Southern Communication Journal

Vol. 74, No. 4, October–December 2009, pp. 373–389

The Role of Coworker and Supervisor

Social Support in Alleviating the
Experience of Burnout for Caregivers
in the Human-Services Industry
Jason Snyder

This study focused on empathic communication and burnout (Miller, Stiff, & Ellis,
1988). Specifically, it explored the role of social support in reducing the likelihood of
burnout among 112 caregivers from a human-services organization. The results revealed
that social support helps caregivers provide better treatment to clients and reduces symp-
toms of burnout. Specifically, coworker support enhanced caregiver communicative
responsiveness and supervisor support reduced caregiver perceptions of depersonalization.
In addition, caregivers who reported high levels of emotional exhaustion indicated a
desire to leave the organization.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2005–2006) from 2004 and 2014, in the
fast growing human-services industry, there is the expectation of 19 million new jobs.
Human-service work can be stressful, and job burnout as a form of stress has
emerged as a concern among researchers and practitioners because it links to
employee withdrawal behavior (Barak, Nissly, & Levin, 2001; Lee & Ashforth,
1996). With the projected growth noted, this concern will continue to increase in
importance. The Miller, Stiff, and Ellis (1988) empathic communication model
of burnout (ECM) addresses how caregiver empathy and caregiver-client comm-
unication contribute to job burnout (see Figure 1). The present study represented

Jason Snyder, Management Information Systems, Central Connecticut State University. Correspondence to: Jason
Snyder, PhD, Central Connecticut State University, Management Information Systems, 1615 Stanley St., New
Britain, CT 06050. E-mail: snyderjal@ccsu.edu

ISSN 1041-794x (print) # 2009 Southern States Communication Association

DOI: 10.1080/10417940802516834
374 The Southern Communication Journal

Figure 1 Empathic Communication Model of Burnout (Miller, Birkholt, Scott, & Stage, 1995).

an attempt to test the ECM and to examine the role of workplace social support in
reducing burnout among human-service caregivers (see Figure 2 for this study’s
hypothesized model). Before moving into a detailed discussion of the study, however,
I provide a brief overview of the context of human-services work.

Figure 2 Model of Study’s Hypotheses.

 Social Support and Caregiver Burnout 375

The Context of Human-Services Work

Bringing about improvement in client physical and=or psychological states in the
present context is often difficult because of a number of unique aspects of
human-services work. For instance, according to the uno acto principle, caregivers
often have only one opportunity to provide service. If service is unsatisfactory
(e.g., behavioral therapy fails), there is no action that can fully correct for the failure
(Dollard, Dormann, Boyd, Winefield, & Winefield, 2003). Another unique element is
that in human services, people treat emotions like commodities that like any other
organizational resource must be controlled (Morris & Feldman, 1996). Finally,
although the regulation of emotions is a vital aspect of care-giving, it is only one pro-
cess in a more complex work environment. Caregivers also have to: (a) listen to,
understand, and reflect client feelings; (b) provide support; and (c) assist clients in
problem solving and behavior change (Brammer & MacDonald, 2003). The context
of human-services work, therefore, can be stressful for caregivers. The present inves-
tigation used the ECM to examine ways in which workplace social support can help
caregivers avoid job burnout.

The Empathic Communication Model of Burnout

The empathic communication model of burnout embodies two conceptually distinct
factors of empathy: contagion of negative affect1 and empathic concern. According to
Miller, Birkholt, Scott, and Stage (1995), contagion of negative affect is a process
characterized by a parallel emotional response to the negatively valenced emotions
of another. In a human-services context, this implies that the caregiver ‘‘feels with’’
the client and has a tendency to catch client emotions. Empathic concern, by con-
trast, is a nonparallel emotional response to the emotions of another in which the
caregiver feels concern for the client but does not experience the client’s emotions.
The ECM links these emotional responses to caregivers’ communicative respon-
siveness. Communicative responsiveness refers to one’s ‘‘perceived ability to listen
to and respond effectively to another in distress’’ (Stiff, Dillard, Somera, Kim, &
Sleight, 1988, p. 200). For caregivers in human services, this requires adeptness,
knowing when to give advice, saying the right thing, and listening carefully (LeBlanc,
Bakker, Peeters, van Heesch, & Schaufeli, 2001).
ECM research has repeatedly revealed that empathic concern in the face of client
distress enhances one’s level of communicative responsiveness (Miller et al., 1995,
1988; Stiff et al., 1988). Ostensibly because the caregiver not only feels concern for
his or her client’s well-being but is also able to maintain the emotional distance
necessary to examine the client’s problems objectively. This ‘‘detached concern’’ pre-
sumably puts the caregiver in a better position to provide adequate assistance
(Maslach, 1982; Miller et al., 1988).
In sharp contrast, ECM research has also repeatedly shown that higher levels of
contagion of negative affect are predictive of an inability to effectively communicate
with distressed clients (Miller et al., 1988; Miller et al., 1995; Stiff et al., 1988),
376 The Southern Communication Journal
possibly because the caregiver internalizes the client’s distress. The result, according
to Stiff et al., is that the experience of contagion motivates the caregiver to reduce the
source of his or her own discomfort and lose sight of the client’s needs. Therefore, in
line with the ECM, the following hypotheses seemed to be reasonable:

