Depersonalization reconsidered: An empirical analysis of the relation between depersonalization and cynicism in an extended version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory

Abstract

The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the most widely used operationalization of burnout, exists in two qualitatively different versions (Human Services Survey/Educators Survey and General Survey). One common concept, however, is used to characterize the measured phenomenon. The aim of the present study is to investigate two associated dimensions of burnout – depersonalization and cynicism – as operationalized in two versions of the MBI. The dimensions have been described and used as related expressions of mental distancing within the burnout concept, but the relation between the two aspects of distancing have to a little degree been studied empirically and previous studies have been limited to confirmatory factor analyses. In this study, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, analyses of correlations between burnout scales and analyses of correlations between burnout scales and different antecedents of burnout, other work-related attitudes and psychological distress were conducted for eight different human services professions in Norway (N = 1798). The results showed that depersonalization and cynicism emerged as two correlated, but distinct, dimensions, and the results were robust across factor analytic methods and correlation analyses. In addition, partial correlation analyses showed that depersonalization shared very little unique variance with the criterion variables, whereas cynicism shares considerably more unique variance with the same variables. The findings cast doubts on the conception of depersonalization and cynicism as related facets of a common, overarching burnout concept and suggest that cynicism is a more central aspect of burnout than is depersonalization.