Measuring Salesperson Burnout: A Reduced Maslach Burnout

Inventory for Sales Researchers

Brian N. Rutherford, G. Alexander Hamwi, Scott B. Friend, and Nathaniel N. Hartmann

Given the negative effect that burnout has on the sales force, such as increased turnover intentions and decreased perfor-
mance, measurement improvements on this multidimensional construct can have implications regarding how to manage
the drivers and outcomes of burnout. However, little is known about the impact of the multiple burnout dimensions
in sales contexts because researchers typically opt to collect data using the emotional exhaustion subscale instead of the
complete Maslach burnout inventory, which also includes personal accomplishment and depersonalization facets. Using
business-to-business and retail salespeople, this study reduces the 22-item burnout scale to 10 items in order to facilitate
salesperson burnout research.

Salesperson burnout is a multidimensional process that has
been shown to decrease salesperson job satisfaction (Mulki,
Jaramillo, and Locander 2006), organizational commitment
(Rutherford et al. 2009), and performance (Babakus et al.
1999), while increasing a salesperson’s turnover intentions
(e.g., Boles, Johnston, and Hair 1997; Jaramillo, Mulki, and
Locander 2006). Given the substantial organizational and indi-
vidual costs associated with these implications (Singh, Goolsby,
and Rhoads 1994), the need to better understand job-related
burnout has reached critical levels in today’s workforce (Leiter
and Maslach 2001; Sand and Miyazaki 2000). This is especially
true for salespeople because boundary-spanner roles are sus-
ceptible to heightened levels of burnout as they perform tasks
with important outcomes against the competing demands of
customers, suppliers, and the employing organization (Boles,
Johnston, and Hair 1997; Cordes and Dougherty 1993; Singh,
Goolsby, and Rhoads 1994). Despite the implications that are
particularly applicable to sales personnel and sales managers,
Lewin and Sager (2007) indicate that burnout has been drasti-
cally overlooked within the sales literature.
A notable contribution of the early conceptualizations
of burnout was the development of the multicomponent
construct (Lewin and Sager 2007); however, sales researchers
Brian N. Rutherford (Ph.D., Georgia State University), As-
sistant Professor of Marketing and Professional Sales, Michael J.
Coles College of Business, Kennesaw State University, bruther1@
kennesaw.edu.
G. Alexander Hamwi (Ph.D., Georgia State University), Assistant
Professor of Marketing, Missouri State University, alexhamwi@
missouristate.edu.
Scott B. Friend (Ph.D., Georgia State University), Assistant Professor
of Marketing, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, sfriend2@unl.edu.
Nathaniel N. Hartmann (MBA, Purdue University), Ph.D. Can-
didate, Purdue University, nnhartma@purdue.edu.
primarily focus on the emotional exhaustion facet of burnout
(e.g., Babakus et al. 1999; Mulki, Jaramillo, and Locander
2006; Rutherford, Park, and Han 2011; Rutherford et al.
2009). Therefore, while the burnout scale is composed of three
distinct facets—emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and
personal accomplishment (Maslach and Jackson 1986)—Sand
and Miyazaki (2000) state that research assessing burnout
reduction has little concern for the multifaceted components.
While the development of burnout measurement instruments,
such as the Maslach burnout inventory (MBI) (Maslach and
Jackson 1981, 1986), has allowed for multicomponent views
(Sand and Miyazaki 2000), the length of these scales may
be creating measurement concerns that contribute to sales
researchers avoiding the full assessment of burnout.
Thomas, Soutar, and Ryan’s (2001) work on reducing the
selling orientation–customer orientation (SOCO) scale from
24 items to 10 items suggests if a scale is used to examine
interrelationships with other constructs that have multiple-
item scales, questionnaire length can become an issue. The
MBI contains 22 items to measure the three facets of burnout
(Maslach and Jackson 1981). As sales researchers primarily
focus on the emotional exhaustion dimension, only 9 of the
22 items from the full MBI scale are typically captured. To
aid firms in better understanding and controlling salesperson
burnout, it is important for sales researchers to develop an
understanding of salesperson burnout beyond the emotional
exhaustion facet. A significant reduction in the burnout scale’s
length, while maintaining the scale’s dimensionality and
consistency, may have the following effects: (1) yield a more
reliable and valid scale by reducing response fatigue and acqui-
escence bias, (2) make it possible to include the constructs in
larger studies with other multiple item scales, and (3) reduce
heightened concerns from participating organizations for long
academic surveys that consume valuable employee work time
(e.g., Thomas, Soutar, and Ryan 2001).

Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, vol. XXXI, no. 4 (fall 2011), pp. 429–440.
© 2011 PSE National Educational Foundation. All rights reserved.
ISSN 0885-3134 / 2011 $9.50 + 0.00.
DOI 10.2753/PSS0885-3134310405
430  Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management
Given the sequencing issues and the lack of full utilization
of burnout within a sales context (Lewin and Sager 2007), this
paper reduces the MBI to make the examination of burnout
more convenient to sales researchers, and less taxing to respon-
dents, while capturing each of the three facets of burnout.
Results show that the reduced burnout scale yields potential
for sales researchers to more parsimoniously examine all three
MBI facets of burnout within a sales context.
Background
Burnout: Conceptual Domain
Christina Maslach is typically credited as being the pioneer for
modern-day research in burnout. Maslach and Jackson’s (1981)
three-component conceptualization—emotional exhaustion,
depersonalization, and personal accomplishment—and MBI
have received considerable support from various disciplines and
are perceived by researchers to be among the most influential
contributions in the study of burnout (Cordes and Dougherty
1993). The first aspect of burnout, emotional exhaustion, is
defined as “the feeling of being emotionally overextended and
exhausted by one’s work” (Maslach and Jackson 1981, p. 101).
Emotional exhaustion is formed as a result of excessive psycho-
logical and emotional demands (Maslach and Jackson 1986)
and is characterized by feelings of helplessness, feelings of a lack
of accomplishment, decreases in self-esteem, and the develop-
ment of negative attitudes toward customers, the organization,
their jobs, and themselves (Cordes and Dougherty 1993). In
a sales setting, these job-related demands may be caused by
increasing levels of role stress, and the emotional exhaustion
component of burnout has been associated with the dread
of returning to work, increased absenteeism, and ultimately,
withdrawal from the profession (Lewin and Sager 2007).
The second dimension of burnout, depersonalization, is
described as detachment from the organization and clients as
individuals (Cordes and Dougherty 1993). In a sales setting,
symptoms of depersonalization may result from the external
attribution of a failed sales opportunity, thus resulting in what
Maslach and Jackson (1981) describe as an impersonal response
toward recipients of one’s care or service (i.e., customers). De-
personalization’s associated negative attitudes toward clients,
coworkers, and managers, as well as feelings of helplessness
and lack of control (Lewin and Sager 2007), thus have a sig-
nificant negative effect on all ends of the boundary-spanning
exchange.
The third aspect of burnout, personal accomplishment, is
described by Maslach and Jackson as “feelings of competence
and successful achievement in one’s work with people” (1981,
p. 101). Within the literature, personal accomplishment is often
examined as diminished personal accomplishment to reflect the
waning feelings of success and competence. These feelings typi-
cally stem from factors that suggest one is ineffective or unappre-
ciated, which in a sales setting are driven by unmet quotas and
diminished self-efficacy (Lewin and Sager 2007). Salespeople
that experience low levels of personal accomplishment, or high
levels of reduced personal accomplishment, are characterized
by attributions of inefficacy, reduced motivation, and low self-
esteem (Singh, Goolsby, and Rhoads 1994). In extreme cases,
people no longer believe their actions make a difference and
they quit trying (Singh, Goolsby, and Rhoads 1994).
Maslach and Jackson (1981) note that personal accomplish-
ment is independent of emotional exhaustion and deperson-
alization in that emotional exhaustion and depersonalization
are negative and personal accomplishment is not. They further
note that personal accomplishment is not the opposite of
the other two facets and a low correlation between personal
accomplishment and both depersonalization and emotional
exhaustion exists.
Methodology
Analytic Approach
In this section, we describe the steps taken to reduce the
22‑item MBI to the 10‑item reduced scale. Given that many
scale refinement articles are published within the field of
marketing, the present paper primarily focuses on scale re-
finement articles that are published within the field of selling
and sales management for guidance (e.g., Amyx and Bhuian
2009; Comer, Machleit, and Lagace 1989; Fleming and Artis
2010; Panagopoulos and Avlonitis 2008; Thomas, Soutar,
and Ryan 2001). Both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and
a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted in this
analysis, which is consistent with the method used by Amyx
and Bhuian (2009) and Amyx et al. (2008). Next, convergent
and discriminant validity were examined using established
guidelines (see Comer, Machleit, and Lagace 1989; Periatt,
LeMay, and Chakrabarty 2004; Thomas, Soutar, and Ryan
2001). Nomological validity was established using the same
process as Comer, Machleit, and Lagace (1989), followed by
a series of regression analyses.
Scale Items
Given that the MBI is a copyrighted scale, permission to use
the items was obtained, but permission to show the full scale
items in this paper was not permitted. For reference purposes,
this study followed the same sequencing of items as the
Maslach and Jackson (1981) study. Hence, items 1–9 refer to
the 9 items, in the same order, from the emotional exhaustion
facet (see Maslach and Jackson 1981, p. 102), items 10–17
refer to the 8 items, in the same order, from the personal ac-
complishment facet (pp. 102–103), and items 18–22 refer to