H1: Communicative responsiveness decreases as contagion of negative affect

increases.
H2: Communicative responsiveness increases as empathic concern increases.

Job Burnout
Job burnout is a form of stress that is initiated after one experiences an inability to
meet job demands over an extended period of time (Golembiewski, Munzenrider, &
Stevenson, 1986; Marin & Ramirez, 2005). This process has three dimensions (deper-
sonalization, reduced personal accomplishment, and emotional exhaustion) that are
generally associated with stressors of an interpersonal nature (Cordes & Dougherty,
1993; Lee & Ashforth, 1996; Maslach, 1982).
Depersonalization involves a change in the way that caregivers perceive others,
especially clients. They may come to see others as mere objects and tend to show feel-
ings of dislike (Maslach, 1982; Omdahl & O’Donnell, 1999). The second dimension,
reduced personal accomplishment, encompasses feelings of inadequacy in some or all
phases of one’s work as a result of his or her not being able to relate to clients effec-
tively (Maslach). The final dimension, emotional exhaustion, which some see as the
core of the burnout phenomenon, entails a general fatigue and an inability on the
part of the caregiver to give of oneself (Ellis & Miller, 1993; Evans & Fischer, 1993;
Miller, Ellis, Zook, & Lyles, 1990).
There is some disagreement about the causal pattern of the three dimensions (see
Singh, Goolsby, & Rhoads, 1994 for a review). However, in the present study, I draw
on one Miller et al. (1995) reported because of the similarities in context, theory, and
the variables of interest. The ECM depicts the burnout process as one triggered by an
inability to exhibit high levels of communicative responsiveness in client interactions.
In their study of human-service workers, Miller et al. discovered that personal accom-
plishment negatively related to depersonalization, which, in turn, appeared to have a
positive effect on emotional exhaustion. Those workers who felt low levels of accom-
plishment protected their egos by dehumanizing their clients, which led the workers
to feel emotionally drained. In line with this ECM research, then:

H3: Depersonalization decreases as personal accomplishment increases.

H4: Emotional exhaustion increases as depersonalization increases.

Research has consistently indicated that communicative responsiveness relates

directly to burnout (Miller et al., 1988, 1990, 1995; Omdahl & O’Donnell, 1999).
If a caregiver’s ability to respond communicatively to a client’s needs diminishes,
then the likelihood of successfully assisting the client will also diminish. This inability
 Social Support and Caregiver Burnout 377

to fulfill one’s job duties successfully is likely to lead to a reduced sense of personal
accomplishment. Therefore:

H5: Personal accomplishment increases as communicative responsiveness

increases.

Social Support in Reducing Job Burnout

Marin and Ramirez (2005) define social support as ‘‘the mesh of social relationships
and transactions whose function is to complete personal resources to allow adaptive
coping in situations of need’’ (p. 97). Social support is purportedly a superior form of
workplace stress intervention because it increases perceptions of support and emo-
tional attention from others, as well as provides solutions to problems, among other
things (Park, Wilson, & Lee, 2004).
The present study was an exploration of caregiver perceptions of coworkers’ and
supervisors’ emotional support. Emotional support involves letting the recipient
know that the provider is concerned about him or her.2 As such, emotional support
can bolster an organizational member’s self-esteem and sense of self-worth (Miller,
Zook, & Ellis, 1989; Ray & Miller, 1991) and is more efficacious in reducing employee
burnout compared to familial=friend support (Brown, Prashanthan, & Abbott, 2003).
Since emotional support can bolster an employee’s sense of self-worth, it is likely to
have a positive effect on personal accomplishment (Miller et al., 1990). Research has
repeatedly shown that workplace support decreases employee job burnout (e.g.,
Greenglass, Burke, & Konarski, 1997; Thompson, Kirk, & Brown, 2005). Hence:

H6: Perceptions of personal accomplishment increase as emotional support from

(a) coworkers and (b) supervisors increases.

