Burnout among Entering MSW Students: Exploring the Role of Personal Attributes

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Burnout among Entering MSW Students:Exploring the Role of Personal AttributesMeekyung Han a , Sang E. Lee a & Peter Allan Lee aa San José State UniversityPublished online: 16 Mar 2013.

To cite this article: Meekyung Han , Sang E. Lee & Peter Allan Lee (2012) Burnout among EnteringMSW Students: Exploring the Role of Personal Attributes, Journal of Social Work Education, 48:3,439-457

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439Journal of Social Work Education, Vol. 48, No. 3 (Fall 2012). ©2012, Council on Social Work Education, Inc. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.5175/JSWE.2011.201000053

BURNOUT AMONG ENTERING MSW STUDENTS: EXPLORING THEROLE OF PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

SOCIAL WORKERS CAN experience intrinsic satis-

faction from direct contact with clients and the

responsibility of meeting their needs. How -

ever, interaction with clients requires emo-

tional involvement and can result in social

workers developing feelings of distress and

emotional exhaustion (Acker, 1999). This phe-

nomenon is typically referred to as burnout

(Arches, 1991; Gomez & Michaelis, 1995; Poul -

in & Wal ter, 1993). Numerous empirical stud-

ies have documented the signifi cant detri-

mental effect of burnout on the entire social

work service arena, including effects on social

workers, clients, and organizations (Ander -

son, 2000; Gomez & Michaelis, 1995; Lloyd,

King, & Chen oweth, 2002; Poulin & Walter,

1993; Soderfeldt, Soderfeldt, & Warg, 1995).

As a result, considerable interest and research

have focused on the contributors to burnout

and the identification of prevention and inter-

vention strategies. To date, many studies have

identified the structural contributors to

Meekyung HanSan José State University

Sang E. LeeSan José State University

Peter Allen LeeSan José State University

Although individual susceptibility to burnout within a similar structural con-

text is well-documented in other helping professions, little is known about the

relationship between personal attributes and burnout in social work.

Furthermore, despite a large number of entering MSW students with prior

work experience, there is a paucity of research documenting the burnout phe-

nomenon among them. By using a sample of MSW students with prior work

experience (N=60), the current study examined the effect of personal attributes

on burnout (i.e., overidentification tendency, trait anxiety, and emotional con-

tagion). Findings imply that burnout depends on personal attributes, rooted in

cognitive role- taking levels, and that emotional contagion has a significant

role in burnout. Implications for social work education and practice are

discussed.

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440 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION

burnout, such as a lack of su per vision (Poulin

& Walter, 1993), role conflict and perceived

unfairness in rewards (Himle & Jayaratne,

1990), limited autonomy at work (LeCroy &

Rank, 1986), and interaction with clients

(Corcoran, 1987; Cordes & Dougherty, 1993).

In addition to structural factors, individu-

als’ personal attributes contribute to burnout,

because some people are more susceptible

than others to burnout within a similar struc-

tural context. This influence of individuals’

personal attributes on burnout was well docu-

mented by Christina Maslach (1982), a pioneer

in the field of professional burnout. Indeed,

empirical studies in the nursing and psychol-

ogy fields have supported the relationship

between personal attributes and burnout. For

example, a person who often displays high

levels of anxiety and worrying and low levels

of hardiness typically represents the profile of

a stress- prone individual (Semmer, 1996),

which may result in his or her being at greater

risk for experiencing burnout (Clark, Mur -

dock, & Koetting, 2008; Vredenburgh, Carloz -

zi, & Stein, 1999).

However, little is known about burnout in

the context of personal attributes in the social

work field. We aimed to fill this gap in the

existing body of knowledge by adopting

Maslach’s (1982) definition of burnout, which

is the most widely used and tested definition

across various academic and professional

fields, for this study about social work stu-

dents. Mas lach defined burnout as a process

that begins slowly and becomes progressively

worse, rather than being a fixed state, and as

having three dimensions: emotional exhaus-

tion, depersonalization, and reduced feelings

of personal accomplishment. Emotional ex -

haustion is at the core of burnout, and de per -

sonalization is a subsequent negative in ter -

personal outcome of emotional exhaustion,

which consequently leads to a worker’s de -

clined subjective sense of accomplishment.

Thus, by using Maslach’s three interrelated

yet distinctive constructs, the current study

sought to examine the relationship between

personal attributes and burnout particularly

with entering master’s of social work (MSW)

students with prior work experience.

