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DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2022.53.05.7
How to Cite:
Benkova, K., Taneva, T., Georgiev, Y., Vlaeva, N., & Raleva, S. (2022). Influence of the occupational burnout syndrome on the
work attractiveness among social workers. Amazonia Investiga, 11(53), 70-81. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2022.53.05.7
Influence of the occupational burnout syndrome on the work
attractiveness among social workers
Влияние на “синдрома на професионалното прегаряне” върху “привлекателността
на труда” при социални работници
Received: April 10, 2022 Accepted: May 15, 2022
Written by:
Krasimira Benkova30
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2456-4698
ResearcherID: AAS-9884-2021
Tanya Taneva31
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1097-7857
ResearcherID: AAT-1882-2021
Yavor Georgiev32
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0650-9962
ResearcherID: G-9709-2016
Nadia Vlaeva33
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9111-4430
ResearcherID: AAS-9874-2021
Stanimira Raleva34
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2728-0068
ResearcherID: AAT-1893-2021
Abstract
The objective of this article is to study and
analyze the influence of burnout syndrome on the
"work attractiveness" in social workers. For the
purposes of the analysis, an empirical study was
conducted among 170 social workers from 142
social services in Bulgaria. The data from the
study confirmed though partially but statistically
significant, the dependence of work
attractiveness on the parameters of the
occupational burnout syndrome in the
professional social work practice. The following
tendencies have been outlined:
• Influence of the “occupational burnout
syndrome” in the part of emotional exhaustion on
the work attractiveness. The high level of
emotional exhaustion does not presuppose low
work attractiveness, just the opposite.
30
Professor at Faculty of Medicine, department of Medical psychology, Social work and foreign languages, Trakia University,
Bulgaria.
31
Associated professor at Faculty of Economic, department of Social Sciences and Business Language Training, Trakia University,
Bulgaria.
32
Chief assistant professor at Faculty of Medicine, department of Medical psychology, Social work and foreign languages, Trakia
University, Bulgaria.
33
Chief assistant professor Faculty of Medicine, department of Medical psychology, Social work and foreign languages, Trakia
University, Bulgaria.
34
PhD student at Faculty of Medicine, department of Medical psychology, Social work and foreign languages, Trakia University,
Bulgaria.
Benkova, K., Taneva, T., Georgiev, Y., Vlaeva, N., Raleva, S. / Volume 11 - Issue 53: 70-81 / May, 2022
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• Influence of the “occupational burnout
syndrome” in the part of emotional exhaustion on
the probability of leaving. The dependency
between the high emotional exhaustion and the
low work dissatisfaction precondition a higher
probability of leaving.
• Influence of the “occupational burnout
syndrome” in the part reduction of personal
achievements on the work attractiveness. The
high reduction determines the higher level of
occupational dissatisfaction.
Our study shows that specification of social work
depends both on the conditions of labor and the
personal qualities of the social workers.
Keywords: social work, social services,
occupational burnout syndrome, work
attractiveness.
Introduction
In Bulgaria the reform in the social sphere and
more particularly the reform in the social services
began in 1998. Priorities of the Bulgarian social
policy, representing the reform in the social
sphere, are the processes of decentralization and
deinstitutionalization. The focus is on the
transition from institutional care to services
enabling the people to stay in their community
and family environment.
The regulation on the status of the social services
is contained in a specially adopted new Social
Services Act No: 24/22 (2019).
This law contains the legal definition of social
services which are based on social work and
determines them as “activities in support of the
people” (Social Services Act No: 24/22, 2019).
The same legal document provides that the social
services are based on social work, individual
approach and individual assessment of the needs
(Social Services Act No: 24/22, 2019).
Social work is defined as an “activity…directed
towards support of the separate individual, the
family, groups or communities for improvement
of their quality of life through development of
skills to use their own abilities and those of the
community in response to their needs” (Social
Services Act No: 24/22, 2019).
