PSYC 440 - Spring, 2018

Summary & Critique of

"Breaking Through the Loss Cycle of Burnout: The Role of Motivation,"

by Lieke L. ten Brummelhuis, Claartje L. ter Hoeven, Arnold B. Bakker, and Bram Peper (2011)

Review by: Jessica Morgan

Summary

Background

Topic & importance. Burnout is defined as a buildup of stress marked by intense

feelings of fatigue and pessimistic doubt (Brummelhuis, Hoeven, Bakker, & Peper, 2011). The
significance of burnout in research is noted in studies back to the 70s in which burnout is
negatively related to both individual and organizational productivity factors including employee
well-being, work engagement, and job crafting (Bakker, Demerouti, & Sanz-Vergel, 2014).

Prior research. A literature review of burnout research by Bakker et al. (2014)

encompassed 133 empirical studies published from 1974 to 2014 that measured burnout to a
multitude of variables examined as both antecedents and consequences of burnout. Antecedent
variables were classified as either situational factors such as job demands and job resources, or
individual factors such as motivation and self-esteem. Several health related and job-related
consequences measured against burnout were memory impairment, anxiety, performance, and
absenteeism.

Knowledge gap. Brummelhuis et al. (2011) found that prior research lacks explanation
on why some employees fall into and stay susceptible to the burnout cycle and proposes that
individual motivation type may moderate the processes within the loss cycle of burnout. Bakker
et al. (2014) noted an abundance of burnout studies examining links between individual
personality variables and burnout; specifically, many found burnout significantly related to locus
of control. Locus of control is comparable to the more precise and focused variable, motivational
type which is examined in Brummelhuis et al. (2011).

Hypotheses.
 Three hypotheses were proposed by Brummelhuis et al. (2011) to investigate the cyclical
nature of burnout over time and the moderating role motivation has on the cycle.

(H1). Initial burnout predicts future burnout via the “loss cycle” (reduction in job
resources and a co occurring buildup of job demands).

(H2) Internal motivation weakens T1 burnout positive correlation with resource loss and
demand accumulation: (a) decrease in resources and (b) increase in demands (from T1
burnout) become less notable for high internal motivation (compared with low)

(H3) Extrinsic motivation amplifies this positive relationship: (a) decrease in resources
and (b) increase in demands (resulting from baseline burnout) become more distinct
when extrinsic motivation is higher compared to lower.

Methods

Research Design. The longitudinal field study was conducted on employees of a

finance company and used repeated measures without manipulation of variables. Two instances
of data-collection are taken two years apart via questionnaire. Measures taken at both time 1
(T1) and time 2 (T2) included burnout, job demands, job resources, while a mode of motivation
(intrinsic vs extrinsic) was solely measured at T2.

Setting. The study was conducted on a Dutch branch of an unnamed international

organization in the Netherlands. Details of the environment were unspecified, but the
questionnaire was taken online.

Participants. Participants used in the study were monetary specialists that provided
clients with professional knowledge on finances. Even though N=949 completed the
questionnaire at T1 and N=1,014 at T2, there were only N=352 employees that responded at
both times. This sample had an average age of 39.68 years. As for gender, researchers noted
that 51% were male and 49 % were female.

Measured variables. All variables in the target article were assessed by self-reporting
scales that were modified to measure the inherent aspects of each individual variable. Excluding
motivational variables, all other variables were measured at both T1 and T2 and had scales with
Cronbach’s alpha ranging from .79 to .87 for T1 and .78 to .87 for T2. Each sub-variable and
their corresponding scale score were computed (method not mentioned) and proved to be
representative of the overarching variables.

(1) Burnout. The Maslach Burnout Inventory from 1996 was used to measure the two
core dimensions of burnout; each having five items rated (Ex: “I feel used up by my work”
(Brummelhuis et al., 2011, p. 273).

(2) Job Demands. Six items obtained from a 1998 Job Content Questionnaire were used
to assess job demands with sample items such as, “Do you have to work very hard?”
(Brummelhuis et al., 2011, p. 273).

(3) Job Resources. Five types of job resources were measured with 4 to 8 items such
as, “My colleagues help me get my work done” (Brummelhuis et al., 2011, p. 274).

(4) Intrinsic Motivation. Four items from the work-related flow inventory were used to
measure internal motivation. An example sample item provided: “ I get my motivation from the
work itself, and not from the reward for it” (Brummelhuis et al., 2011, p. 274).

Results

(H1) Initial burnout predicts future burnout via a decline in resources and a rise in
demands. As predicted, burnout at T1 had a positive correlation with the difference in demands
measured at T1 and T2 and negative correlation with resource difference from T1 and T2. When
controlling for burnout at T1 (p < .001), demand difference had a positive relationship to burnout
at T2 while difference in resources negatively related. Mediation pathways connecting burnout
T1 with burnout T2 through differences in demands (p < .05) and resources (p < .01) were
verified by the bootstrapping method of analysis. These findings support the loss cycle
hypothesis.