Emotional Exhaustion and Thoughts of Quitting

Burnout reportedly relates to employee withdrawal behavior, including turnover and
thoughts of quitting (Babakus, Cravens, Johnston, & Moncrief, 1999; Singh et al.,
1994). Wright and Crapanzano (1998) note that the experience of emotional exhaus-
tion results in a sense of discomfort for the employee, who will seek to ease the dis-
comfort. Further, Leiter (1993) observes that employees who experience emotional
exhaustion have a tendency to use withdrawal and avoidance mechanisms to alleviate
their discomfort. Accordingly:

H7: Thoughts of quitting increase as emotional exhaustion increases.

Method
The data for testing the hypotheses were from a small private, nonprofit
human-services organization that provides over 30 programs serving a diverse
378 The Southern Communication Journal
population of children and adolescents with serious emotional, behavioral, and
family problems, as well as adults with mental health challenges, developmental dis-
abilities, and substance abuse problems. To participate in the study, employees had to
be caregivers who spent the majority of their day interacting with clients.

Procedure and Participants

The Executive Director informed managers about the study and asked them to
inform their employees of it. The following week, employees received a letter inform-
ing them about the upcoming survey, the voluntary nature of participation, and mat-
ters related to confidentiality. A week later, the employees received questionnaires
with instructions to return to the researcher in envelopes provided. They had the
option of completing a web version of the survey. In either case, the participants
had two weeks to complete one version of the survey.
The sample (N ¼ 112, and representing a 44% response rate) was similar to the
organization’s population of caregivers in many respects,3 was predominantly female
(n ¼ 74, 69%) and included a variety of ethnic backgrounds including Caucasian
(n ¼ 82, 76%), Black (n ¼ 13, 12%), Hispanic=Latino=Latina (n ¼ 5, 5%). The
respondents were, on average, 36.58 years old and were well educated, with 58%
reporting that they had completed an Associate’s Degree or better. They also reported
being with the organization an average of 41 months and in their current roles 25
months.4

Measures
Unless otherwise specified, participants recorded responses to items on 5-point scales
in the Likert format, with 1 representing strongly disagree and 5 strongly agree
(see Tables 1 and 2 for items). Each construct was submitted to a confirmatory factor
analysis (CFA) via Program CFA version 1.1 (Hamilton & Hunter, 1997). Item
retention required a primary factor loading greater than .70 and no secondary factor
loading greater than .40. Table 3 shows the means, standard deviations, Chronbach’s
alphas, and correlations for this study’s measures. Some of the measures in the
present study yielded somewhat low reliabilities, especially empathic concern and
depersonalization. Despite their low estimated reliabilities, I retained these
well-established measures because of their substantive significance to the model being
tested. The low estimated reliabilities, however, will be further addressed in the
discussion section.

Empathic concern
Six items that Davis (1983) developed served as the measure of empathic concern.
The items capture emotional reactions of sympathy and concern for unfortunate
others, with higher scores representing greater levels of empathic concern. The
CFA indicated that items 3, 4, and 5 should be retained for this measure.
 Social Support and Caregiver Burnout 379

Table 1 Measurement Items Included on Questionnaire

Scale Items

Empathic Concern 1. At work, when I see someone being taken advantage of, I feel kind of
protective toward them.
2. When I am at work and I see someone being treated unfairly, I sometimes
don’t feel much pity for them (R).
3. I often have tender, concerned feelings for people I encounter at work
who are less fortunate than me.
4. I would describe myself as a pretty soft-hearted person.
5. I am often touched by the things that I see happen at work.

