many helping professions CHRISTINA MASLACH = 43 thoughts or feelings that would be considered ‘unprofessional and to behave instead as if one were in control of the job and do- i facade of ‘I'm all ri Jacl any one of them he or she is the only one experiencing such problems. This at idual w! a function of the delivery of care or service, adn prone to see the problem in terms of people who are not doi rather than of shortcomings in the be implicated. They assu errors, faulty judgments or laziness a major aspect of their job Jhen employees com- stress of their work, you take it?” By assigning causal responsit fessional for his or her reactions, the administrator tains that person’s tendency to make disposi tions to self. Putting the Blame on the Victims ‘The bias of helping profe als toward dispositional, rather than situational, ibutions for personal experiences extends to their judgments about recipients as |. They often view reci- pients as having been the cause of their own problems, rather than as suffering from situational circumstances. This response has been termed “blaming the victim” (Ryan, 1971) and has been4%: Burnout hypothesized to develop from a belief in a “just world” where people get what they dese other factors in many towards dispositional a among the recipients becomes more frequent and probable as the following conditions occur: the true causes are distal and com- plex, the operational paradigm is a medical model, and record~ keeping excludes contextual information while highlighting per- sonal problems. First of all, when the causes of the rec problems are the helping profes- can't be the situa- fessionals to do a personal at the causes of the problem model of diagnosis and treatm mode. In other words, ing professional tends to focus on what itis about that person that is causing the problem. This is true even when the professional sees a serics of individuals who have the same difficulties. is quite probable that if all of these individuals were masse to see the professional that he or she would be ined then to look for the situational causes of this ap- In any institutional setting, the very structure of the records ‘kept on each client or patient contributes further to this disposi- tional bias. The forms to be filed typically ask for a trait CHRISTINA MASLAGH = 45 ion of the person—his or her “problem, ‘beefs" or staff complaints, and other person- ons, Often there is no place in the report form fe space for the rec “unprovoked” or the status of excuses and rarely that of explanations. As the in- nal structure becomes more formaized and the staff- pient grows larger, such records take on a ity. They become the standard of bicgraphical only individual differences but a spurious consistency between the past person of record and the present person at hand. Negative Biases in Perceptions of Recipients AA virtual hallmark of the burnout syndrome is a shift in the and humanized pole to pients are viewed in more cynical and derogatory terms, and the to develop a rather low opinion of their (Roth, 1972) is further enhanced b; to underscore and exaggerate the differences between “them.” In most cases, the structure of the helping that it promotes and maintains a negative perception of recipients. In particular, four aspects of ship seem to be especial- ly critical: the focus on problems, the lack of positive feedback. the level of emotional stress, and the probability’ of change or responsiveness by recipients. Primary among these is the fact that, lationship is such46 + Burnout fhe recipients in most helping relationships are peo- te relevance to the problem under consid some instances such positive inform it could reduce the amount of funds or services which they could receive. Moreover, most help- ing relationships are set up so that when the recipients’ problems disappear, so do the recipients. That is, once recipients are healthy they have no further need for the helping terminated. From the er cynical view of human nature. mts! problems is more likely as the number of recipients increases. The more people the helping pro- ime on the positive aspects of recipients’ lives is a luxury afforded. This means that helping profes- have an incomplete knowledge and understanding of any single recipient—in a sense, they cannot sce the trees for the forest. A second factor which adversely biases perception of recipients is the exclusively negative personal feedback that helping profes- sionals get from recipients. They hear complaints and criticisms about the job they are doing, and in some instances they are the CHRISTINA MASLACH 2 47 targets of hostile remarks or even threatening actions. While some ible response to errors they have at the helping professionals are on the ‘end of some very strong emotions of anger, fear and ugh they are not the direct cause of the reci- pients rar that the helping professional does well. The reason for pears to be that the professional’s work is taken for granted by the recipients (“that’s what you're being paid to do"), and so there is. no need to provide feedback except when things fall short of expectations. This tendency is exacerbated by the fact that the standard set by society for most helping, professional lives happier and healthier, the lack of po: nts for one’s accomplishments along this 0 swallow. nts are also a function of the degree of emotional stress involved in contact with reci this contact is especially upsetting, depressing, oF difficult in some way, then more dehur Examples of highly stressful recipient contact ‘who are physically or verbally abusive, recipients who are suffer- ing from an overwhelming number of problems, recipients who are dying, and recipients who were involved in highly di for taboo behaviors (e.g. smearing feces on the walls of the hospital ward, committing child rape or incest). When the