EDUCAT~ONALA N D PSYClXOlOGlCAL hf EASUREMENT

1981.41

A CROSS VALIDATION STUDY OF THE MASLACH

BURNOUT INVENTORY's2

EDWARD F. IWANICKI
University of Connecticut

RICHARD L. SCHWAB
University of New Hampshire

The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was designed to assess

the frequency and intensity of perceived burnout among persons in
the helping professions in general. This study examined the
reliability and validity of the MBI when used with one particular
category of helping professionals, teachers. The construct validity
of the MBI was examined by using principal factor analysis with
iterations and a varimax rotation. Results of this analysis indicated
that when employed with teachers, the MBI measures the same
basic constructs or factors as those identified through studies in
the helping professions-Emotional Exhaustion, Personal Accom-
. plishment, and Depersonalization. However for teachers, Deper-
sonalization separated into a job related and student related factor.
Because of the high subscale intercorrelations for the frequency
and intensity dimensions of the MBI, the need to utilize the two
dimensional format with teachers is questioned. Internal consist-
ency estimates of the reliabilities of each subscale of the MBI for
teachers was determined using Cronbach's coefficient alpha. The
reliabilities obtained for teachers were similar to those reported for

' The authors wish to acknowledge the cooperation of Felix J. Zollo, Jr., Director
of Research of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, whose endorsement and
support facilitated the collection of the data used in this investigation. Also, Robert
K. Gable of the University of Connecticut provided valuable assistance in the
analysis of these data. Special thanks are extended to these people for their
contributions. Responsibility for the views presented in this paper rests solely with
the authors.
.
The Maslach Burnout. Inventory is Copyright 1980 by Christina Maslach and
Susan E. Jackson. All rights reserved. This inventory, or parts thereof, may nor be
reproduced in any form without prior permission of the authors.
Copyright 0 1981 by Educational and Psychological Measurement
1167
1168 EDUCATIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT

helping professionals in general. Recommendations are made for

improving the reliability of the Depersonalizationsubscale as well
as for future examination of the validity of the MBI.

ALTHOUGH much has been written about teacher burnout in

education, little systematic research has been conducted to examine
the hypotheses presented in the literature concerning the correlates
and causes of teacher burnout. Some recent studies have examined
empirically the relationship between teacher burnout and teacher
motivation (Anderson, 1980) as well as the relationship among role
conflict, role ambiguity, and teacher burnout (Schwab, 1980). In
both these studies, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used
to assess the perceived level of burnout among teachers.
The MBI was developed by Maslach and Jackson (1979) through
their work in the helping professions. This instrument provides a
measure of perceived burnout in terms of the three subscales of
Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, and Personal Accom-
plishment. The items comprising these subscales of the MBI are
presented in Table 1. Each item is rated twice, once for frequency
and once for intensity. The frequency rating ranges from 1 (a few
times a year) to 6 (every day). The intensity rating ranges from 1
(very mild, barely noticeable) to 7 (major, very strong). A place is
provided for the respondent to check “never,” if the feeling or
attitude described is never experienced. For each of these subs-
cales, separate scores are provided for the frequency and the
intensity with which feelings are experienced. According to Maslach
and Jackson, persons with higher scores on the Emotional Exhaus-
tion and Depersonalization subscales, and with lower scores on the
Personal Accomplishment subscale would be perceiving themselves
as burned out. Thus, a person is not classified as “burned out” or
“not burned out,” but rather placed on a continuum from “more
burned out” to “less burned out.”
When the MBI was used with teachers in the studies by Anderson
and Schwab, a slight modification was made in the item stems. The
word “student” was employed in place of the term “recipient.” In
the helping professions, including education, the less reactive title
“Survey of Professional Occupations” is used for the MBI.
Although Maslach and Jackson (1979) have reported considerable
evidence supporting the reliability and validity of the MBI when
used with persons in the helping professions (including teachers),
the reliability and validity of the MBI have not been examined using
a sample of only teachers. The purpose of this study was to assess
the validity and reliability of the MBI when used with teachers.
 IWANICKI AND SCHWAB 1169