Contagion of 1. I often find that I can remain cool in spite of the excitement around me at
Negative Affect work (R).
2. At work, I tend to remain calm even though those around me worry (R).
3. I cannot continue to feel O.K. if people around me at work
are depressed.
4. I don’t get upset just because a client is acting upset (R).
5. I become nervous if others around me at work are nervous.
6. The people around me at work have a great influence on my moods.

Communicative 1. I usually have a knack for saying the right thing to make clients feel better
Responsiveness when they are upset.
2. I usually respond appropriately to the feelings and emotions of my clients.
3. Others think of me as a very empathic person.
4. I am the type of person who can say the right thing at the right time.

Personal 1. I deal very effectively with the problems of clients.

Accomplishment 2. I feel I’m personally influencing other people’s lives through my work.
3. I can create a relaxed atmosphere with my clients.
4. I feel exhilarated after working with my clients.
5. In my work, I deal with emotional problems calmly.

Depersonalization 1. I feel I treat some clients as if they were impersonal ‘‘objects’’.

2. I’ve become more callous toward my clients since I took this job.
3. I worry that this job is hardening me emotionally (R).
4. I really don’t care what happens to some clients.

Note. (R) indicates a reverse-scored item.

Contagion of negative affect

Six items from the Mehrabian and Epstein (1972) emotional empathy scale consti-
tuted the measure of contagion of negative affect. The items index one’s parallel emo-
tional response to the displayed emotions of another. Higher scores reflected higher
levels of contagion. The CFA led to retention of items 1, 2, and 5.
380 The Southern Communication Journal
Table 2 Measurement Items Included on Questionnaire, Continued
Scale Items

Emotional Exhaustion 1. I feel used up at the end of a workday.

2. I feel fatigued when I get up in the morning and have to face another
day on the job.
3. Working with people all day is a real strain on me.
4. I feel burned out from my work.
5. I feel frustrated by my job.
6. I feel I’m working too hard on my job.
7. I feel like I’m at the end of my rope.

Emotional Support
1. He=she helps me work through my thoughts and feelings about
major life decisions (e.g., career choice).
2. He=she patiently and sensitively listens to me ‘‘let off steam’’ about
an outside problem that I am having.
3. When I tell him=her about a problem that I am having, he=she
doesn’t seem to be paying attention (R).
4. He=she helps me cope with problems concerning other friends
and=or family members.
5. He=she avoids me when I am depressed (R).
6. He=she is a good listener when I am upset.
7. He=she says and does supportive things for me when I am feeling
down.
8. When I want to talk to my supervisor=coworker about what is both-
ering me, he=she seems to have something else to do (R).
9. He=she shows genuine concern for my problems.
10. He=she gives me good advice when I ask for it.
11. He=she makes it very easy to discuss my personal feelings.
12. My supervisor=coworkers listen to my side of the story even if he=she
thinks that I am wrong.
13. He=she makes an effort to make me feel better when I am depressed.

Thoughts of Quitting 1. I would prefer another more ideal job than the one I now have.
2. I have thought seriously about leaving since I began working here.
3. I hope to be working for this organization until I retire.

4. I seriously intend to look for another job within the next year.

Note. (R) indicates a reverse-scored item,
indicates that items were re-worded so they could be applied to both
supervisors and close coworkers.

Communicative responsiveness
Assessment of one’s level of communicative responsiveness involved use of the five
items Stiff et al. (1988) had previously employed. These items related to one’s
perceived ability to listen to and respond to a distressed client, with higher scores
 Social Support and Caregiver Burnout 381

Table 3 Descriptive Statistics for Variables of Interest (N ¼ 112)

M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1. Concern 4.01 .72 .68

2. Contagion 2.16 .84 .14 .72
3. Responsiveness 4.09 .69 .13 .31
.77
4. Exhaustion 2.47 .87 .11 .28
.01 .83


5. Depersonalization 1.56 .74 .05 .12 .19 .32
.67
6. Accomplishment 4.18 .73 .21
.40


.56 .08 .14 .76
7. Super Support 3.77 .93 .08 .11 .14 .19 .19 .10 .94
8. Cowork Support 3.69 .99 .12 .07 .30
.02 .01 .16 .37
.95



9. Quitting 2.83 1.11 .02 .06 .09 .42 .31 .02 .16 .10 .82

Note. Items in bold p < .05, two-tailed.
p < .01, two-tailed test. Chronbach’s alpha coefficients are on the
diagonal.
Concern ¼ Empathic Concern, Contagion ¼ Contagion of Negative Affect, Responsiveness ¼ Communicative
Responsiveness, Exhaustion ¼ Emotional Exhaustion, Accomplishment ¼ Personal Accomplishment, Super
Support ¼ Supervisor Emotional Support, Cowork Support ¼ Coworker Emotional Support, Quitting ¼
Thoughts of Quitting.

representing higher levels of communicative responsiveness. The CFA indicated that

items 1, 2, and 4 should be retained.