Entering MSW Students in the

Context of Burnout

Many MSW programs in the United States in

general and in California in particular empha-

size the merits of prior work experience

between the period of earning a bachelor’s

degree and beginning an MSW program as an

admission criterion. For example, a review of

MSW admission information of 20 social work

graduate schools in California accredited by

the Council on Social Work Education re -

vealed that about two thirds of them regard

social work experience significantly in various

ways: requiring applicants to have significant

social work–related experience (volunteer,

internship, or paid), requiring a minimum

number of hours of related social work expe-

rience, or indicating preference for applicants

with postbaccalaureate work experience or

successful work experience in human servic-

es. While there are no accurate data available,

it is reasonable to assume that the majority of

entering MSW students in California have

some level of prior experience in the social

work field.

Prior work experience can better prepare

MSW students for the professional require-


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ments, educational standards, and training

outcomes expected by an MSW program.

Gelman (2004) found that having prior work

experience appears to mitigate the level of

anxiety and concern related to field placement

performance. However, many entering MSW

students who have prior work experience are

also known to have experienced some degree

of burnout through the work experience

(Tobin & Carson, 1994). Collins, Coffey, and

Morris (2008) supported the finding that

MSW students with prior work experience

reported significantly higher levels of emo-

tional exhaustion, one of the three burnout

dimensions, than those who did not have

prior work experience. In meeting both aca-

demic and professional requirements, MSW

students in general are known to experience

significant amounts of stress (Tobin & Carson,

1994; Ying, 2008).

In addition, because of the nature of help-

ing professions, the social work field often

attracts people who tend to be sensitive and

feeling- oriented (Farber, 1983), which can lead

to increased vulnerability to burnout.

Previous work- related burnout coupled with

the weight of MSW program requirements

may make some students more susceptible to

compounded stress and burnout upon com-

pletion of the program compared to those

without prior work experience. Despite the

potentially heightened vulnerability, there is a

paucity of research documenting this burnout

phenomenon among entering MSW students

with prior work experience. Studying burnout

in this student population is imperative

because it can enhance the knowledge base

about how to educate and guide students

effectively in reducing their susceptibility to

burnout and in avoiding the development or

exacerbation of burnout while they are in a

social work graduate program.

Given this background, our study exam-

ines the effect of personal attributes on burnout

among entering MSW students with prior

work experience. Because of the limited litera-

ture on personal attributes in relation to

burnout in the social work field, this study uses

three personal attributes identified as signifi-

cant in studies within other disciplines: emo-

tional contagion, overidentification, and trait

anxiety. We describe the role of each personal

attribute on burnout in general as well as in the

context of MSW students in the following

section.

Personal Attributes Contributing

to Burnout

Emotional contagion is one’s susceptibility to

synchronize with others’ emotional states and

expressions (Hatfield, Cacioppo, & Rapson,

1994) and is considered to be at the core of

burnout (Maslach, 2003; Omdahl & O’Don -

nell, 1999). For some people, emotional reac-

tion to another’s distress may cause an in -

crease in emotional anguish (Bowling & Hof f -

man, 2000), which then may increase emotion-

al disturbance and exhaustion. When exposed

to clients, especially difficult ones or those

experiencing severe trauma, MSW students

with a high susceptibility to emotional conta-

gion will synchronize their own feelings with

clients’ strong and negative emotional states

and expressions, increasing the students’

chances of burnout.

Overidentification tendency can be de -

scribed as a stream of negative thoughts (Neff,

Kirkpatrick, & Rude, 2007). People who tend

441PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES AND BURNOUT

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to overidentify with their negative thoughts

do not cope with challenging demands

because they tend to harbor self- doubts and

worry (Gilbert & Procter, 2006). An individual

with a high overidentification tendency is at

risk of becoming exhausted due to ineffective

coping and a lack of practicing self- com -

passion (Neff et al., 2007) and may become

burnt out. For many MSW students, meeting

both academic and professional expectations

and demands in an MSW program can be

stressful and challenging, and their education-

al experiences might trigger doubts about

their abilities and fit for the profession, which

can eventually make them more susceptible to

burnout.

Trait anxiety is known to be a general pre-

disposition to fear and worry (Spielberger,

1983). Individuals with relatively high trait

anxiety may consistently perceive situations in

ways conducive to the development of an anx-

ious state, leading eventually to burnout (Ochs

& Capps, 1996). Prior studies have discovered

the strong relationship between trait anxiety

and burnout (Anderson, Levinson, Bark er, &

Kiewra, 1999; Turnipseed, 2002; Win stan ley &

Whittington, 2002). As mentioned earlier, the

social work profession attracts many with an

already heightened sense of empathy and a

passion for helping others. Indeed, many

social work students came to the profession

with a strong idealism that can be described as

“missionary zeal” (Wag ner, 1989) and simply

wanting to help others (Sellers & Hunter,

2005). These personality traits can also be asso-

ciated with tendencies to worry and, with

overly idealistic expectations, to solve people’s

problems, which may lead to burnout.