(H2) Internal motivation moderates the positive relationship between initial

burnout and difference in resource loss. The correlation of baseline burnout and change in
resources was significantly moderated by intrinsic motivation (p < .001). Baseline burnout was
related with resource loss only when intrinsic motivation was low (p < .001). The relationship
was positive when intrinsic motivation was highest (p < .01), meaning resources increased for
these employees even though baseline burnout reports were high. This supported hypothesis
2a since baseline burnout induced resource loss occurred only for low intrinsically motivated
employees.
 (H3) External motivation moderates the positive relationship between initial
burnout and changes in demand accumulation. External motivation significantly moderated
(p < .05) the baseline burnout/difference in demands relationship. High external regulation
indicated a more pronounced relationship. Interaction effects show increases in demands from
initial burnout levels when external regulation was high (p < .01) compared to low (ns).
Therefore, hypothesis 3b was supported in such a way that demand accumulation from initial
burnout occurred only for highly externally motivated employees.

Conclusions

Brummelhuis et al. (2011) concludes: 1) employee burnout is experienced as a cycle

unfolding over time, increasing burnout; 2) a loss in resources and an increase in demands are
processes mediating the cycle; 3) the relationship strengthens when external regulation is high;
4) the role of intrinsic motivation highlights significant implications to break cycles of burnout.

Critique

Strengths

1. Established measures. Brummelhuis et al. (2011) measured variables through

widely used factors and their popular scales developed from at least 11 years prior, which held
good reliability.

2. Longitudinal design. Measures of the variables (burnout, resource loss, and demand
accumulation) were taken at two times so they could analyze the correlation of burnout at either
time with the differences in resources and demands between both times. This reduces causality
problems originating from cross-sectional studies.

3. No multicollinearity. Within the T1-T2 measurement models, model variables

showed no issues with multicollinearity. Factor loading was significant (> .41) for the intended
factors (p < .001).

4. Knowledge gap. While Bakker et al. (2014) found direct pathways between
intra-personal variables and burnout, Brummelhuis et al. (2011) could propose complex
pathways involving specific intra-personal differences of motivational type on susceptibility to the
loss cycle of burnout. They created newly founded research by examining the role of motivation
as a moderator.
Limitations

1. Selective sample. Relationships found may be under emphasized due to attrition of

employees scoring higher on the facets of burnout at T1.

2. Restricted population. The study provides limited representativeness to other

professions as they collected the data from a single company, rendering it too uniform.

3. Construct validity of external regulation. Brummelhuis et al. (2011) attributed lack

of support to hypothesis 3a due to their operational definition of external regulation. They
measured the concept as the company’s influence on workers to add days to their normal, set
schedules, work longer hours than usual, and to put work before all else. This definition possibly
provoked more correlations to the facets of work demands and predicted employees’ job
resource changes less.

4. Self-report. Self-response questionnaires provided all the data intended for analysis,
making the data vulnerable to biases such as common method variance. Here, mood is a
temporary condition that could influence responses, swaying burnout measurements in such a
way that could be avoided with multiple mediums of assessment.

Contributions

In a literature review containing a multitude of findings on the concept of burnout,

sourced from over 100 studies (Bakker et al., 2014), my target article (Brummelhuis et al., 2011)
resolved the knowledge gap by investigating employee related burnout chronically using the
foundation of a loss cycle while also applying how different motivational archetypes of
employees moderate processes within the loss cycle of burnout.

Two findings by Brummelhuis et al. (2011) of (a) externally regulated workers’ tendency
to deal with job demands corresponding from burnout less competently, leading to stronger
burnout ratings and (b) the tendency for burned out employees with higher intrinsic motivation
to increase their resources, can both be directly compared to findings in my literature review.
The Bakker et al. (2014) findings of (a) job demands as significant predictors of burnout facets
and (b) job resources as significant predictors of motivational processes, are direct corollaries to
both Brummelhuis et al. (2011) findings.

Applications
 1. Design jobs which encourage intrinsic motivation. The finding by Brummelhuis et
at. (2011) linking intrinsic motivation as a way to break out of the loss cycle of burnout signifies
how important it is for companies to configure job designs that promote intrinsic motivation
within individual employees. Managers can implement this finding by uniting the workforce
through a shared goal and making employees feel related to the company and co-workers. For
example, challenging goals can be set that promote teamwork. Managers can then set meetings
to openly communicate and provide frequent feedback on the progress of individuals.

2. Form work settings to have lower external regulations. To decrease the amount of
external regulation perceived by employees, supervisors can give workers more autonomy
when planning projects.

Word Counts: Summary— 1,063; Critique— 623; Total— 1,686

 References

Ten Brummelhuis, L., Ter Hoeven, C., Bakker, A., & Peper, B. (2011). Breaking through the loss
cycle of burnout: The role of motivation. Journal of Occupational and Organizational
Psychology, 84(2), 268-287. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8325.2011.02019.x

Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & Sanz-Vergel, A. (2014). Burnout and work engagement: The
JD–R approach. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational
Behavior, 1, 389-411.
http://dx.doi.org.proxy.lib.utk.edu:90/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-031413-091235