Burnout
Maslach’s Burnout Inventory (Maslach & Jackson, 1981) was the measure of burnout.
First, personal accomplishment included three items (1, 3, and 5), designed to capture
one’s perceived sense of self-worth on the job. Three items (1, 2, and 3) also constituted
the measure of depersonalization and referenced one’s negative feelings concerning
other people, especially one’s own clients. Finally, six items (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7) related
to emotional exhaustion, an index of one’s feelings of being ‘‘used up.’’

Emotional support
Weber and Patterson’s 13-items tapped perceived emotional support. This measure
has shown a demonstrated reliability in previous research (a ¼ .84; Wright, 2002).
Participants responded to 5-point scales ranging from ‘‘almost never true’’ to ‘‘almost
always true,’’ with higher scores reflecting greater perceived emotional support.
Wording reflected the source of support: coworker or supervisor. Following CFA,
10 items, excluding 3, 5, and 8, were the measure of both coworker emotional support
and supervisor emotional support.

Thoughts of quitting
Four items from work by O’Reilly, Chatman, and Caldwell (1991) were the measure
of thoughts of quitting. For these items, a higher score indicated that one was more
likely to leave the organization.
382 The Southern Communication Journal
Results
Hypothesis Testing5
Program AMOS 5.0 (Arbuckle, 2003) permitted a test of the hypothesized model (see
Figure 3). The hypothesized model was not a good fit to the data. First, the model’s
chi-square, v2(27) ¼ 60.68, p < .001, was significant, indicating that the hypothesized
model was significantly worse fitting than a just-identified model. According to Kline
(1998), the model chi-square should be reported with three other fit indices
(Comparative Fit Index [CFI], Root Mean Square Error of Approximation [RMSEA],
and Root Mean Square Residual [RMR]) because the chi-square test’s hypothesis that
the model is a perfect fit to the data is implausible. Therefore, the chi-square will be
reported but not used for determining model fit. Upon inspection of the recom-
mended fit indices (CFI ¼ .75, RMSEA ¼ .11, RMR ¼ .08), one must conclude that
the hypothesized model was a poor fit to the data. Inspection of the path coefficients,
fit indices, modification indices, and residuals led to refinements in the model that
conformed to both the data and substantive theory. One must make respecifications
to one’s model that are theoretically meaningful because respecification based on data
alone can lead one to add unneeded paths to the model (i.e., overfitting the model)
and=or capitalize on chance. Moreover, any model has an infinite number of equiva-
lent models. Hence, one should have a theoretically meaningful reason for making
changes to one’s model. The respecified model in Figure 4 was not only a good fit

Figure 3 Results of Path Model Analysis for Hypothesized Model (standardized coefficients). Note. v2(31) ¼
60.68, p < .001; CFI ¼ .75; RMSEA ¼ .11; RMR ¼ .08.
indicates p  .05.
 Social Support and Caregiver Burnout 383

Figure 4 Results of Path Model Analysis for Respecified Model (standardized coefficients). Note. v2(26) ¼
26.68, p ¼ .33; CFI ¼ .98; RMSEA ¼ .03; RMR ¼ .06.
indicates p  .05.

to the data, v2(26) ¼ 28.68, p ¼ .33 (CFI ¼ .98, RMSEA ¼ .03, RMR ¼ .06), but a sig-
nificantly better fit than the hypothesized model, Dv2(1) ¼ 32.00, p < .001.
Consistent with Hypothesis 1, contagion of negative affect was negatively related
to communicative responsiveness (b ¼ .29, p < .05). Hypothesis 2, predicted a posi-
tive relationship between empathic concern and communicative responsiveness did
not receive support, nor did Hypothesis 3, as personal accomplishment was not
related to depersonalization. However, depersonalization was positively related to
emotional exhaustion (b ¼ .30, p < .05), which is supportive of Hypothesis 4.
Hypothesis 5 also received support, as evidenced by the positive relationship between
communicative responsiveness and personal accomplishment (b ¼ .45, p < .05). The
data did not provide support for Hypothesis 6, which predicted that perceptions of
coworker and supervisor social support would enhance caregiver feelings of personal
accomplishment. Finally, as predicted in Hypothesis 7, the experience of emotional
exhaustion bore a positive relationship to the caregivers’ thoughts of quitting
(b ¼ .42, p < .05).