The present article presents one of the social
services intended to provide residential care for
adults with disabilities where a team of experts –
a manager, a social worker, a medical person, a
psychologist and an occupational therapist
support the users in their efforts to lead an
independent life.
The social service for residential care for adults
with disabilities provides 24-hour care in an
environment close to the family. Within this
meaning it meets the need of a structured and
flexible model of a residential service,
corresponding to the international standards for
support to an optimal degree of the clients’
independence and serves as a preventive measure
for their entry into an institution.
The social service is a model of social service of
integrative nature. On the one side, it complies
with the current Bulgarian law governing the
social services in the community of resident type
and on the one side it is based on the main
principles of social work for provision of
customized social care depending on the needs
for services of disabled people and their abilities
to take an active part in the process of support.
In search for the specification of the social work
in the social service, the authors of the present
article study different parameters in the social
worker’s activity (Benkova et al., 2018).
More specifically they study the “occupational
burnout syndrome” and the “work
attractiveness”. The results of the research of
these two indicators are reflected in our
publications (Benkova et al., 2017; Benkova,
Vlaeva, Peeva, & Raleva, 2021).
The present article examines the influence of the
“occupational burnout syndrome” on the “work
attractiveness”.
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The aim of the article is to outline the
specification of the social worker’s professional
profile through the influence of the “occupational
burnout syndrome” on the “work attractiveness”.
The study covers 170 social workers, practicing
in 142 social services for residential care for
adults with disabilities in Bulgaria.
Theoretical Framework
The conceptual framework of the present
analysis is determined by the content of the two
main concepts - “occupational burnout
syndrome” and “work attractiveness”, the
consideration of which follows.
Occupational burnout syndrome
Research related to burnout began in the 70s of
the 20th century and is related to human-oriented
professions - doctors, teachers, social workers,
police officers, etc. (see Bradley, (1969);
Lemaire, Wallace, (2017); Jaoul & Kovess
(2004); Grochowska, Kubik, Romanowska &
Lebica (2018)). Prolonged practice of these
professions results in emotional exhaustion,
cognitive weakness and physical fatigue. This
condition of public sector workers was first
named in 1974 by one of the pioneers in this type
of research, H. Freidenberger (1974) “burnout”
or "professional burnout". Burnout is seen as "an
affective response to increasing stress in the
workplace, the most important feature of which
is the ever-increasing imbalance of internal
energy resources and as a result - emotional
exhaustion, physical fatigue, cognitive
weakness." (Shirom, 1989). C. Maslach &
Shaufeli (1993) defines burnout syndrome,
initially as a social problem and not so much as a
scientific phenomenon.
In the specialized literature the problem of
burnout in social work is systematically
addressed (Frieiro Padín et al. 2021) a. Burnout
syndrome has been the subject of a number of
studies (Wang et al., 2019), specificlly, the
preconditions for burnout in social work under
Covid's conditions are analyzed (Martínez-López
et al., 2021), as well as the influence of
sociodemographic variables on burnout
syndrome among social workers (Gómez-García
et al., 2020).
One of the most popular definitions of burnout
relevant to social work research is that of
Maslach and Jankson. This article uses Maslach
and Jackson's (1996) definition: "Burnout is a
syndrome of emotional exhaustion,
depersonalization and dissatisfaction with self-
realization/ decreased personal achievement".
The popularity of this definition is due to the fact
that the most widely used questionnaire - MBI,
includes all three dimensions mentioned in this
definition.
The specialized literature indicates different
factors which predispose to burnout (see
Rudaleva, Kabasheva & Khairullina (2018);
McCormack & Cotter (2013); Kim, Moon,
Han (2010)).
In the present article personal and organizational
factors are an object of interest.
Personality traits that predispose to "burnout":
self-doubt; impatience; attachment to traditional
values; the need for approval; excessive devotion
and dedication to work; idealism and
perfectionism” (Freudenberger, 1986).