TABLE 1
Subscales of the hfaslacli Burnout Inventory"

A. Emotional Exhaustion
1. I feel emotionally drained from my work.
2. I feel used up at the end of the workday.
3. 1 feel fatigued when I get up in the morning and have to face another
day on the job.
6. Working with people all day is really a strain for me.
8. I feel burned out from my work.
13. I feel frustrated by my job.
14. I feel I'm working too hard on my job.
16. Working directly with people puts too much stress on me.
20. I feel like I'm at the end of my rope.
B. Depersonalization
5. I feel I treat some recipients as if they were impersonal "objects."
10. I've become more callous toward people since I took this job.
11. I worry that this job is hardening me emotionally.
15. I don't really care what happens to some recipients.
22. I feel recipients blame me for some of their problems.
C. Personal Accomplishment
4. I can easily understand how my recipients feel about things.
7. I deal very effectively with the problems of my recipients.
9. I feel I'm positively influencing other people's lives through my work.
12. I feel very energetic.
17. I can easily create a relaxed atmosphere with my recipients.
18. I feel exhilarated after working closely with my recipients.
19. I have accomplished many worthwhile things in this job.
21. In my work, I deal with emotional problems very calmly.
'Table from Maslach and Jackson (1979. pp. 22-23).
High degrees of burnout arc reflectedin hi& mean scores on A and B. and a low mean score on C.

The Validity of the Maslach Bicmoict Inventory

The construct validity of the Maslach Burnout Inventory in
education was assessed through an analysis of the MBI responses of
a sample of 469 Massachusetts teachers selected randomly from the
active membership list of the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
Included in this sample were regular classroom teachers, special
education teachers, and guidance counselors. These teachers com-
pleted the MBI during the period of January-March, 1980 in
conjunction with Schwab's (1980) study of the relationship among
role conflict, role ambiguity, and teacher burnout.
To assess the construct validity of the MBI in education, prelimi-
nary factor analyses were conducted using principal components
and principal factors approaches with both orthogonal and oblique
rotations. For both the frequency and intensity dimensions, the
principal components and principal factors approaches both resulted
in four factor solutions with eigenvalues greater than one which
accounted for 55% of the total variance. In a comparison of the
1170 EDUCATIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT

principal component and principal factor solutions, it was evident

that the principal factors solution resulted in subscales which were
more conceptually meaningful and reliable than those derived
through the principal components solution. Because of the low
correlations among the axes of the four factors derived through the
principal factors solution for both the frequency (F = .29) and
intensity (F = .26) dimensions, there were no major differences in
factor loadings between the orthogonal and oblique rotations. As a
result of these preliminary analyses, it was decided that the con-
struct validity of the MBI would be examined by using principal
factor analysis with iterations and a varimax rotation. This same
approach was employed by Maslach and Jackson (1979) in their
development of the MBI.
The factor loading matrix for the frequency and intensity dimen-
sions of the MBI is presented in Table 2. The factors labeled
Emotional Exhaustion (Factor I) and Personal Accomplishment
(Factor 11) were synonymous in item structure with those identified
by Maslach and Jackson (1979). Although for Maslach and Jackson
Depersonalization emerged as one factor, Depersonalization broke
down into two factors (Factor I11 and Factor IV) in this study. The
items comprising Depersonalization separated into the following
job-related and student-related factors.
Factor 111-Depersonalization as affected by the job.
10. I’ve become more callous toward people since I took this job.
11. I worry this job is hardening me emotionally.
Factor IV-Depersonalization as affected by students.
5. I feel I treat some students as if they were impersonal objects.
15. I really don’t care what happens to some students.
22. I feel some students blame me for some of their problems.
In summary, the results presented indicated that when used in
education, the Maslach Burnout Inventory measured the same basic
constructs as those identified by Maslach and Jackson (1979) in their
work in the helping professions-Emotional Exhaustion, Personal
Accomplishment, and Depersonalization. However, in education,
Depersonalization separated into job-related and student-related
factors.
Further evidence concerning the validity of the MBI was obtained
by examining the subscale intercorrelations for teachers on the
MBI.These intercorrelations are presented in Table 3 for both the
frequency and intensity dimensions of the MBI. As Maslach and
Jackson have contended that higher levels of burnout are reflected
in higher scores on the Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonaliza-
tion subscales and by lower scores on the Personal Accomplishment
 IWANICKI AND SCHWAB 1171