Discussion, Limitations, and Future Research

The focus of the present study was how perceived support from supervisors and
coworkers was expected to play a role in reducing caregiver burnout. Although the
384 The Southern Communication Journal
relationships among the variables proved to be more complex than initially expected,
the data nevertheless provided some interesting insights into these processes. I discuss
them below.

Emotional Reactions to Client Distress and Communicative Responsiveness

The data did not support the view that empathic concern is predictive of communi-
cative responsiveness. This suggests that for at least the employees in the present
study, training that solely focuses on fostering a sense of detached concern may
not represent the best use of resources, as it did not appear to be related to the care-
givers’ ability to provide care in the form of communicative responsiveness.
In line with ECM predictions, contagion of negative affect negatively related to
caregiver communicative responsiveness (Miller et al., 1988; Ray & Miller, 1994).
Moreover, the data suggest that contagion may be more corrosive than expected.
To the extent that employees experienced contagion of negative affect, they were
more likely to feel emotionally exhausted. Presumably, there is an emotional toll
to interpersonal interaction with distressed clients. In the future, it may be beneficial
to examine variables that conceivably stifle contagion, such as emotional intelligence
(Mayer & Salovey, 1997).
The participants revealed that their emotional reactions to client distress closely
tied to feelings of personal accomplishment. To the degree that they reported experi-
encing contagion, their level of personal accomplishment decreased. Conversely, feel-
ings of personal accomplishment increased as a function of empathic concern. These
effects might be attributable, in part, to training caregivers receive, in which the
importance of detached concern in successfully fulfilling one’s job duties is likely
salient. As a result, these employees may be more likely to evaluate their worth as
caregivers based on this knowledge. Although a positive relationship between
empathic concern and personal accomplishment is ostensibly beneficial for caregiver
self-esteem, the main reason, according to the ECM, behind advocating empathic
concern is to help the caregiver provide better care.

The Role of Social Support

Social support appeared to help caregivers provide more humanistic care to their
clients. This is implicit in the positive relationship between coworker emotional sup-
port and communicative responsiveness, as well as the negative association between
supervisor emotional support and depersonalization. Perhaps the increased ability to
treat clients appropriately is an outcome of the cathartic outlet support provides, or
consequent reduced uncertainty and greater control.
Coworker support, but not supervisor support, was positively related to commu-
nicative responsiveness. Whereas supervisors might understand the general job
requirements, coworkers are ‘‘on the ground’’ together and would appear to have
a greater awareness of both overt and subtle stresses related to job performance
(Ray & Miller, 1991). Therefore, the support that caregivers receive from their
 Social Support and Caregiver Burnout 385

coworkers is likely to be more relevant to specific difficulties faced by caregivers and

the advice more useful to interacting successfully with clients.
Supervisor support, but not coworker support, was presumably beneficial in pre-
venting the depersonalization of clients. Those caregivers who reported high levels of
supervisor support were able to form more personal relationships with their clients
and appeared as a result to experience less emotional exhaustion. This finding was
consistent with the results of past research involving caregivers in a psychiatric
hospital (Miller et al., 1990) and a nursing home (Ray & Miller, 1994). The results
indicated that supervisors’ treatment of caregivers presents a model for caregivers
to follow in their interactions with clients.