The organizational factors provoking the
"professional burnout" in the employees are:
insufficient professional autonomy; the need for
constant meeting with people; role conflicts; role
uncertainty; limiting the possibility of personal
achievements; work overload; external stressors,
such as noise, vibration, etc. (see Poulin &
Walter (1993); Koustelios, A. (2001);
Seay-Morrison et al., (2021)).
Thus, as a result of the combination of
organizational factors and personal
characteristics, different risk situations in which
individuals may find themselves can be
constituted.
As such, the following are listed in the literature:
overloading the same person with many roles and
commitments, which does not allow for a short
break; neglecting the needs of 'dependents' in
favor of administrative, financial and
bureaucratic considerations; inadequate
leadership and inadequate supervision; lack of
training and orientation in the specifics of the
work; lack of social interaction and mutual
support among employees in the organization.
Work Attractiveness
In the specialized literature the term
“attractiveness” is used widely. It is viewed as a
characteristic of group cohesion (Dontsov,
1979), a motivational factor (Ilyin, 2000),
attitude regarding a profession (Rean &
Kolominskii, 1999) or a professional activity
factor (Snetkov, 2000). Various terminologies
are used to define “work attractiveness” –
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desirability, emotional relation, significance.
Generally, work attractiveness is studied within
motivational theory – as a motivational factor
(Dalal & Singh, 1986) and procedural theories as
valence (Ingram & Bellenger, 1983). Research
focused on the forming mechanisms of work
attractiveness can be considered in two groups:
one focusing on organizational factors (Fletcher
& Jones, 1992) and second focusing on
individual factors (Fields & Shallenberger,
1987).
In the current article and conducted research, the
authors understand “work attractiveness” as
“measuring perceptions or experiences of work’s
attractivity or the emotional-cognitive
component of one’s relationships (expectations)
to their work environment, determined by their
perceptions of that environment” (Ateg et al.,
2009). The difference between the evaluation of
actual work conditions and the perception of the
state of the desired conditions is the numerical
expression of work attractiveness (Nikiforova et
al., 2007). Three categories construct the model
of work attractiveness: work satisfaction (aspects
that the employee perceives as a result of work
performance), attractive work content
(dimensions relating to the abilities and
characteristics of employees encountered during
work performance), and attractive work
conditions (conditions surrounding the work)
(Ateg et al., 2009).
Methodology
The empirical study of the influence of the
“occupational burnout syndrome” on the “work
attractiveness” of the social workers in social
services for residential care for adults with
disabilities uses the results of the two parameters
separately.
The study of the “occupational burnout
syndrome” of the social workers in the social
service for residential care for adults with
disabilities is carried out through the diagnostic
method of K. Maslach, S. Jackson under an
adaptation of N. E. Vodopyanova (Vodopyanova
& Starchenkova, 2017). The method of studying
of the occupational “burnout” syndrome was
applied – Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI),
with the help of which the test for assessment of
the level of occupational burnout is carried out
(Maslach et al, 1996).
The MBI questionnaire contains 22 positions
allocated in three subscales: Emotional
exhaustion, Depersonalization and Reduction of
personal achievements. The questionnaire is
adapted after N.E. Vodopyanova (Vodopyanova
& Starchenkova, 2017).
Each subscale has two dimensions: frequency
(how often the social workers have such feelings)
and intensity (strength of such feelings). The
occupational burnout syndrome is presented as a
variable, varying between low, medium and high
levels.
When studying the parameter “work
attractiveness” the aim is to determine the
subjective attractiveness of the labour of the
social worker as attractiveness of the separate
parameters of the labour activity of the practice
of the social work in the social service.
Work attractiveness is studied as one of the most
important criteria for assessment of the socio-
psychological climate in the service. This socio-
psychological climate is perceived as
coordinated opinions, assessments and attitudes
of the team towards the conditions and
circumstances of work.