TABLE 2
Factor Loading Matrix Using Principal Factor Analysis with Iterations and a Varimax Rotation
Emotional Personal
Exhaustion Accomplishment Depersonalization
I I1 111 IV
Item Freq. Int. Freq. Int. Freq. Int. Freq. Int.
8 79 76
1 18 74
2 78 78
13 71 61
3 67 70
20 64 6s
14 62 55
16 52 50 36 39
6 51 52 43
19 68 71
18 59 62
9 55 55 -38
7 54 55
17 45 60
12 44 52 -38
4 43 46
21 36 43
10 73 '67
11 39 64 62
22 51 43
15 40 41 68
5 38 58
Note.-Decimals have k e n omitted for all enlrics. Only entries 2 35 WCR mcorded for ease of intcrprclation.

subscale, one would expect the Personal Accomplishment subscale

to be correlated negatively with the Emotional Exhaustion and
Depersonalization subscales. From Table 3, it is clear that this
pattern was evident for teachers on both the frequency and intensity
dimensions of the MBI.
The intercorrelations between scores on the frequency and inten-
sity dimension of each subscale .f the MBI have been underlined in
Table 3. Whereas Maslach and Jackson (1979) in their work in the
helping professions reported that correlations between the frequen-
cy and intensity dimensions across subscales ranged from .35 to .73
with a mean of 36, the correlations between these dimensions for
teachers varied from .75 to .94 with a mean of .87. Within the
helping professions in general, there has been a moderate relation-
ship between how often one experiences various feelings associated
with burnout and how intensely they are felt, whereas for teachers
this relationship is fairly strong. On the average the total variance in
common between the frequency and intensity scores on a subscale
for persons in the helping professions was only 31%. On the other
 1172 EDUCATIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT
TABLE 3
Maslach Burnout Invenlory Scale Intercorrelationsfor Teachers

Emotional Personal
-
Exhaustion Accomplishment Depersonalization
I I1 I11 IV
Freq. Int. Freq. Int. Freq. Int. Freq. Int.
I Freq. -
.89 -.32 -.28 .58 .53 .49 .44
Int. -.30 -.19 .so .52 .40 .42

-
.75 -.33 -.31 -.40 -.42
-.27 -.23 -.37 -.32

-
.94 .47 .46
.44 .46

hand, for teachers the average total variance in common was 76%.
Because of the high relationship between subscale scores on the
frequency and intensity dimensions, serious consideration should be
given to whether the two dimensional format is necessary when
using the MBI with teachers. Administration time could be reduced
by asking teachers to respond to i.tle MBI in terms of either the
frequency or intensity with which feelings of burnout are exped-
enced.

Reliability of the Maslach Burnout Inventory

Internal consistency estimates of the reliabilities of each subscale
of the Maslach Burnout Inventory for teachers were determined by
using Cronbach’s coefficient alpha. These reliabilities as well as
associated subscale statistics are reported in Table 4 for both the
frequency and intensity dimension of the MBI. With the exception
of the Depersonalization subscale (Factor IV), these subscale relia-
bilities are judged acceptable. To facilitate comparison of these MBI
subscale reliabilities for teachers to those obtained by Maslach and
Jackson for individuals in the helping professions in general, the two
subscales comprising Depersonalization (Factor 111 and Factor IV)
were combined. The reliabilities obtained by Maslach and Jackson
as well as those derived for teachers are presented in Table 5. From
Table 5 , it is evident that the MBI subscale reliabilities for teachers
were quite similar to those reported by Maslach and Jackson
through their work in the helping professions.
In term? of future use of the MBI with teachers, it is clear that the
final Depersonalization subscale (Factor IV) was not adequately
 IWANICKI AND SCHWAB 1173

