Efficacy or inefficacy, that's the question: Burnout and work engagement, and their relationships with efficacy beliefs

Abstract

We challenge traditional view that lack of efficacy — measured with the corresponding reversed efficacy scale (Maslach Burnout Inventory, MBI) — is a burnout dimension. Instead, we claim that in addition to exhaustion and cynicism, inefficacy — measured with a newly developed scale — characterizes burnout. MBI-efficacy is apparently related to work engagement, considered as the positive antithesis of burnout. We performed Structural Equation Modeling in two samples of Spanish (n=239) and Dutch (n=235) university students, and two Spanish employee samples, working in various jobs (n=342) and working with information and communication technologies (n=283). Our expectations were largely confirmed: (1) compared with efficacy beliefs inefficacy beliefs relate more strongly to the other two burnout components; (2) the alternative three-factor burnout model including inefficacy fits better to the data than the traditional model including efficacy; (3) a model with inefficacy loading on burnout and efficacy loading on engagement fits the data. It is suggested that an inefficacy scale rather than a reversed efficacy scale should be used to assess burnout in future studies.