the 5 items, in the same order, from the depersonalization facet
(p. 103). For the present study, the personal accomplishment
items are not reversed coded to stay consistent with the original
burnout facets. Hence, the facet is personal accomplishment
versus being called diminished/reduced personal accomplish-
ment if the items were reversed coded.
Sample Split
Researchers conducting scale refinement have used both single
and multiple samples in their analyses. According to Hinkin
(1995), 50 out of 75 articles from the top 6 organizational
behavior journals used single samples, whereas only 25 used
multiple samples within scale development and testing pro-
cesses. Within the sales literature, researchers have used a single
(e.g., Amyx and Bhuian 2009; Marks, Vorhies, and Badovick
1996) or combined (e.g., Robinson et al. 2002) sample when
conducting scale refinement studies. One sales scale refinement
study using a single sample (Comer, Machleit, and Lagace
1989) split the sample into two subsamples for cross-validation
of the INDSALES scale. The present study follows the Comer
Machleit, and Lagace (1989) article and split the sample into
two subsamples: business-to-business (B2B) salespeople and
retail/consumer salespeople.
Data Collection
To collect the data for this study, Markettools’s online panel
was used. Within the panel’s profiling, panel participates were
able to classify themselves as working in sales. For the purposes
of this study, respondents were required to work in sales, but
not required to work within a specific industry. In part, this
allowed for the increased ability to generalize the study’s find-
ings. To compensate participants who completed the survey,
incentive points were provided by the panel company that
could be redeemed for merchandise.
A total of 2,443 potential respondents entered the online
site where the questionnaire was posted. Once 1,050 respon-
dents completed the questionnaire, the survey was no longer
available for other potential respondents to complete, leaving
281 partially incomplete surveys. Within the sample, respon-
dents were eliminated if they did not have one or more years
of experience as a salesperson, had not worked for their present
company for at least one full year, or if they indicated they
were the owner of the business, leaving 829 respondents.
Given the scale refinement process, respondents needed to
classify themselves as (1) inside or outside retail or (2) inside
or outside B2B sales. Respondent who did not classify them-
selves in one of these categories were removed from inclusion
in the present study. In total, 166 respondents were removed
based on this criterion, leaving 663 potential respondents.
Further, respondents that failed to provide complete responses
Fall 2011  431
for the needed items were removed using listwise deletion. In
total, 606 respondents were used in this study, of which 227
classified themselves as B2B salespeople and 379 classified
themselves as retail/consumer salespeople. The effective usable
response rate was 24.8 percent.
Sample Profile
Based on the insights of previous research (e.g., Marks,
Vorhies, and Badovick 1996; Robinson et al. 2002), this
research recognizes the importance of sampling a wide range
of selling organizations to comprehensively examine the psy-
chometric properties of burnout. Respondents were classified
using the North American Industry Classification System
(NAICS). B2B salespeople were classified within the system
using all sectors except sector 44 and 45, which are both retail
trade sectors. Retail salespeople were primarily coded within
sectors 44 and 45. Respondents whose primary focus was on
consumers and worked in sector 52 (Finance and Insurance)
or 53 (Real Estate and Rental and Leasing) were also included
in the retail sample. Appendix  A provides a breakdown of
B2B respondents based on their two-digit sector code, and
Appendix B provides a breakdown of retail/consumer based
respondents based on their three-digit code.
The average age of the respondents was 46 years, with
a range between 18 and 81. Approximately 45 percent of
the respondents were male, and the average respondent had
been in sales and worked for their present company just over
8.5 years. College degrees were held by 47.5 percent of the
respondents. Further, the respondents worked approximately
39 hours per week on average, and the median monthly com-
pensation was $2,500.
Differences existed between the B2B respondents and retail
respondents. The B2B respondents were approximately 60 per-
cent male, whereas the retail respondents were approximately
36 percent male. On average, the B2B respondents had 2.5
years more experience in sales than the retail respondents. In
addition, the B2B respondents worked just under 45 hours
per week on average, whereas the retail respondents worked
approximately 35 hours per week. The median monthly com-
pensation was $5,000 for the B2B respondents and $1,500
for the retail respondents. Finally, just over 62 percent of the
B2B respondents had a college education, whereas just over
38 percent of the retail sample had a college education.
Analysis and Results
Factor Analysis
The B2B sample was analyzed first by conducting an explor-
atory factor analysis (EFA). Varimax rotation was utilized
with coefficients between –0.40 and 0.40 being suppressed.
432  Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management
In total, four factors emerged. Of the four factors, two factors
contained items from the personal accomplishment dimension
only. Specifically, six personal accomplishment items loaded on
one factor and three items loaded on the other factor (one item
loaded on both). The three items that loaded on the second
factor were eliminated (items 10, 11, and 14; see Table 1).
These three items appeared to focus more on actual interac-
tions versus what is accomplished from those interactions.
Further, item 20 from the depersonalization dimension and
item 13 from the personal accomplishment dimension were
removed due to loading on the emotional exhaustion factor
in addition to loadings on their respective factor. Item  13
examined whether a respondent is “energetic,” thus given
that emotional exhaustion examines a person’s lack of energy,
or level of exhaustion, it is not surprising that the item had
a strong negative loading (–0.42) on the emotional exhaus-
tion factor. Item 20 used the word “emotionally”; thus, it is
also not surprising that it also loads (0.60) on the emotional
exhaustion factor.
Following the EFA, a series of confirmatory factor analyses
(CFAs) were conducted. The first CFA contained all 22 items
and the second contained 17 items based on the results of
the EFA. Table 2 provides a summary of all CFAs conducted
within this study. Table 1 provides standardized path coefficient
estimates for each CFA. The 22‑item CFA produced marginal
overall fit (χ² = 798, degrees of freedom [df ] = 206, comparative
fit index [CFI] = 0.92, root mean square error of approxima-
tion [RMSEA] = 0.12, standardized root mean square residual
[SRMR] = 0.10). The reduced 17‑item CFA produced better
overall fit (χ² = 383, df = 116, CFI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.11,
SRMR = 0.075). Modification indices and standardized load-
ings revealed that the fit of the model could be improved by
deleting several additional items. Specifically, items 1, 4, 7,
8, and 9 were removed from the emotional exhaustion scale.
While all five of these items produced strong loadings, items
were removed given the overall number of items and overall
improvements in model fit. Item 17 was removed from the
personal accomplishment scale. Given that item 17 uses the
word “emotional,” it is not surprising that model fit would be
improved by removing this item from the personal accomplish-
ment factor. Item 22 was removed from the depersonalization
scale. Of the depersonalization items, item 22 examines the
respondent’s feelings about how others view the respondent,
whereas the other items examine how the respondent feels/
treats others. In total, 10 items were examined in the final
model (4 items from emotional exhaustion, 3 from personal
accomplishment, and 3 from depersonalization). The final
model produced good overall fit (χ² = 80, df = 32, CFI = 0.97,
RMSEA = 0.078, SRMR = 0.061). Each item within the re-
duced 10‑item scale produced significant t‑values.
Finally, the remaining 10 items were re‑run through an
EFA. Varimax rotation was again utilized with coefficients
between –0.40 and 0.40 being suppressed. Three factors
emerged, which assessed each of the three dimensions of
burnout as loading on their respective factor. Hence, both
EFA and CFA support the reduced items loading on their
respective constructs.
Next, the retail sample was used in cross-validation. Like
the B2B sample, the retail sample was examined using both an
EFA and a CFA. For reference, results from the full 22‑item
CFA are provided in Tables 1 and 2. However, the focus of
the retail sample was on the reduced 10‑item scale. Within
the EFA, three factors emerged that assessed each of the three
dimensions of burnout as loading on their respective factor.
The 10‑item scale produce good overall fit (χ² = 109, df = 32,
CFI = 0.97, RMSEA = 0.081, SRMR = 0.056). Further, each
item yielded significant t‑values, indicating each item makes
a satisfactory contribution to its given factor. Like the B2B
sample, the EFA and CFA from the retail sample support the
reduced items loading on their respective constructs.
Convergent and Discriminant Validity
Given that the reduced salesperson burnout scale is psycho-
metrically sound, ensuring that useful information was not
lost when reducing the scale from 22 items to 10 items was
essential. Correlations were examined between the full item
summated scales and the final item summated scales as de-
scribed by Podsakoff and MacKenzie (1994) and recently
used within a sales context by Panagopoulos and Avlonitis
(2008) and Periatt, LeMay, and Chakrabarty (2004). The
correlation between the full 9‑item emotional exhaustion
scale and the reduced 4‑item scale was 0.972 within the B2B
sample and 0.973 within the retail sample. The summated
8‑item personal accomplishment scale was compared with the
reduced 3‑item summated scale. The correlations were 0.873
within the B2B sample and 0.909 within the retail sample.
The 5‑item depersonalization summated scale was compared
with the reduced 3‑item summated scale. Correlations were
0.942 within both the B2B and retail samples. The average
correlations were 0.929 in the B2B sample and 0.941 in the
retail sample, providing a good indication that the scales are
measuring the same constructs. In sum, reducing the 22‑item
scale to 10 items within a sales context sacrifices limited in-
formation, while enabling researchers to reduce respondent
fatigue and capture all three dimensions of burnout.
Reliability Assessment
The coefficient alphas for all the facets of burnout meet the
reliability guidelines provided by Nunnally (1978). Emotional
exhaustion had the highest overall alpha for both the B2B
sample (0.92) and retail sample (0.94). Personal accomplish-
ment yielded an acceptable alpha within both samples (0.78).
 Fall 2011  433

