TRANSNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON JOB BURNOUT: REPLICATION OF PHASE MODEL RESULTS AMONG JAPANESE RESPONDENTS

Abstract

This study used a convenience sample (N = 387) aggregated from several Japanese worksettings to replicate results obtained with the phase model of burnout in a substantial number of studies in North American loci. At several levels of analysis, the results of the present replication support the generic character of the phase model and its components. Thus Japanese respondents psychologically structure the items of the Maslach Burnout Inventory used to estimate individual scores on three subdomains of burnout in much the same ways as two large batches of U.S. respondents. These subdomain scores—depersonalization, personal accomplishment, and emotional exhaustion—are combined to generate assignments of Japanese respondents to phases of burnout. Moreover, the phase assignments covary significantly with a panel of marker variables, which are similar or identical to variables used in North American studies. Basically, as the phases progress I → VIII, individuals report worsening scores on all 6 marker variables—job involvement, number of health symptoms, helplessness, job satisfaction, job tension, and self‐rated productivity. The pattern of results is similar to that in almost all North American studies using the phase model. Japanese respondents get assigned to the three most advanced phases of burnout in markedly greater proportion than North American respondents. In comparison to most of its counterparts, the present study accounts for a smaller proportion of variance between the phases and marker variables.