The Presence of Occupational Burnout and Its Correlates in University Physical Education Personnel

The prevalence of occupational burnout and its relationship to job Stressors and job attitudes were examined in physical education faculties/departments as a function of sex, age, marital status, family status, years of work experience in higher education, and type of appointment. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach & Jackson, 1986), which measures burnout in terms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment, was the instrument used. Females, individuals 39 years or under, single subjects, coaches, and nontenured faculty/staff reported significantly higher levels of emotional exhaustion than their counterparts. None of the demographic factors was significantly associated with depersonalization or personal accomplishment. Regression analyses indicated that three Stressors—quantitative overload, job scope, and time pressure-—explained the greatest amount of variance in emotional exhaustion; organization structure and human resource development contributed the most to depersonalization. None of the job Stressors contributed to the variance in personal accomplishment.