For the study of the subjective attractiveness of
the work for the social worker in the social
service, the diagnostic method of V.M. Snetkov
was used – Diagnostics of the work attractiveness
(Fetiskin et al, 2002). The set of tools has been
approved in the practice of social studies, which
is an argument for its reliability
(González‐Rodríguez et al, 2020). The
questionnaire contains evaluative statements
about the different aspects of the team work. The
proposed assessments are neither correct or
incorrect, good or bad, all of them are important
to a different extent for the separate person. The
questionnaire consists of two parts, each of them
with 56 questions. The evaluation of each
question is under a 10-point scale and each
number is interpreted in the following manner:
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Table 1.
Evaluation scale.
GRADE
Part I and II
Work attractiveness
Extremely high
10
9..10
Very high
9
7..8
High
8
5..6
Increased
7
3..4
Upward trend
6
1..2
Medium
5
0
Downward trend
4
-1..-2
Decreased
3
-3..-4
Low
2
-5..-6
Very low
1
-7..-8
Extremely low
0
-9..-10
Source: Personal elaboration, 2022. Results obtained with SPSS statistical package.
The evaluation with 10 points means that the
evaluated quality is persistent in the activity of
the team (work). In the cases where though
rarely, this quality is absent, the grade is 9, and
so on until 0, which designates complete
unavailability of the relevant quality, i.e. it has
never been present.
The study under this diagnostics goes through the
following stages:
1. In the first part the actually existing
conditions and work circumstances are
assessed. It assesses the degree of relevance
of the statements to the professional activity
in the team where the studied person is
working.
2. The second part gives an assessment of the
same conditions and circumstances reflected
in part 1, but from the point of view of the
wishes (the respondent’s needs). In this part
in the answer to the statements they should
be in compliance mostly with the personal
desires and interests of the studied person
and what is most important in his
occupational activity and what is not so
important.
All studied needs reflected in the questions from
1 to 56 in the two parts are grouped in 14 scales.
The ratio between these two scores is a parameter
of subjective work attractiveness in the given
team.
The parameter ‘probability for leaving’ is an
element of the general specification of the work
attractiveness of the social workers in the social
service.
The probability for leaving is within the range
between 0 and 1.
The study was carried out in compliance with the
Ethics code of Trakia University (Ethics code,
2019).
Limitations
The research has its subjective and objective
limitations related to the refusal of some of the
social workers to fill in the relevant diagnostics,
as well as the fact that some of the social services
do not have the position of "Social Worker",
despite the legal requirement for such.
The number of actual fillings varies for different
diagnoses. The study of the "burnout syndrome"
covers 163 validly completed diagnoses.
In the study of the indicator “work
attractiveness” 147 diagnostics were validly
filled in by the participants.
Hypothesis
We believe that the occupational burnout
syndrome has an infuence on the work
attractiveness in the social workers within the
social services for residential care for adults with
disabilities.
Methods
The processing of the obtained results was
carried out using Microsoft Excel and SPSS. The
data were introduced and processed by IBM
SPSS Statistics 24 using descriptive statistics,
Chi-squared test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov
normality test, Student’s t-test and non-
parametric Spearman correlation, Anova
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dispersion analysis with significance level for
zero hypothesis Р>0,05.
Immediate observations of the professional
practice in the social service were performed by
means of work of one of the authors as a social
worker.
Sociodemographic characteristics
The studied individuals were divided by the
following signs: age, sex, work experience,
education, remuneration and probability of
leaving.
Table 2.
Sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents.
Age
Aged from 22 to 38
Aged from 39 to 49
Aged from 50 to 60
Over 61
44
33,8%
41
31,5%
41
31,5%
4
3,2%
Sex
Male
Female
21
16,15%
10
9
83,85%
Work experience
Up to 5 years
From 6 to 10 years
Over 10 years
58
45,67%
47
37,01%
22
17,32%
Education
Master’s degree
Bachelor’s degree
Other
25
21,55%
36
31,03%
55
47,41%
Remuneration
Below 500
Above 500
78
63,41%
45
36,58%
Probability of
leaving
Willing to remain at
their workplace
With a tendency to
remain at their
workplace
Medium value of
the scale 0,5
67
45,56%
58
39,44%
22
14,96%
Source: Personal elaboration, 2022. Results obtained with SPSS statistical package.