In addition to the respective effects of

each of the three personal attributes, studies

suggest joint effects of these attributes on

burnout. That is, one attribute may further

increase an individual’s vulnerability to

burnout by reacting to another attribute. For

example, overidentification is related to emo-

tional contagion based on a number of theo-

rized relationships between individual char-

acteristics and the vulnerability to emotional

contagion. By producing increased anxiety, an

overidentification tendency can also lead to

high trait anxiety (Kelly, 2004). Over iden ti fi -

cation as a form of worry significantly relates

to anxiety (Gana, Martin, & Canouet, 2001).

Ad ditionally, there is a positive correlation

between trait anxiety and autonomic reactivi-

ty scores (Takahashi et al., 2005), which is

known to produce higher levels of emotional

contagion (Gump & Kulik, 1997). Despite the

evidence noted here, further understanding is

needed with regard to the joint effects of per-

sonal attributes on burnout.

The Current Study

Given the background information and gaps

in prior research, the current study takes an

exploratory approach to investigate levels of

burnout among entering MSW students with

prior work experience and the individual and

joint impact of three personal attributes (emo-

tional contagion, overidentification, and trait

anxiety) on burnout. In particular, our current

study seeks to answer the following research

questions:

1. What is the level of burnout among enter-

ing MSW students?



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2. What would be the unconditional (or

independent) relationship between per-

sonal attributes and burnout?

3. How do personal attributes contribute to

burnout respectively and jointly?

Methods

Research Design and

Sampling Procedure

Using a cross- sectional study design, 66

(35.7%) out of 185 full- time first- year MSW

students from two MSW programs on the

West Coast of the United States were recruited

for this study. Specifically, 37 (39.4%) out of 94

full- time first- year students at Site 1 and 29

(31.9%) out of 91 full- time first- year students

at Site 2 were recruited for the study.

On receiving approval from the study

sites’ institutional review boards, all full- time

first- year students were invited to participate

in this study. Participants were initially recruit-

ed and sampled by convenience through their

respective program’s orientation session

before the start of the semester, which was

mandated for all incoming MSW students at

both sites. To recruit more participants and to

follow up on the initial an nouncement made at

the orientation session, various first- year

MSW classes were used as additional recruit-

ment sources. At each site, a second- year MSW

student served as a research assistant for this

study. As part of these recruitment procedures,

students who were interested in participating

in the study were informed about how to

obtain a survey package, which contained an

introduction letter, a consent form, the survey

questionnaire, and the drop- box location for

the completed survey packages. The complet-

ed survey questionnaires and signed consent

forms were returned to a designated drop box

located in the student lounge at each site. The

survey was administered in English and took

about 30 to 45 minutes to complete. Data col-

lection was completed during the first month

of the students’ first semester.

Sample Representation

of Study Population

At Site 1, 37 of 94 full- time first- year students

(39.4%) participated in the study, compared to

29 out of 91 full- time first- year students (31.9%)

at Site 2. Of 66 participants, 60 students (36

from Site 1 and 24 from Site 2) reported having

prior work experience and were included in

the current study. To check the sample’s repre-

sentativeness, the sample in this study was

compared to the study population on two

available personal characteristics: percentage

of females and mean age. At neither site did the

sample vary significantly from the study popu-

lation regarding the two characteristics: female

(85.1% for the study population vs. 86.1% for

the sample at Site 1; 86.8% for the study popu-

lation vs. 95.8% for the sample at Site 2) and

mean age (27.73 years for the study population

vs. 28.67 years for the sample at Site 1; 28.16

years for the study population vs. 30.04 years

for the sample at Site 2).

Study Sample

Table 1 shows demographic characteristics for

the sample by total and by site. The total sam-

ple consisted of 54 female students and 6 male

students. Because the very small number of

male students might respond differently from



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the much larger sample of female students,

we compared the measures used in this study

by gender. Because no significant differences

were detected by gender, we included male

students for the rest of the analyses. Of the

sample, a majority (61.6%) reported that they

had worked in a direct social work service set-

ting (i.e., counseling or case management)

before entering the program, and their aver-

age years of experience was 2.6 years

(SD=1.22 years).