Table 1
Standardized Estimates of Path Coefficients and t-Values
22-Item 17-Item 10-Item 22-Item 10-Item
B2B B2B B2B Retail Retail

Emotional Exhaustion
1 1.56 1.56 — 1.68 —
2 1.56 1.56 1.50 1.62 1.60
(17.63) (17.78) (24.28)
3 1.57 1.57 1.58 1.68 1.70
(17.80) (17.88) (15.74) (24.49) (22.41)
4 1.20 1.20 — 1.26 —
(13.21) (13.19) (17.66)
5 1.68 1.68 1.71 1.83 1.87
(18.40) (18.41) (16.37) (29.11) (25.58)
6 1.60 1.60 1.63 1.83 1.81
(16.39) (16.45) (15.06) (25.73) (22.33)
7 1.49 1.49 — 1.61 —
(15.64) (15.72) (20.98)
8 1.15 1.15 — 1.16 —
(13.08) (13.05) (16.96)
9 1.51 1.51 — 1.57 —
(16.48) (16.47) (22.65)
Personal Accomplishment
10 0.40 — — 0.60 —
11 0.56 — — 0.75 —
(3.73) (7.12)
12 1.04 1.15 1.12 1.06 0.96
(4.17) (7.65)
13 0.95 — — 1.13 —
(4.13) (7.81)
14 0.81 — — 1.08 —
(4.12) (7.98)
15 0.90 0.86 0.85 1.16 1.11
(4.18) (9.03) (8.50) (7.89) (10.62)
16 0.92 1.00 1.05 1.25 1.44
(4.14) (9.51) (8.79) (7.81) (10.59)
17 0.73 0.67 — 0.87 —
(4.05) (0.08) (7.36)
Depersonalization
18 0.92 1.00 1.00 0.95 1.15
19 1.47 1.46 1.50 1.49 1.32
(9.76) (10.29) (9.89) (11.70) (10.61)
20 1.44 — — 1.72 —
(9.53) (12.24)
21 1.10 1.18 1.16 0.97 1.14
(8.90) (9.94) (9.76) (9.40) (10.40)
22 1.06 1.03 — 1.12 —
(7.85) (8.01) (9.65)

Note: t-values are shown in parentheses.

434  Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management
Table 2
Fit of the Measurement Models
n χ2
22-Item B2B 227 798
17-Item B2B 227 383
10-Item B2B 227 80
22-Item Retail 379 1,190
10-Item Retail 379 109
Notes: B2B = business-to-business; df = degrees of freedom; CFI = comparative fit index; RMSEA = root mean square error of approximation;
SRMR = standardized root mean square residual.
Finally, depersonalization yielded a slightly higher alpha within
the B2B sample (0.83) compared to the retail sample (0.75).
Average Variance Extracted
All constructs had at least 50 percent of their variance extracted
with the 10‑item scale establishing convergent validity (Fornell
and Larcker 1981). Emotional exhaustion had 73.5 percent
and 78.4 percent of the variance extracted within the B2B and
retail sample, respectively. Personal accomplishment had 54.4
percent and 54.6 percent of the variance extracted within the
B2B and retail sample, respectively. Depersonalization had
61.8 percent and 50.0 percent of the variance extracted within
the B2B and retail sample, respectively.
Nomological Validity with Correlations
Nomological validity requires that the results generated from
the 10‑item scale be consistent with theory and previous
research. Five variables in the sales literature consistently cor-
related to burnout were included in the nomological validity
tests: role ambiguity, role conflict, work–family conflict, job
satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Of the five
variables, role ambiguity, role conflict, and work–family con-
flict are often examined as predictors of burnout, whereas job
satisfaction and organizational commitment are often exam-
ined as outcomes of burnout. Table 3 provides correlations,
means, and standard deviations for the burnout facets and the
constructs used to test for nomological validity.
Role Ambiguity
Role ambiguity has been linked to emotional exhaustion as
an antecedent variable in both B2B (Boles, Johnson, and Hair
1997) and retail (Jaramillo, Mulki, and Locander 2006) sales
contexts. Both Lewin and Sager (2007) and Singh, Goolsby,
and Rhoads (1994) report that all three facets of burnout are
correlated with the unfavorable outcome of role ambiguity.
Within the present study, role ambiguity was measured using
df CFI RMSEA SRMR
206 0.92 0.12 0.10
116 0.95 0.11 0.08
32 0.97 0.08 0.06
206 0.93 0.13 0.11
32 0.97 0.08 0.06
the Rizzo, House, and Lirtzman (1970) scale, which contained
six items. Results show that role ambiguity was positively cor-
related with emotional exhaustion within both the B2B and
retail samples, respectively (0.268, p < 0.01; 0.363, p < 0.01).
Role ambiguity was also positively correlated with deperson-
alization (0.243, p < 0.01; 0.278, p < 0.01) and negatively
correlated with personal accomplishment (–0.400, p < 0.01;
–0.434, p < 0.01). Overall, the correlations between the burn-
out facets and role ambiguity are consistent with theory and
previous research in both sales samples.
Role Conflict
Role conflict has been significantly linked to emotional ex-
haustion as an antecedent in both B2B (Boles, Johnston, and
Hair 1997; Hamwi, Rutherford, and Boles 2011) and retail
(Jaramillo, Mulki, and Locander 2006) sales contexts. Singh,
Goolsby, and Rhoads (1994) provide evidence that emotional
exhaustion and depersonalization are significantly correlated
with role conflict, whereas personal accomplishment is not.
In the present study, role conflict was measured using the
scale developed by Rizzo, House, and Lirtzman (1970) and
contained eight items. Results indicate that role conflict was
positively correlated with emotional exhaustion within both
the B2B and retail samples, respectively (0.459, p  <  0.01;
0.491, p < 0.01). Role conflict was also positively correlated
with depersonalization (0.421, p  <  0.01; 0.497, p  <  0.01).
However, like Singh, Goolsby, and Rhoads (1994), personal
accomplishment was not significantly correlated with role
conflict within the B2B sample, but was in the retail sample
(–0.039, p > 0.05; –0.239, p < 0.01). The correlations between
the burnout facets and role conflict are generally consistent
with theory and previous research in both the B2B and retail
samples.
Work–Family Conflict
Work–family conflict has been linked to emotional exhaustion
as an antecedent variable within B2B (Boles, Johnston, and
 Table 3
Correlations, Means, and Standard Deviations
Retail
Retail Standard
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Means Deviation