TABLE 4
Maslacli Burnout Inventory Subscale Starisrics and Alpha Reliabilities

Emotional Personal
Exhaustion Accomplishment Depersonalization
Subscale I I1 111 IV
Frequency Dimension
Number of Items 9 8 2 3
Mean 22.30 37.36 2.93 4.22
Standard Deviation 11.63 6.58 3.18 3.88
Reliability .90 .76 .79 .66
Intensify Dimension
Number of Items 9 8 2 3
Mean 29.74 41.63 3.81 5.40
Standard Deviation 13.45 7.09 3.97 4.64
Reliability .89 .79 .80 .66

reliable to be used effectively. Either the two Depersonalization

subscales (Factor I11 and Factor IV) should be combined to obtain a
more reliable measure of Depersonalization or the quality and
number of items comprising the final Depersonalization subscale
(Factor IV) should be increased to im -rove its reliability. From
using the Spearman-Brown formula, it was apparent that at least
three similar type items would need to be added to this subscale to
raise its reliability to an acceptable level (80).

Summary and Conclusion

The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) developed through re-
search in the helping professions is sufficiently construct valid to be
used with teachers. In future research utilizing the MBI in educa-
tion, serious consideration should be given to whether it is neces-
sary to retain the two dimensional format which has been used in the
helping professions. As there was a high correlation between
teacher scores on the subscales comprising the MBI, it may be more
efficient to ask teachers to respond to each item in terms of either
the frequency or intensity with which they experience the feelings
described.
The factor structure of the Maslach Burnout Inventory based on
teacher responses supports separating depersonalization into two
subscales: 111-Depersonalization as it relates to the job and IV-
Depersonalization as it relates to students. As the reliability of
Subscale IV was low, depersonalization should be divided into two
subscales only if the quality and number of items comprising
Subscale IV are increased sufficiently to improve the reliability of
1174 EDUCATIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT
TABLE 5
Maslach Burnout Inventory
Alpha Reliabilities for Teachers and Persons In the Helping Professions

People In The '

Teachers Helping Professions

Subscale (N= 469) (N = 1,025)
Emotional Exhaustion
Frequency .90 .a9
Intensity .a9 .a7
Personal Accomplishment
Frequency .76 .77
Intensity .79 .77
Depersonalization
Frequency .76 -76
Intensity .75 .75

this subscale. Otherwise, Depersonalization Subscales I11 and IV

should be combined.
In planning future studies of burnout among.teachers, one would
find it interesting to examine the concurrent validity of the MBI.
One approach would be to administer the MBI to a small sample of
teachers within several school buildings. Then colleagues would be
asked to rate these teachers according to the behaviors assessed by
the MBI. For married teachers, spouses would be asked to provide
similar ratings. Once these data were collected, the concurrent
validity of the MBI would be assessed by comparing the teacher,
colleague, and spouse ratings by subscale. Through future research
with teachers, it also would be helpful to gather data concerning the
test-retest reliability of the MBI by subscale.

REFERENCES
Anderson, M. G. A study of the differences among perceived need
deficiencies, perceived burnout and select background variables
for classroom teachers. (Doctoral Dissertation, University of
Connecticut, 1980) Dissertation Abstracts International, April
1981, Vol. 41/10, p. 4218-A (University Microfilms International
No. 8106727).
Maslach, C. and Jackson, S. E. The measurement of experienced
burnout. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychology,
University of California, Berkeley, 1979.
Schwab, R. L. The relationship of role conflict, role ambiguity,'
teacher background variables and perceived burnout among
teachers. (Doctoral Dissertation, University of Connecticut,
1980) Dissertation Abstracts International, March 1981, Vol. 411
9, p. 3823-A (University Microfilms International No. 8106751).