Comparing the students from two sites on

the study variables revealed that there was no

statistically significant difference on the

demographic (e.g., gender, age, prior work

experience, and marital status) and the study


TABLE 1. Demographic Characteristics of Participating Graduate Social WorkStudents for All and by Site

All (N=60) Site 1 (N=36) Site 2 (N=24)

Demographics f % f % f %

Gender

Female 54 90.0 31 86.1 23 95.8

Male 6 10.0 5 13.9 1 4.2

Age 29.2 SD=7.7 28.67 SD=6.59 30.04 SD=9.21

Marital status

Never married single 37 23 14

Married 7 5 2

Separated/divorced 6 2 4

Living with partner 9 5 4

Having a child(ren) 6 2 4

Father’s education level 15.47 SD=4.2 16.20 SD=3.56 14.42 SD=4.95

Mother’s education level 14.93 SD=4.15 15.44 SD=4.24 14.17 SD=3.66

Type of previous employment

Counseling 26 16 10

Case management 11 7 4

Management/planning (indirect service) 6 5 1

Other social service–related jobs (e.g., teaching) 17 8 9

Length of prior work experience (months) 27.24 SD=31.85 20.22 SD=15.33 38.22 SD=45.76

Amount of prior work experience (spent time with clients per week) 20.05 SD=12.09 19.08 SD=11.05 21.50 SD=13.62

Note. No significant difference on the demographic characteristics by site.


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variables, except for one variable: the “lack of

sense of accomplishment” dimension of burn -

out. Because this is the only significant differ-

ence detected by site, we decided to use the

whole sample for further data analysis to pre-

serve the sample size.

Measures

Burnout was measured by the Maslach Burnout

Inventory (MBI), developed by Maslach and

Jackson (1981, 1986). The MBI is composed of

three subscales corresponding to the three

dimensions of burnout (emotional exhaustion,

depersonalization, and lack of sense of person-

al accomplishment). As proposed by Maslach

and Jackson (1986), we examined these three

dimensions separately rather than combining

them into one construct to yield a better under-

standing of burnout. A more detailed descrip-

tion about each dimension is presented herein.

The Emotional Exhaustion (EE) subscale

consists of nine items that describe feelings of

being emotionally exhausted by one’s work.

Regarding the norm scores of this dimension,

Maslach and Jackson (1986) define scores

between 0 and 16 as low, between 17 and 26 as

moderate, and at 27 and more as high. The

Depersonalization (DP) subscale consists of

five items that describe lack of feelings toward

clients and becoming impersonal. Regarding

the norm scores of this dimension, Maslach

and Jackson define scores between 0 and 6 as

low, between 7 and 12 as moderate, and at 13

and more as high. The Personal Accomplish -

ment (PA) subscale consists of eight items that

describe feelings of accomplishment as well as

competence in one’s work. Regarding the

norm scores of this dimension, Maslach and

Jackson define scores between 0 and 31 as low,

between 32 and 38 as moderate, and at 39 and

more as high.

The items are statements about feelings

and attitudes, and the responses are given

using a 5-point Likert- type scale, ranging

from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5).

Sample items were “I feel emotionally drained

from my work” for emotional exhaustion, “I

don’t care what happens to some clients” for

depersonalization, and “I have accomplished

many worthwhile things at work” for person-

al accomplishment. Each dimension measures

separate aspects of burnout; therefore, the

scores within each dimension were combined,

indicating that high scores on the EE and DP

subscales and low scores on the PA subscale

show burnout.

Maslach and Jackson (1986) reported relia-

bility coefficients as follows: emotional exhaus-

tion, .82; depersonalization, .60; and personal

accomplishment, .86. For details on rating pro-

cedures, the reader is referred to published

sources (Maslach & Jackson, 1986). In our sam-

ple, the scale’s internal α reliability was .90 for

emotional exhaustion, .71 for depersonaliza-

tion, and .58 for personal accomplishment.

Emotional contagion, defined as individ-

ual differences in susceptibility to converge

toward the emotions expressed by others, was

measured by Dillard and Hunter’s (1989)

seven- item measure. Sample items were “I

tend to lose control when I am bringing bad

news to people,” “I cannot continue to feel OK

if people around me are depressed,” and “The

people around me have a great influence on

my moods.” Items were rated on a 4-point

scale from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree

(4). The range of possible sum scores was from

7 to 28, with higher scores indicating higher


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emotional contagion (i.e., more likely to be

susceptible to being influenced by others’ neg-

ative feelings). The measure’s psychometric

properties have been reported previously. For

instance, its convergent validity was demon-

strated by its significant association with

depressive trait and state measures (Dillard &

Hunter, 1989). The scale was shown to be reli-

able in the current study (the internal reliabil-

ity was .79).

Overidentification tendency was meas-

ured by a four- item Overidentification sub-

scale, which is one of six Self- Compassion

subscales (Neff, 2003). The items were “When

I’m feeling down I tend to obsess and fixate on

everything that is wrong,” “When I fail at

something important to me I become con-

sumed by feelings of inadequacy,” “When

something upsets me I get carried away with

my feelings,” and “When something painful

happens I tend to blow the incident out of pro-

portion.” The items were coded on a 5-point

scale from almost never (1) to almost always (5).

The range of possible sum scores was from 5

to 20, with higher scores indicating greater

overidentification. In her original study, Neff

(2003) demonstrated the scale’s excellent pre-

dictive validity and test–retest reliability

among college students (Cronbach’s α=.88 for

overidentification). In our sample of social

work students, the reliability of this subscale

was .74.