Emotional Exhaustion — –0.318** 0.458** 0.596** 0.363** 0.491** –0.525** –0.536** 3.65 1.69
Personal Accomplishment –0.216** — –0.220** –0.240** –0.434** –0.239** 0.701** 0.571** 4.67 1.32
Depersonalization 0.417** –0.115 — 0.353** 0.278** 0.497** –0.230** –0.296** 2.66 1.39
Work–Family Conflict 0.621** –0.058 0.324** — 0.383** 0.432** –0.366** –0.378** 3.40 1.84
Role Ambiguity 0.268** –0.400** 0.243** 0.316** — 0.391** –0.510** –0.450** 2.43 1.09
Role Conflict 0.459** –0.039 0.421** 0.447** 0.266** — –0.363** –0.466** 3.57 1.36
Job Satisfaction –0.399** 0.655** –0.146* –0.196** –0.496** –0.196** — 0.723** 4.71 1.65
Organizational Commitment –0.464** 0.462** –0.272** –0.220** –0.452** –0.368** 0.649** — 4.09 1.56
B2B Means 3.36 4.91 2.34 3.22 2.41 3.79 5.17 4.55
B2B Standard Deviation 1.55 1.14 1.29 1.70 0.91 1.25 1.31 1.42

Notes: Numbers below the diagonal denote correlations in the B2B sample; numbers above the diagonal denote correlations in the retail sample.
** p < 0.01; * p < 0.05.
Fall 2011  435
436  Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management
Hair 1997; Hamwi, Rutherford, and Boles 2011) and retail
(Karatape and Tekinkus 2006) sales contexts. In the present
study, work–family conflict was measured using five items de-
veloped by Netemeyer, Boles, and McMurrian (1996). Results
indicate that work–family conflict was positively correlated with
emotional exhaustion within both the B2B and retail samples,
respectively (0.621, p < 0.01; 0.596, p < 0.01). Work–family
conflict was also positively correlated with depersonalization
(0.324, p < 0.01; 0.353, p < 0.01). Personal accomplishment,
however, was not significantly correlated with work–family
conflict within the B2B sample, but was in the retail sample
(–0.058, p > 0.05; –0.240, p < 0.01). The relations between the
burnout facets and work–family conflict are generally consis-
tent with theory and previous research within both the B2B and
retail samples, with the exception of the correlation between
personal accomplishment and work–family conflict within
the B2B sample. Given the lack of relationships between both
role conflict and work–family conflict in relation to personal
accomplishment, it is possible that personal accomplishment,
unlike the negative focused aspects of burnout (e.g., emotional
exhaustion and depersonalization), is not strongly related to
conflict within a B2B context.
Job Satisfaction
Emotional exhaustion has been found to have a significant
negative effect on job satisfaction in both B2B (Rutherford
et al. 2009) and retail ( Jaramillo, Mulki, and Locander 2006;
Karatape and Tekinkus 2006) sales contexts. Singh, Goolsby,
and Rhoads (1994) provide evidence that all facets of burn-
out are significantly correlated with job satisfaction. For the
present study, overall job satisfaction was measured using a
reduced version of the INDSALES scale, which contained
four items to measure the construct (Comer, Machleit, and
Lagace 1989). Results show that emotional exhaustion was
negatively correlated with job satisfaction within both the B2B
and retail samples, respectively (–0.399, p  <  0.01; –0.525,
p < 0.01). Depersonalization was also negatively correlated
with job satisfaction (–0.146, p < 0.05; –0.230, p < 0.01),
whereas personal accomplishment was positively correlated
with job satisfaction (0.655, p < 0.01; 0.701, p < 0.01). The
correlations between the burnout facets and job satisfaction
are consistent with theory and previous research in both the
B2B and retail samples.
Organizational Commitment
Emotional exhaustion has been found to have a significant
negative effect on organizational commitment in sales con-
texts (Jaramillo, Mulki, and Locander 2006; Karatape and
Tekinkus 2006). Singh, Goolsby, and Rhoads (1994) provide
evidence that all facets of burnout are significantly correlated
with organizational commitment. To measure organizational
commitment within the present study, the affective organi-
zational commitment scale of Meyer and Allen (1991) was
utilized, as recommended by Friend, Bellenger, and Boles
(2009). Results find that emotional exhaustion was negatively
correlated with organizational commitment within both the
B2B and retail samples, respectively (–0.464, p < 0.01; –0.536,
p < 0.01). Depersonalization was also negatively correlated
with organizational commitment (–0.272, p < 0.01; –0.296,
p < 0.01), whereas personal accomplishment was positively
correlated with organizational commitment (0.462, p < 0.01;
0.571, p < 0.01). The correlations between the burnout facets
and organizational commitment are consistent with theory
and previous sales research.
Nomological Validity with Regression
In addition to examining correlations between constructs,
regression analyses linking role ambiguity, role conflict, and
work–family conflict to the facets of burnout were conducted.
Within the B2B sample, work–family conflict (p < 0.05) and
role conflict (p < 0.05) were significant predictors of emotional
exhaustion, whereas role ambiguity ( p > 0.05) was not. The R2
equaled 0.438. With regard to predicting emotional exhaus-
tion in the retail sample, all three antecedents were significant
predictors (p < 0.05). The R2 equaled 0.425.
Within both the B2B and retail samples, only role ambiguity
(p < 0.05) was a significant predictor of personal accomplish-
ment, whereas both role conflict (p > 0.05) and work–family
conflict (p > 0.05) were not significant. The R2 equaled 0.165
in the B2B sample and 0.201 in the retail sample.
Within both the B2B and retail samples, role conflict
(p < 0.05) and work–family conflict (p < 0.05) were signifi-
cantly related to depersonalization, whereas role ambiguity
(p > 0.05) was not. The R2 equaled 0.221 in the B2B sample
and 0.273 in the retail sample.
Regression analyses were further used to link the facets of
burnout to job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
Results in both the B2B and retail contexts provide support
for the linkage between both emotional exhaustion (p < 0.05)
and personal accomplishment (p < 0.05) with job satisfaction.
Support was not found for the linkage between depersonaliza-
tion and job satisfaction (p > 0.05). The R2 equaled 0.489 in
the B2B sample and 0.576 in the retail sample.
Consistent with the predictors of job satisfaction, emo-
tional exhaustion (p  <  0.05) and personal accomplishment
( p < 0.05) were significantly related to organizational com-
mitment, whereas depersonalization ( p > 0.05) was not. The
B2B sample produced an R2 of 0.347 and the retail sample
produced an R2 of 0.442.

