Can hard work trigger burnout? An empirical data of a laboratory experiment

The present study examined the psychological mechanisms underlying burnout. Burnout is regarded as a work-related chronic stress syndrome that combines emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. To elucidate precursors of burnout, we focused on enthusiasm for work and conducted two experiments demonstrating the accumulation of mental fatigue in a laboratory setting. Sixty-four (Study 1) and eighty-one (Study 2) undergraduates participated in the experiments. Participants were told to play the role of a therapist and social worker and reply to a letter from an imaginary client. Burnout was operationally defined as an increase in mental fatigue prior to the posterior exchange of letters. Mental fatigue was measured four times via a visual analogue scale. Feedback regarding subjective rewards was manipulated to examine the effects of work enthusiasm on mental fatigue; an effort index, time index, and subjective index were used to measure enthusiasm. Results from Study 1 revealed that mental fatigue was not determined by enthusiasm but, rather, rewards. Study 2 revealed similar results when participants twice engaged in the role-playing task. Mental fatigue recovered before the second role-playing task, but stronger mental fatigue was observed after the second task. Moreover, results suggested that participants with high idealism and a sense of mission were likely to maintain an enthusiastic approach to the “patient,” even absent an external reward. These findings suggest that those who develop burnout work hard without a reciprocal reward due to idealism and a sense of mission, which can facilitate long-term accumulation of mental fatigue.<br>