Trait anxiety was measured by Spiel -

berger’s (1983) 20-item Trait Anxiety In ven -

tory. Items were rated on a 4-point scale,

where 1=almost never, 2=sometimes, 3=often,

and 4=almost always. The items ask partici-

pants how they generally feel. Sample items

were “I worry too much over something that

really doesn’t matter,” “I am inclined to take

things hard,” and “I am content.” The items

were summed to create a trait anxiety score.

The range of possible sum scores was from 20

to 80, with higher scores indicating greater

trait anxiety. The psychometric properties of

the Trait Anxiety Inventory have been well

demonstrated (Barnes, Harp, & Jung, 2002).

The scale was shown to have good reliability

in this sample, with Cronbach’s α of .87.

Amount of prior work experience was

measured by number of hours spent with

clients per day. Answering a single open-

ended question, participants reported average

hours of direct contact with clients per day in

the previous workplace. A higher number of

hours represented a greater amount of prior

work experience.

Results

Testing the Study’s Research

Questions

In response to the first research question,

descriptive statistics were computed to exam-

ine the level of the three burnout subscales in

this sample. As shown in Table 2, students in

our sample reported a moderate EE score

(M=21.60, SD=7.27), a moderate DP score

(M=9.07, SD=3.24), and between a moderate

PA score (M=31.35, SD=2.95).

In response to the second research ques-

tion, Pearson’s product–moment correlation

was used to test the relationships between the

three personal traits and each of the three

dimensions of burnout (see Table 2). First, a

higher degree of overidentification tendency

was positively associated with both the EE

subscale and the DP subscale (r=.27, p<.01 and



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s ex

cept

for

the

“lac

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per

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l ach

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t”d

imen

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of

burn

out.

Part

icip

ants

in S

ite

1 sh

owed

a lo

wer

leve

l of

lack

of

pers

onal

ach

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men

t tha

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2 (t

=2.

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,p<

.05,

two-

taile

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st).

*p<

.05.

**p

<.0

1. *

**p<

.001

.


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r=.26, p<.05, two- tailed test, respectively), but

it showed no association with the sense of per-

sonal accomplishment. Second, a higher level

of trait anxiety was positively related with

emotional exhaustion and depersonalization

(r=.30, p<.05 and r=.26, p<.05, two- tailed test,

respectively), but it showed no association

with the sense of accomplishment. Third, a

higher level of emotional contagion was posi-

tively related with emotional exhaustion and

depersonalization and negatively associated

with the sense of accomplishment (r=.22,

p<.05; r=.31, p<.05; and r=–.21, p<.05, two-

tailed test, respectively). In sum, a person

with a higher overidentification tendency and

trait anxiety experiences a higher level of

emotional exhaustion and depersonalization.

Also, the higher a person’s level of emotional

contagion is, the more the person’s vulnerabil-

ity to burnout across all three domains.

To respond to the last research question,

multivariate linear regression on each dimen-

sion of burnout was carried out to examine

the impact of personal attributes on burnout

after controlling for prior work experience. As

shown in Table 2, due to a high percentage of

variance explained by the correlation between

overidentification tendency and trait anxiety

(r=.68, p<.001, two- tailed test), between overi-

dentification tendency and emotional conta-

gion (r=.39, p<.001, two- tailed test), and

between trait anxiety and emotional conta-

gion (r=.44, p<.001, two- tailed test), we decid-

ed to test for multicollinearity. The results of

the multicollinearity test using tolerance and

variance inflation factor (VIF) criteria revealed

that none of these variables showed multi-

collinearity problems; that is, the tolerance of

all the aforementioned independent variables

is more than .20 and the VIF is less than 4.0.

Thus, all three study variables were included

in further analyses as planned and all vari-

ables were entered in a single block for the

regression tests.

With regard to examining the joint effect

of the variables on burnout, interaction terms

were added to the model. To create an interac-

tion term, all three personal attribute variables

were centered by being subtracted from the

mean of each datum. Then, each interaction

term was added to the model to incorporate

the joint effect of the variables on the burnout

subscales. As shown in Table 3, two burnout

dimensions, the emotional exhaustion and

depersonalization models, were significant

(for the emotional exhaustion dimension:

adjusted R2=.22, F=2.98, p<.01, effect size=.49;

for the depersonalization dimension: adjusted

R2=.19, F=2.66, p<.05, effect size=.43). Using

two- tailed tests for the emotional exhaustion

dimension, the significant predictors were

emotional contagion (standardized β=1.40,

p<.05) and the interaction term between overi-

dentification tendency and emotional conta-

gion (standardized β=1.60, p<.01). For the

depersonalization dimension, the significant

predictor was the interaction term between

overidentification tendency and emotional

contagion (standardized β=1.33, p<.05), after

controlling for prior work experience and

joint effects of the personal attributes. The per-

sonal accomplishment dimension model was

not significant.

