Personality, social support and burnout among human service professionals in India

Abstract

Recent research has investigated the relationship between personality and social support in predicting various forms of adjustment. This study explores this relationship in a sample of 137 human service professionals engaged in post-degree clinical skills training at the Christian Counselling Centre in Vellore, India. The impact of certain forms of social support on burnout was examined, after controlling for the effect of the personality trait of anxiety. As hypothesized, perceived social support was negatively associated with burnout, even after controlling for the effects of anxiety. This pattern was strongest for the males in this sample. Emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were the components of burnout most strongly related to perceived support. The perception of support received from 'work-related' and 'other' relationships made a stronger contribution than did 'family' or 'social' ties with respect to burnout. Implications for future cross-cultural investigation of the relationships among personality, social support and adjustment are discussed.

The PASS-Q: The Perceived Available Support in Sport Questionnaire

“…All four PASS-Q dimensions were also signi cantly related to burnout. The negative relationship between social support and burnout is congruent with previous research in both sport (Raedeke & Smith, 2004) and work contexts (Brown et al, 2003). The ndings, however, were not completely consistent with the suggestion of Cutrona and Russell (1990) that esteem support is the most effective dimension in achievement contexts.…”

“…Second, the ndings demonstrate that available emotional, esteem, informational, and tangible support were signi cantly correlated with self-con dence and burnout. Previous research has also noted the link between support and both self-con dence (Rees & Freeman, 2007) and burnout (Brown et al, 2003). The results of the regression analyses only partially supported the prediction of Cutrona and Russell (1990) that esteem support is the key dimension in achievement contexts.…”

“…Further, House and Kahn (1985) argued that establishing the validity of a social support measure involves consideration of the relationships between the measure and outcomes of theoretical and empirical relevance. The bene cial effects of social support have been noted for self-con dence (Freeman & Rees, 2010;Rees & Freeman, 2007) and burnout (Brown, Prashantham, & Abbott, 2003;Raedeke & Smith, 2004). Theory and empirical evidence has highlighted that there are different models in which social support may be associated with outcomes.…”

Spirituality, religion, and emotional labor in the workplace

“…For example, social support is negatively associated with burnout, depersonalization, and emotional exhaustion (Baruch-Feldman et al 2002;Brotheridge and Lee 2002;Brown et al 2003). Social support is also positively associated with satisfaction and productivity (Baruch-Feldman et al 2002), and with personal accomplishment (Eriksson et al 2009).…”

A Review of Contemporary Research on the Relationship Between Occupational Stress and Social Support: Where Are We Now?

“…The study examined the relationship between perceived social support, burnout, and emotional exhaustion, whilst controlling for trait anxiety (Brown, Prashantham, & Abbott, 2003). Perceived social support was assessed through the Social Network Assessment Profile (Brown, Prashantham, & Abbott, 2003).…”