The Burnout Process

This study did not yield data consistent with the ECM in regard to the causal
sequence of the burnout variables. They indicated that personal accomplishment
was not related to the depersonalization and emotional exhaustion dimensions of
burnout. Recent research concerning burnout has revealed a sequence that appears
to be relatively robust across contexts and is more in line with the results of the
current investigation (Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001). Lee and Ashforth
(1996) suggested that a lack of personal accomplishment results from a lack of
resources while exhaustion and depersonalization are the result of work overload
and social conflict. The ECM should be refined to reflect this causal sequence
so that interventions can be created to reduce burnout and to prevent employee
turnover.
The conclusions warranted from this study are both preliminary and speculative.
While the present data support the conclusions noted, one should also consider them
in light of the study’s limitations.
The response rate of 44%, while typical (e.g., Ellis & Miller, 1993), was low and
may raise questions about self-selection and sensitivity. The available evidence indi-
cates that the present sample was similar to the population of caregivers in the orga-
nization. However, people in human-services organizations might be sensitive to
issues relating to emotional communication and burnout and respond to question-
naire items on the basis of their training or informal emotion display rules in
the workplace that could potentially create pressure for one to report appropriate
emotion management skills (Diefendorff & Gosserand, 2003; Kramer & Hess,
2002; Rafaeli & Sutton, 1989).
Measurement in general was an issue of concern in this study. The estimated relia-
bility of some of the measures was somewhat low. Whereas the measures used in the
present study are well-established ones, low estimated reliability has occurred on
occasion (e.g., Miller et al., 1989). Kline (1998) noted that ‘‘published reliability coef-
ficients may not generalize to a researcher’s particular sample’’ (p. 194). Therefore,
generally reliable measures can yield low estimated reliability in a particular study.
The measures, especially empathic concern and depersonalization, nevertheless
appear to require further development.6
386 The Southern Communication Journal
In addition to poor items, low variability in individual differences can lead to low
estimated reliability (Kline, 1998). In other words, systematically similar participants
will respond to questionnaire items in similar ways. This leads to range restriction
and lower correlations among items, which results in lower estimated reliability. This
explanation requires further exploration in future research because many of the mea-
sures exhibited acceptable reliabilities. Low estimated reliability reduces the magni-
tude of correlations, multiple correlations, and standardized path coefficients
(Kline, 1998), which, in turn, increases the likelihood of committing a Type II error.
Moreover, the items relating to contagion of negative affect focus on caregiver
response to clients’ negatively valenced emotions. It might be beneficial in the future
to explore responses to neutral and positively valenced emotions.
Although this study suggested that perceptions of social support were beneficial to
the caregiver-client-coworker-supervisor system, it failed to reveal what it is about
these messages that have such ostensible consequences. One path worth considera-
tion is the communicative approach to social support in which one examines suppor-
tive messages for their content. This avenue of research might help practitioners
develop more specific interventions for effective workplace social support.
In conclusion, this study provides two important lessons for stakeholders in
human-service care-giving. First, workplace social support can help caregivers pro-
vide more humanistic care through increased communicative responsiveness and
decreased depersonalization. Second, contagion of negative affect is more harmful
than anticipated, as it reduces communicative responsiveness, decreases feelings of
personal accomplishment and increases emotional exhaustion among caregivers.

Notes
[1] The ECM uses the term ‘‘emotional contagion’’ when discussing what I have labeled conta-
gion of negative affect. However, I made the decision to use the term ‘‘contagion of negative
affect’’ because the empathic communication model of burnout focuses on contagion of
distressful emotions and not on the contagion of more positive emotions. Specifically,
this study was interested in examining caregiver reactions to clients’ negatively valenced
emotions.
[2] The present study utilizes the psychological approach to the study of social support, as
opposed to the network or process approaches (see Cohen, Underwood, & Gottlieb, 2000
for thorough reviews). The psychological approach is concerned with the recipient’s subjec-
tive perceptions about the quality and availability of social support and argues that the recei-
ver does not receive true support unless he or she feels supported (Burleson, Albrecht,
Goldsmith, & Sarason, 1994; Ray & Miller, 1991).
[3] The present sample was similar to the organization’s population of caregivers in several
respects. According to Human Resources records, the population of 272 employees is
predominantly female (n ¼ 170, 62.5%), Caucasian (n ¼ 208, 76.47%), and well educated
with 43% holding an Associate’s Degree or better.
[4] See Snyder (2007) for a full description of the organization and the participants.
[5] The data were examined for dependency based on the type of service provided by the care-
givers. No evidence of dependency was found. The results of this analysis can be obtained
from the author.
[6] A table with item variabilities is available from the author upon request.
 Social Support and Caregiver Burnout 387

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