Discussion
A number of implications can be drawn from this study. First,
the 22‑item MBI was reduced to a 10‑item scale while retain-
ing all three facets of burnout. The 10‑item scale developed in
this study provides sales researchers with the ability to examine
the full multidimensional nature of burnout while simultane-
ously yielding a more reliable and valid measurement based
on reduced respondent fatigue and acquiescence bias. These
results imply that sales researchers should be able to more
conveniently utilize the salesperson burnout scale within larger
studies with other multiple item scales.
Given that the 22‑item MBI currently being used is com-
prehensive and highly utilized within burnout research across
various fields, it is important that the reduced 10‑item burnout
scale provides equal, if not better, performance than the full
MBI scale within a sales context. To ensure that the reduced
scale provides such performance, a series of EFA and CFA
tests were conducted to assess the scale properties. Following
the factor analyses, convergent and discriminant validity were
assessed. These steps were taken to ensure that useful informa-
tion captured by the MBI was not lost in the reduced scale.
Further, it was critical that the facets of burnout provided ad-
equate reliabilities while meeting variance extracted guidelines.
Next, nomological validity was assessed using correlations to
ensure that the reduced scale was consistent with established
research and theory. Overall, the reduced scale provides equal,
if not better, performance when compared to the full MBI
scale within a sales context, meaning sales researchers should
feel confident including the reduced scale in future studies.
Next, a series of regression analyses were conducted to
look at the antecedents of burnout. Given the amount of at-
tention from sales research to predict emotional exhaustion,
it is not surprising that the examined antecedents provide a
higher R 2 in relation to emotional exhaustion than personal
accomplishment or depersonalization. Given the lower R 2s
in personal accomplishment and depersonalization, as well as
that the number of significant antecedents was lower than the
significant antecedents to emotional exhaustion, the findings
highlight the need for additional understanding for burnout
as a holistic concept versus just focusing on the emotional
exhaustion component. This is supported by the existing
literature’s ability to explain a large portion of variance within
emotional exhaustion, but comparatively less variance within
personal accomplishment or depersonalization.
In addition to the analysis of antecedents to salesperson
burnout, a series of regression analyses were used to look at
job satisfaction and organizational commitment as outcomes
of salesperson burnout. The regression results provide evidence
that multiple facets of burnout, namely, emotional exhaustion
and personal accomplishment, are related to both job satisfac-
Fall 2011  437
tion and organizational commitment. However, depersonaliza-
tion was not significantly related to either job satisfaction or
organizational commitment. These results highlight the need
for further research examining all three facets of salesperson
burnout. Specifically, further research should examine whether
emotional exhaustion or personal accomplishment act as a
mediator between depersonalization and both job satisfaction
and organizational commitment.
Given that the ten‑item reduced burnout scale provides
strong performance indicators, as well as that sales research-
ers primarily focus exclusively on the nine‑item emotional
exhaustion component of the full MBI scale, the reduced
scale produced in this research can capture all three facets of
burnout with the addition of only one scale item. Each of
the three facets within the reduced salesperson burnout scale
contains three to four items, indicating that the reduced scale
will lend itself well to future structural equation modeling
(SEM) analysis while simultaneously reducing the need for
dropping items when running CFA. Sales researchers can thus
capture the full multidimensional nature of burnout using the
reduced scale, therein capturing the complexity of relation-
ships that might exist beyond the traditional unidimensional
perspectives.
By engaging in research on the three facets of burnout, sales
research will be better able to develop more complex research
questions pertaining to salesperson burnout and its multidi-
mensional properties with specified directional relationships.
Further, sales researchers will be able to provide firms with a
better understanding of what drives burnout and what the full
effects of burnout are. Together, this will enable sales organiza-
tions to determine what resources to employ when trying to
combat the negative effects of salesperson burnout.
Limitations and Future Research
A potential limitation of this study is the use of respondent
data collected from the same questionnaire during the same
time period for scale refinement and validation. In an attempt
to overcome common method biases, the sample was split into
two samples consisting of B2B and retail salespeople. Further,
the conditional aspect that this study is the first attempt to
reduce the burnout scale within the sales context increases the
acceptability of this limitation. Based on the cross-validation
work of Lagace, Goolsby, and Gassenheimer (1993) on job
satisfaction (based on Comer, Machleit, and Lagace 1989)
and Periatt, LeMay, and Chakrabarty (2004) on SOCO,
subsequent cross-validation of the present reduced burnout
scale remains necessary.
To advance the sales field’s knowledge of burnout, this
study provides several important avenues for future research.
Researchers should advance the regression findings by using
438  Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management
SEM where relations can be examined simultaneously. Spe-
cifically, utilizing the present study’s findings in conjunction
with the Lewin and Sager (2007) burnout sequencing study,
future research could examine the various sequencings of
burnout in relation to outcomes such as job satisfaction and
organizational commitment. This type of research would
provide a robust validation of Lewin and Sager (2007), along
with a better understanding of the impact of burnout. From
a practical standpoint, this type of future research would also
offer selling firms a better understanding of the full impact
of burnout, as opposed to merely emotional exhaustion, on
salesperson job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
Hence, firms would be able to better assess the impact of the
individual facets of burnout.
In addition to examining the outcomes of burnout, future
research should further examine the predictors of burnout,
such as role ambiguity, role conflict, and work–family con-
flict. Based on the regression analysis, this study finds that
none of the three antecedents included to predict burnout
were successful in predicting all three facets of burnout.
However, correlations generally indicated support for the
examined antecedents being significantly related to each facet
of burnout. Future research should simultaneously examine
these antecedents in relation to burnout. Such research would
provide further clarification with regard to the direct effects
and potential mediation within the model, as well as provide
a better assessment of the interrelations between the burnout
constructs. From a practical standpoint, this would enable
firms to better understand and allocate resources to manage
specified aspects of burnout.
Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to develop a reduced version of
the 22‑item MBI. The 10‑item reduced salesperson burnout
scale performs up to the standards of the full MBI scale within a
sales context. Overall, the reduced scale provides a considerable
reduction in scale length while maintaining the scale’s dimen-
sionality and consistency, which leads to (1) a more reliable and
valid scale by reducing response fatigue and acquiescence bias,
(2) increased possibilities of including the burnout items in
larger studies with other multiple item scales, and (3) reduced
concerns from participating organizations for long academic
surveys that consume valuable employee work time.
References
Amyx, Douglas, and Shahid Bhuian (2009), “SALESPERF: The
Salesperson Service Performance Scale,” Journal of Personal
Selling & Sales Management, 29, 4 (Fall), 367–376.
———, ———, Dheeraj Sharma, and Katherine E. Loveland
(2008), “Salesperson Corporate Ethical Values (SCEV)
Scale: Development and Assessment Among Salespeople,”
Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 28, 4 (Fall),
387–401.
Babakus, Emin, David W. Cravens, Mark W. Johnston, and Wil-
liam C. Moncrief (1999), “The Role of Emotional Exhaus-
tion in Sales Force Attitude and Behavioral Relationships,”
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 27 (1), 58–70.
Boles, James S., Mark W. Johnston, and Joseph F. Hair (1997),
“Role Stress, Work–Family Conflict and Emotional Exhaus-
tion: Inter-Relationships and Effects on Some Work-Related
Consequences,” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Manage-
ment, 17, 1 (Winter), 17–28.
Comer, James M., Karen A. Machleit, and Rosemary R. Lagace
(1989), “Psychometric Assessment of a Reduced Ver-
sion of INDSALES,” Journal of Business Research, 18 (4),
291–302.
Cordes, Cynthia L., and Thomas W. Dougherty (1993), “A Review
and an Integration of Research on Job Burnout,” Academy of
Management Review, 18 (4), 621–659.
Fleming, David E., and Andrew B. Artis (2010), “Measuring
Corporate Affinity for Technology: A Scale for Customers
and Employees,” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Manage-
ment, 30, 2 (Spring), 167–180.
Fornell, Claes, and David F. Larcker (1981), “Evaluating Structural
Equation Models with Unobservable Variables and Measure-
ment Error,” Journal of Marketing Research, 28 (1), 39–50.
Friend, Scott B., Danny N. Bellenger, and James S. Boles (2009),
“Drivers of Organizational Commitment Among Sales-
people,” Journal of Selling and Major Account Management,
9 (1), 25–41.
Hamwi, G. Alexander, Brian N. Rutherford, and James S. Boles
(2011), “Reducing Emotional Exhaustion and Increasing
Organizational Support,” Journal of Business & Industrial
Marketing, 26 (1), 4–13.
Hinken, Timothy R. (1995), “A Review of Scale Development
Practices in the Study of Organizations,” Journal of Manage-
ment, 21 (5), 967–988.
Jaramillo, Fernando, Jay Prakash Mulki, and William B. Locander
(2006), “The Role of Time Wasted in Sales Force Attitudes
and Intention to Quit,” International Journal of Bank Mar-
keting, 24 (1), 24–36.
Karatepe, Osman M., and Mehmet Tekinkus (2006), “The Effects
of Work–Family Conflict, Emotional Exhaustion and Intrin-
sic Motivation on Job Outcomes of Front-Line Employees,”
International Journal of Bank Marketing, 24 (3), 173–193.
Lagace, Rosemary R., Jerry R. Goolsby, and Jule B. Gassenheimer
(1993), “Scaling and Measurement: A Quasi-Replicative
Assessment of a Revised Version of INDSALES,” Journal of
Personal Selling & Sales Management, 13 (1), 65–72.
Leiter, Michael P., and Christina Maslach (2001), “Burnout and
Quality in a Speed-Up World,” Journal for Quality & Par-
ticipation, 24 (2), 48–51.
Lewin, Jeffrey E., and Jeffrey K. Sager (2007), “A Process Model of
Burnout Among Salespeople: Some New Thoughts,” Journal
of Business Research, 60 (12), 1216–1224.
Marks, Ronald, Douglas W. Vorhies, and Gordon J. Badovick
(1996), “A Psychometric Evaluation of the ADAPTS Scale:

A Critique and Recommendations,” Journal of Personal
Selling & Sales Management, 16 (4), 53–65.
Maslach, Christina, and Susan E. Jackson (1981), “The Mea-
surement of Experienced Burnout,” Journal of Occupational
Psychology, 54 (2), 99–113.
———, and ——— (1986), Maslach Burnout Inventory Manual,
2d ed., Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Meyer, John P., and Natalie J. Allen (1991), “A Three-Component
Conceptualization of Organizational Commitment,” Hu-
man Resource Management, 1 (1), 61–98.
Mulki, Jay Prakash, Fernando Jaramillo, and William B. Locander
(2006), “Emotional Exhaustion and Organizational Devi-
ance: Can the Right Job and a Leader’s Style Make a Differ-
ence?” Journal of Business Research, 59 (12), 1222–1230.
Netemeyer, Richard G., James S. Boles, and Robert McMurrian
(1996), “Development and Validation of Work–Family
Conflict and Family–Work Conflict Scales,” Journal of Ap-
plied Psychology, 81 (4), 400–410.
Nunnally, Jum C. (1978), Psychometric Theory, New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Panagopoulos, Nikolaos, and George J. Avlonitis (2008), “Sales
Force Control Systems: A Review of Measurement Practices
and Proposed Scale Refinements,” Journal of Personal Sell-
ing & Sales Management, 28, 4 (Fall), 365–385.
Periatt, Jeffery A., Stephen A. LeMay, and Subhra Chakrabarty
(2004), “The Selling Orientation–Customer Orientation
(SOCO) Scale: Cross-Validation of the Revised Version,”
Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 14, 1
(Winter), 49–54.
Podsakoff, Philip M., and Scott B. MacKenzie (1994), “An
Examination of the Psychometric Properties and Nomo-
Fall 2011  439
logical Validity of Some Revised and Reduced Substitutes
for Leadership Scales,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 79
(5), 702–713.
Rizzo, John R., Robert J. House, and Sidney I. Lirtzman (1970),
“Role Conflict and Ambiguity in Complex Organizations,”
Administrative Science Quarterly, 15 (2), 150–163.
Robinson, Leroy, Jr., Greg W. Marshall, William C. Moncrief,
and Felicia G. Lassk (2002), “Toward a Shortened Measure
of Adaptive Selling,” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales
Management, 22, 2 (Spring), 111–119.
Rutherford, Brian N., JungKun Park, and Sang-Lin Han (2011),
“Increasing Job Performance and Decreasing Salesperson
Propensity to Leave: An Examination of an Asian Sales
Force,” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 31,
2 (Spring), 171–183.
———, James S. Boles, G. Alexander Hamwi, Ramanda
Madupalli, and Leann Rutherford (2009), “The Role of
the Seven Dimensions of Job Satisfaction in Salesperson’s
Attitudes and Behaviors,” Journal of Business Research, 62
(11), 1146–1151.
Sand, Gilbert, and Anthony D. Miyazaki (2000), “The Impact
of Social Support on Salesperson Burnout and Burnout
Components,” Psychology & Marketing, 17 (1), 13–26.
Singh, Jagdip, Jerry R. Goolsby, and Gary K. Rhoads (1994),
“Behavioral and Psychological Consequences of Boundary
Spanning Burnout for Customer Service Representatives,”
Journal of Marketing Research, 31 (4), 558–569.
Thomas, Raymond W., Geoffery N. Soutar, and Maria M. Ryan
(2001), “The Selling Orientation–Customer Orientation
(S.O.C.O.) Scale: A Proposed Short Form,” Journal of Per-
sonal Selling & Sales Management, 21, 1 (Winter), 63–68.
440  Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management

