Does work engagement burn out? The person-job fit and levels of burnout and engagement in work

Abstract

Does work engagement burn out? The person-job fit and levels of burnout and engagement in work

This research (N=943) examines the relationship between burnout, work engagement, and organizational factors that play an important role in the strain process (development of burnout), and in the motivational process (work engagement). The aim of the study is to test the relationships of burnout and work engagement, on the one hand, and organizational factors--job demands (workload) and job resources (control, relations with co-workers and superiors, rewards, fairness, and values)--on the other. The results of the analysis call into doubt whether burnout and work engagement are opposite poles of the same dimension, or whether they are independent, though correlated, constructs. Exhaustion and vigour are not the extremes of the same energy dimension, but in the case of cynicism and dedication, the situation is not so clear. It can be said that we are not dealing with the burnout of engagement, but rather with a change in attitude to work (increasing cynicism) on the part of people not suited to their jobs.