Discussion

By using an exploratory approach, we investi-

gated the proposed research questions, in -

cluding the assessment of burnout levels


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among entering MSW students with prior

work experience and the individual and joint

impact of three personal attributes on burnout

(emotional contagion, overidentification, and

trait anxiety). Results indicate that partici-

pants in the study showed a moderate level of

burnout across all three domains, specifically

moderate levels in emotional exhaustion and

depersonalization and between moderate and

high levels in personal accomplishment, in

comparison to the normative data of burnout

(Maslach & Jackson, 1986) described in the

Methods section. For emotional exhaustion

the mean was 21.6 (SD=7.27); for depersonal-

ization the mean was 9.07 (SD=3.24); and for

personal accomplishment the mean was 31.35

(SD=2.95). The moderate mean scores of

burnout dimensions in our sample are con-

gruent with Tobin and Carson’s study (1994)

of burnout among first- year MSW students in

which they found moderate mean scores

across three domains of burnout: the mean EE

score was 21.5 (SD=9.4), the mean DP score

was 7.0 (SD=8.7), and the mean PA score was

33.6 (SD=7.4).

Moderate scores on both emotional

exhaustion and depersonalization indicate

that entering MSW students with previous

work experience might have experienced

emotional suffering. However, moderate lev-

els in these domains suggest that entering

MSW students may not yet be clinically

burned out. However, the moderate levels

found in the emotional exhaustion and deper-

sonalization dimensions concern us. Ac cord -

ing to Maslach, Schaufeli, and Leiter (2001),


TABLE 3. Standardized Coefficients of Personal Attributes Contributing toBurnout Dimensions

Sense ofEmotional Personal

Variables Exhaustion Depersonalization Accomplishment

Adjusted R2 .22 .19 .06

F 2.98** 2.66* 1.43

Effect size .49 .43 .23

Overidentification tendency .19 .12 .25

Trait anxiety .33 −.01 .33

Emotional contagion 1.40* 1.03 −.62

Overidentification × Emotional Contagion 1.60** 1.33* −.58

Overidentification × Trait Anxiety .08 −.18 −.23

Trait Anxiety × Emotional Contagion −.01 .07 .05

Trait Anxiety × Overidentification × Emotional Contagion −.43 −.34 .10

Prior work experience .17 .19 .26

*p<.05. **p<.01, two-tailed test.


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burnout begins with initial overinvolvement

and emotional exhaustion, which leads to

depersonalization of clients and poor service

delivery. Without proper intervention at this

stage, the MSW students’ emotional states can

decline and they may experience feelings of

inadequacy toward the job and clients, lead-

ing to reduced job satisfaction and a lack of a

sense of personal accomplishment. Thus, the

findings of our study emphasize the need for

intervention strategies for entering MSW stu-

dents at this stage, which are discussed as part

of our study’s implications later in this sec-

tion. Regardless, it is important to note here

that the moderate level of personal accom-

plishment implies that the MSW students in

this study still may view their social work

experience as rewarding and fulfilling; this

finding seems to be harmonious with the non-

significant results of personal attributes on the

personal accomplishment dimension in the

analyses.

Bivariate analyses showed that both

overidentification tendency and trait anxiety

have strong independent relationships with

emotional exhaustion and depersonalization,

respectively. This finding supports that stu-

dents in our study with negative personal

traits (i.e., overidentification tendency and

trait anxiety) can be more predisposed to

burnout because they are more inclined to

interpret situations and events in a negatively

and emotionally charged manner than stu-

dents with positive and self- caring personal

traits. Because emotions are drawn out by

judgment (i.e., appraisals) of events and situa-

tions (Roseman & Smith, 2001), our findings

indicate that students with such negative per-

sonal traits experience much greater emotion-

al exhaustion than those with less negative

personal traits. However, the multivariate

analyses with the inclusion of emotional con-

tagion and prior work experience in the

model showed that neither of the two attrib-

utes alone predicted any dimensions of

burnout.