The summarized socio-demographic
specification of the questioned respondents
shows that: The contingent of the study includes
170 social workers from 142 social services on
the territory of the entire country, provided that
not all of them have correctly filled out the
questionnaires.
The age of the participants in the study is from
22 to 66 and the predominant part thereof is at the
age of 40 + (the average age of the contingent is
41.1).
Under the “sex” sign, the findings are that the
female presence prevails in the studied
contingent.
Most of the studied respondents fall within the
group of persons with work experience up to 5
years.
The number of persons occupying the position of
Social worker without any special education is
bigger than that with education in Social
activities/Social work (Bachelor’s / Master’s
degree).
The larger part of the studied contingent falls
within the group of low remuneration.
Comparatively optimistic is the tendency with
respect to the probability of leaving in the studied
social workers.
Results and Discussion
The results of the study of both parameters
show the following:
Regarding the “occupational burnout syndrome”
in the three scales, the study shows the following:
1. The high level of emotional exhaustion
preserves the largest relative share of the
respondents 65 (39.9%), i.e. in the social
workers in the service there are features such
as low self-assessment, alienation, irritation
and intolerance to the others, leading to
changes in the interpersonal relations.
2. In the study of depersonalization, it was
established that the biggest number of
respondents falls in the low level 61
(37.4%), i.e. the social workers in the social
service show emotional distance and
indifference, formally perform their
professional obligations in the lack of
personal compassion, they are uncertain in
their own efforts.
3. The study of the reduction of personal
achievements shows that the dependency is
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reversible, and the biggest number belongs
to the respondents in the low level 44
(47.2%), i.e., the social workers in the social
service service have the feeling of
incompetence in the professional sphere
(their practice) and inability to cope with
their duties, their professional motivation is
reduced.
The study of the degree of subjective work
attractiveness of the social worker in the social
services for residential care for adults with
disabilities as attractiveness of the separate
specifications of the practice of social work
indicates the following:
− The biggest dissatisfaction reflected as a low
rate, the social workers express with respect
to the personal material and social
procurement.
− Work attractiveness as one of the most
important criteria for assessment of the
socio-psychological climate in the service
shows a general tendency of decrease, i.e.
increase in the level of dissatisfaction of the
workers involved in the service.
Results of the study of factor influence
Having studied the “occupational burnout
syndrome” and “work attractiveness”, a factor
influence of burnout on attractiveness was
sought. For the purposes of this article, only the
statistically significant relationships presented in
the following tables are followed.
Influence of the “occupational burnout
syndrome” on the “work attractiveness”
1. Influence of the subscale of emotional
exhaustion on scales from “work
attractiveness”.
Table 3.
Influence of the emotional exhaustion on the work attractiveness.
Independent
variable
Dependent variable
Degree of the
independent variable
Mean of the
dependent
variable
F;P
Emotional
exhaustion
Scale 3 “Warm and
trustful relations within the team”
Low emotional
exhaustion
8,25
F=3,9; p<0,05
Medium emotional
exhaustion
7,40
Strong emotional
exhaustion
8,53
Scale 4 “Recognition from
personal authority”
Low emotional
exhaustion
8,61
F=3,20; p<0,05
Medium emotional
exhaustion
7,79
Strong emotional
exhaustion
8,37
Scale 13 “Public
recognition of personal contribution and of the importance of the work of the team in
general
Low emotional
exhaustion
8,25
F=6,29;p<0,001
Medium emotional
exhaustion
7,41
Strong emotional
exhaustion
8,44
Source: Personal elaboration, 2022. Results obtained with SPSS statistical package.
