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Exploring within- and between-gender differences in burnout: 8 different occupational groups

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Abstract

Objectives

The aim of this study was to examine gender differences in burnout within and between occupations using latent mean analysis.

Methods

Burnout was measured using the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI), designed to assess the two sub-dimension exhaustion and disengagement. Men and women from eight different occupational groups in Norway were investigated: lawyers, physicians, nurses, teachers, church ministers, bus drivers and people working in advertising and information technology (n = 4,965). The average age was 42 years (SD 10.8), and 50.5% of the respondents were female. Within- and between-gender differences were examined by multi-group latent mean analysis by means of LISREL.

Results

Significant latent mean differences in the two dimensions of burnout between men and women were demonstrated. In general, the analyses indicate that overall, women report more exhaustion, but not more disengagement, than men. However, separate analyses indicate that the gender differences vary across occupational groups, especially for the disengagement dimension. Within-gender analyses suggest an approximately similar burnout profile across occupational groups for men and women.

Conclusions

Despite gender equality in society in general, and inconclusive findings in previous studies on gender differences in burnout, women in this study seem to experience slightly higher burnout levels than men. Occupational differences found in the burnout profiles indicate that some professions may be more prone to burnout than others. For the occupational groups most at risk, more research is needed to disclose potential organizational factors that may make these workers more prone to burnout than others.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Centre for Health Promotion and Resources HiST/NTNU, Department of Social Work and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491, Trondheim, Norway

    Siw Tone Innstrand

  2. Division of Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway

    Ellen Melbye Langballe

  3. Oslo University Hospital, Aker, Norway

    Erik Falkum

  4. Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Erik Falkum

  5. The Research Institute, Norwegian Medical Association, Oslo, Norway

    Olaf Gjerløw Aasland

  6. Department of Health Management and Health Economics, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Olaf Gjerløw Aasland

Authors
  1. Siw Tone Innstrand
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  2. Ellen Melbye Langballe
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  3. Erik Falkum
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  4. Olaf Gjerløw Aasland
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Siw Tone Innstrand.

Additional information

The data collection was founded by the Research Institute of the Norwegian Medical Association.

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Innstrand, S.T., Langballe, E.M., Falkum, E. et al. Exploring within- and between-gender differences in burnout: 8 different occupational groups. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 84, 813–824 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-011-0667-y

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