On the other hand, emotional contagion

showed a significant independent relation-

ship with all three dimensions of burnout at

the bivariate level. Further, it showed a signif-

icant role in predicting the core of burnout,

emotional exhaustion, in the multivariate

analyses. Thus, understanding the role of

emotional contagion appears to be an essen-

tial undertaking based on its independent and

joint detrimental impact on burnout. As men-

tioned before, emotional contagion is a

process whereby a worker “catches” the mood

of another, facilitated through responses from

social interaction (Hatfield et al., 1994). Bi var -

iate analyses showed that the more the work-

er catches the mood of another, the more the

worker experiences burnout. While emotional

contagion can promote the worker’s level of

understanding the needs, suffering, and wel-

fare of clients, it can also increase the worker’s

emotional involvement with clients, resulting

in emotional enmeshment and countertrans-

ference. There fore, emotionally engaged

workers may experience more burnout than

those who are less emotionally involved with

clients. Further, the multivariate results

showed that, after controlling for other per-

sonal attributes and prior work experience,

emotional contagion is still a significant factor

in emotional exhaustion, the core of burnout.

Lastly, the significant joint effect of overi-

dentification and emotional contagion on the



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dimensions of emotional exhaustion and

depersonalization in the multivariate analyses

showed that cognitive and emotional aspects

are interconnected, and personal traits such as

an approach tendency (e.g., overidentification

tendency) and an intensity of responsiveness

(e.g., emotional contagion) jointly influence

vulnerability to emotional exhaustion and

depersonalization. This finding indicates that

a person who identifies with negative

thoughts may have a high likelihood of expe-

riencing emotional contagion by catching his

or her client’s negative mood state, and its

interaction predicts higher emotional exhaus-

tion, which further leads to depersonalization.

Implications for Social Work

Education, Practice, and Research

Based on our results, we suggest four areas for

prevention and intervention: (1) developing

students’ self- awareness, including the ability

to differentiate between emotional contagion

and empathic concern; (2) teaching coping

skills; (3) addressing situational and organiza-

tional factors; and (4) preparing students

before they apply for and enter an MSW

program.

First, MSW programs could foster better

development of students’ self- awareness,

including the ability to differentiate between

emotional contagion and empathic concern.

Because the process of burnout can be subtle

and slowly progressive, often becoming

noticeable only in its advanced stages (Mas -

lach & Goldberg, 1998), entering MSW stu-

dents with prior work experience need to rec-

ognize and cope with their challenges and vul-

nerabilities by continuously working on devel-

oping self- awareness. Self- awareness is recog-

nized as a key component to a social worker’s

professional development, and it is significant-

ly linked to cultural competency (i.e., being

aware of one’s cultural background and corre-

sponding beliefs). Self- awareness needs to fur-

ther involve the examination and objectifica-

tion of the self, including personal attributes.

By becoming more aware of themselves, stu-

dents will be more apt to recognize their per-

sonal attributes and associated signs and

symptoms. This can be the first step in pre-

venting or ameliorating emotional exhaustion.

Similarly, self- awareness involves the dif-

ferentiation between empathic concern and

emotional contagion. Empathic concern is

one’s experience of a particular affective

response to a concerned person (Duan & Hill,

1996), and those with greater empathic con-

cern can build relationships better with peo-

ple they engage and work with by caring

about and understanding their emotional

needs (Goldman, 1998). On the other hand,

emotional contagion is one’s emotional

enmeshment with others, resulting in dimin-

ished objectivity, which consequently increas-

es the likelihood of experiencing burnout.

These two different dimensions of empathy

might not be well recognized in practice set-

tings or in the social work literature.

Social work students work with clients in

their field practicum settings and face acute or

long- term situations such as poverty, health

problems, mental illness, trauma, abuse,

violence, dying and death, interpersonal tur-

moil, and behavioral problems. When people

exhibit facial expressions of fear, anger, sad-

ness, or disgust, which are fairly common

among clients in social service agencies, oth-

ers often feel the emotion associated with



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those specific expressions via relatively auto-

matic processes (e.g., mimicry and synchro-

nization of emotion between people; Joiner &

Katz, 1999). There fore, educating students

about being aware of their emotional process-

es, with special emphasis on emotional conta-

gion, is essential for professional, objective,

and empathic interaction with clients. Social

work educators and field supervisors are

invaluable teachers and models for MSW stu-

dents to develop self- awareness. Helping stu-

dents to understand personal attributes and

how to attenuate them can remedy the very

root of emotional exhaustion, potentially

increasing students’ commitment to the pro-

fession, excellence in service delivery, and

personal well- being.

Second, as indicated in our sample of

entering MSW students through their relative-

ly high trait anxiety scores and moderate levels

of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization

before even entering the social work field,

without proper intervention, those in social

work may experience emotional and psycho-

logical challenges, often leading to burnout.

Field supervisors and social work educators

could emphasize the importance of teaching

students techniques to man age stress, such as

mindfulness exercises and coping skills, to

ameliorate emotional responses to difficult sit-

uations in the field. Helping students develop

effective coping strategies can enhance their

personal well- being and professional compe-

tence, which ultimately will be beneficial to

both workers and clients (Champman,

Oppenheim, Shi bu sawa, & Jackson, 2003;

Chang et al., 2004). For instance, incorporating

stress management training using cognitive-

behavioral approaches, deep breathing and

relaxation therapy, and mindfulness or spiritu-

ality exercises into some components of field

training and MSW curricula could be effective.