contact, with recipients is not so emotionally stressful but is more interper- sonally pleasant (c.g. the professional can joke with the recipient,48: Burnout more negative views of recipients cither 2s a professional or as a fellow human bein: vice or guidance, and do not provide p are “de-humanizing” the helping profe e them and the ef to make any appreciable dif- (hen he or she can ward off feelings ing the recipients for their defective, unmotivated to justifies their perpetual burden of misery. Coping with Burnout Alone and in Groups One aim of our research has been to study how people deal There are a variety of successful coping individual techniques and others which ber of these strategies, is alone in coping with emotional stress, or their presence is essen- tial to form a supportive eroup for the professional. Since much of the emotional stress arises from close contact with people, one approach toward reducing that stress is to get ‘away from them. By being alone, the helping professional can begin to unwind from the tension and pain of the work by relax- CHRISTINA MASLACH = 49 ing physically and stopping all thoughts of the day’s problems. In ‘other words, when the helping professional is suffering from an overload of soc! 8 can be reduced through } withdrawals, and long vacations. In some of these ‘eases,,the helping professional has no actual contact with people i in others the professional they are in the same room) but can be is or her thoughts and feclings. However, there are al needs to get away from and friends who cannot understand why they are sometimes being left out of the professional’s life. A better alternative is a “‘decom- pression routine” between leaving work and arriving home, a time in which they engage in some solitary activity (often physical and ) in order to unwind and relax, By being alone for a they are then more ready to be with people again, and ‘As opposed to people, alternat people (and par tesource for the person experiencing strong emotional stress. They can provide a direct reduction of stress by the person to withdraw from an upsetting situation and giving comfort and ‘emotional support, They also aid in indirect means of stress reduction by helping the person to get some perspective on the situation and to intellectualize about it. By sharing their own feel- very valuable50: Burnout ‘and altcrnative responses (o similar problems, they can serve ‘ocial comparison referem, providing the person with infor- ‘ation a8 to what are normal reactions to these stressful situa~ tions. A sense of diffused, or shared, responsibility can also so that he or she . Finally, peers can provide the hat is often missing from the person’ ‘AML of these valuable coping functions provided by peers are often best realized withi ized. social- professional support system. Not only are various supportis terpersonal behaviors ex} modeled and reinforced, but it butional bias away from exclusively \d towards a more situational orienta .d through more informal group gatherings, izing that may take port can be pro such as coffee and the professional's negative perception of recipients. For example, some helping professionals deliberately use some of ff-duty any cases, these people are of the same ‘as the sick or troubled recipients with whom. mnal works. By having pleasant and successful people, professionals can counteract the ive attitudes about recipients and theit abili- is home environment rather than dealing with them excl he institution. By seeing theic behavior in its natural context, the heiping professional can get an ive on important situational factors that are ‘ir role-restricted interactions in the sterile of- fice setting. Conclusion ‘The goal of this paper has been to extend the domain of social social sciences. Hopefully, both social psy professions will benefit from such an exten development of new hypotheses and a “real w various theoretical models, and the and proposals for specific solutions psychological perspective, It has been the underlying thesis of this paper psychology can provide a general orientation, theot odels, understanding of ‘an approach which sights into possible solutions for burnout. Moreover, the tr tional focus of sociat psychology on the context of individual behavior provides an important framework for understanding the ral causes of the burnout syndrome. I psychology has much to contribute to the analysis in. The often-quoted goal of studies but by focusing on an important social problem and work- ing towards an explanation of it in terms of existing theories. One measure of the utility of various theoretical frameworks is the ex- tent to which they can be successfully applied to this all-too-real-$2: Burnout world phenomenon. However, goes beyond ad hoc expla ‘N. On the basis of lled laboratory researc! no sharing of emoti situations where there callousness than would people who were support. In serving as the basis for these and other hypotheses about the social nature of emotional stress, the burnout syndrome can direct the field of social psychology to a new client in desperate need of new solutions to an ageless problem—who will help the helper? 1 think that social psychology can and should. REFERENCES Underwood, B., & Fromson, MAE. Disinhibition of aggression ‘and dehumanization of ‘Tournat 253.269, Freudenberger. J. Staff burnout. Journe! of Socal Issues, 1976, 30, 159-165. Freudenberger, HJ. The siaff burnout Syndrome. Washington, D.C.: The Drug ‘Abuse Council. 1975. Hughes. E.C. The sociological eye: Selected papers. Chicago: Aldine, 197). lfackxon, SE. & Maslach, C. after-effects of ob related strat: Families as victims, “Joumal af Occupational Behavior, in press. CHRISTINA MASLACH 53 ‘aluation and control of clientele: » American Journal of Sociotony. Ryan, W. Blaming the vetio, New York: Pantheon Books, 1971.