Appendix A
Business-to-Business Salesperson Industry Classification
NAICS Classificationa Frequency Percentage

Manufacturing 73 32.16
Wholesale Trade 42 18.50
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 23 10.13
Finance and Insurance 21 9.25
Information 16 7.05
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 9 3.96
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services 9 3.96
Construction 8 3.52
Health Care and Social Assistance 7 3.08
All Other Classifications (Excluding Retail Trade)b 19 8.37

Note: NAICS = North American Industry Classification System.

a
All 19 industries, excluding Retail Trade, were represented with at least 1 respondent within this sample.
b
Groups with 3 or fewer respondents were combined into “All Other Classifications.”

Appendix B
Retail/Consumer Based Salesperson Industry Classification
NAICS Classificationa Frequency Percentage

Food and Beverage Stores 54 14.25

Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores 51 13.46
Building Material and Garden Equipment and Supplies Dealers 44 11.61
Health and Personal Care Stores 34 8.97
Electronics and Appliance Stores 33 8.71
Miscellaneous Store Retailers 33 8.71
Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers 25 6.60
Sporting Goods, Hobby, Book, and Music Stores 25 6.60
General Merchandise Stores 20 5.28
Finance and Insurance 17 4.49
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 12 3.17
Furniture and Home Furnishings Stores 11 2.90
All Other Classifications (Retail Trade)b 20 5.27

Note: NAICS = North American Industry Classification System.

a
All Retail Trade three-digit codes were represented with at least 1 respondent within this sample.
b
Groups with 4 or fewer respondents or those not classified within one of the above industries were combined into “All Other Classifications.”
Copyright of Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management is the property of M.E. Sharpe Inc. and its
content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's
express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.