Through these actions, students could learn to

monitor themselves for the presence of symp-

toms related to their personal attributes (e.g.,

identifying themselves with negative thoughts

and worries), handle stress more effectively,

prevent the more negative aspects of emotion-

al contagion, and specify personal qualities

that enhance effective social work practice.

Third, although the suggested burnout in -

tervention and prevention strategies focus on

individual- centered solutions based on the

notions of individual causality on burnout, sit-

uational and organizational factors play just as

significant a role (Maslach & Goldberg, 1998;

Maslach et al., 2001). The aforementioned

individual- oriented ap proach es (e.g., becom-

ing more aware of oneself or developing effec-

tive coping skills) may help social work stu-

dents alleviate burnout to some degree.

However, as Maslach and her colleagues (2001)

recommended, organizational changes and

workplace climate changes could also be made

to combat burnout. Continuous efforts target-

ing agency- based interventions such as open

communication, control and reward, collegiali-

ty among staff, fair treatment, and effective

supervision should accompany individual-

oriented interventions.

Finally, our suggestions thus far have

addressed issues related to after a student

enters an MSW program, but just as impor-

tant, if not more so, is the preparation of

prospective students before they enter an

MSW program. Applicants and those interest-

ed in the social work profession should famil-

iarize themselves with the expectations,



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demands, and challenges of being a graduate

student in this field. Many students may

encounter stress and exhaustion leading to

burnout given just the volume and intensity

of the coursework and required hours of field

training. The potential for burnout is even

greater for those MSW students who have

outside responsibilities, such as caring for a

family or working part time or even full time

in order to afford tuition for school.

More important, students should become

aware of the components of burnout and how

their disposition could affect their ability to

succeed in an MSW program and in their

careers. As part of recruitment or preparation

for application, prospective students could be

oriented to the concepts of emotional conta-

gion, overidentification, and trait anxiety so as

to become more aware of areas for profession-

al and personal growth, which can lead not

only to reduced susceptibility to burnout but

also to greater success in the profession.

Although there might be little one can do to

change work, family, and financial circum-

stances, being better informed and prepared

to meet the academic, physical, emotional,

and time demands could decrease the poten-

tial for burnout. Regardless of the good inten-

tions and kindheartedness of many students,

those unable to cope or manage burnout effec-

tively might not be suited for this profession

and should consider entertaining a different

career choice.

Study Limitations and Directions

for Future Research

The findings of this study should be interpret-

ed with certain limitations in mind, which

also deserve attention in future research. First

and foremost, the study’s sampling method

and the small sample size limit the generaliz-

ability of the findings to other MSW students

in California and in the United States. While

inclusion of MSW students from two different

sites increased the sample’s representative-

ness, the study was implemented in one area

on the West Coast of the United States. Future

research needs to use a larger and more repre-

sentative sample of students across geograph-

ical locations and from a wider range of back-

grounds. Second, the study only examined the

relationship between three personal attributes

and burnout. Future research needs to address

how each attribute contributes to specific

processes and dynamics with situations or

conditions in the workplace and even in the

social work educational setting. This should

include mixed research methods and qualita-

tive inquiry components. In- depth and narra-

tive data would add better understanding as

to why burnout occurs, which components

might be more relevant, and steps to address

burnout. Third, the current data were cross-

sectional. Thus, we cannot draw any defini-

tive conclusions on the causal effects of per-

sonal attributes on burnout. It is possible that

those students with a higher level of burnout

might have reported being more worried and

self- judgmental and more emotionally entan-

gled with others. A prospective, longitudinal

design would determine the direction of the

relationships between these variables. Fourth,

the current study did not include the impact of

students’ resiliency and coping skills on

burnout. To paint a more comprehensive and

accurate picture, future research should take

protective factors (e.g., social support, self- care

strategies, spirituality and life philosophies,



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Accepted: 05/11

Meekyung Han is associate professor, Sang E. Lee is assistant professor, and Peter Allan Leeis professor at the San José State University.

The study was supported by a faculty research grant to the first author from the School of Social Work,

San José State University, and a faculty grant from the University of California, Berkeley, to Dr. Yu- Wen

Ying. Meekyung Han would like to thank Dr. Yu- Wen Ying for mentorship and collaboration with the data

collection. Amy Benton and Anna- Maria Karnes assisted with the data collection, and Jing Guo assisted

with data management.

Address correspondence to Meekyung Han, School of Social Work, One Washington Square, San José

State University, San José, CA 95192-0124; e- mail: [email protected].


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Burnout among Entering MSW Students: Exploring the Role of Personal Attributes

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