The dispersion analysis shows influence of
subscale emotional exhaustion as a component of
the occupational burnout syndrome on the work
attractiveness of the social worker. The
emotional exhaustion influences scale 3 – Need
for warm and trustful relations (F=3,9; p<0,05),
scale 4 – Need for recognition and personal
authority (F=3,20; p<0,05) and scale 13 – Need
for public recognition of the personal
contribution and the importance of the team work
in general (F=6,29; p<0,001). For low and high
emotional exhaustion, higher work attractiveness
is reported under scales 3, 4 and 13, and the
medium level of emotional exhaustion
determines statistically lower work attractiveness
of the social worker.
2. Influence of the emotional exhaustion on
the probability of leaving
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Table 4.
Influence of the emotional exhaustion on the probability of leaving.
Independent
variable
Dependent
variable
Degree of independent variable
Mean of the
dependent
variable
F;P
Emotional
exhaustion
Probability of
leaving
Low emotional exhaustion
1,45
F=3,42;
p<0,05
Medium emotional exhaustion
1,97
Strong emotional exhaustion
1,96
Source: Personal elaboration, 2022. Results obtained with SPSS statistical package.
The higher emotional exhaustion is, the higher
the probability of leaving the profession.
3. When studying the influence of subscale
depersonalization on the scales “work
attractiveness” there are no statistically
significant connections.
4. Influence of subscale reduction of personal
achievements on scales from “work
attractiveness”.
Table 5.
Influence of the reduction of personal achievements on the work attractiveness.
Independen
t variable
Dependent variable
Degree of independent
variable
Mean of the
dependent
variable
F; P
Reduction of
the personal
achievement
s
Scale 1 “Creative and
interesting work”.
High reduction of the
personal achievements
7,30
F=3,61; p<0,05
Medium reduction of the
personal achievements
8,14
Low reduction of the
personal achievements
8,28
Scale 3 “Warm and
trustful relations in the
team”
High reduction of the
personal achievements
6,82
F=3,33; p<0,05
Medium reduction of the
personal achievements
8,01
Low reduction of the
personal achievements
7,36
Scale 4 “Recognition
from personal authority”
High reduction of the
personal achievements
6,96
F=6,26;
p<0.001
Medium reduction of the
personal achievements
8,30
Low reduction of the
personal achievements
7,83
Scale 7 “Principles and
respectful relations in the team”
High reduction of the
personal achievements
6,08
F=4,86;
p<0,001
Medium reduction of the
personal achievements
7,01
Low reduction of the
personal achievements
7,67
Reduction of
the personal
relations
Scale 9 “Active position about life of all members of the team”
High reduction of the
personal achievements
6,48
F=4,15; p<0,05
Medium reduction of the
personal achievements
7,77
Low reduction of the
personal achievements
7,51
Scale 10 “Good
organization of labour”
High reduction of the
personal achievements
5,61
F=4,41; p<0,05
Medium reduction of the
personal achievements
6,78
Low reduction of the
personal achievements
6,70
High reduction of the
personal achievements
6,25
F=4,51; p<0,05
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Scale 11 “Common
results of the whole
team”
Medium reduction of the
personal achievements
7,39
Low reduction of the
personal achievements
7,15
Scale 14
“Communication ‘under
the vertical’ and ‘along the
horizontal’”.
High reduction of the
personal achievements
6,26
F=3,06; p<0,05
Medium reduction of the
personal achievements
7,31
Low reduction of the
personal achievements
7,23
Source: Personal elaboration, 2022. Results obtained with SPSS statistical package.
The results of the dispersion analysis show
influence of the reduction of the personal
achievements on work attractiveness in the social
service in the following scales:
1. Scale 1 – Need for creative and interesting
work – the higher the reduction of the
personal achievements is, the lower the work
attractiveness is under scale 1 (F=3,61;
p<0,05).
2. Scale 3 – Need for warm and trustful
relations in the team - the highest degree of
reduction of the personal achievements
determines statistically significant the
lowest work attraction of 3 scales (F= 3,33;
p<0,05).
3. Scale 4 – Need for recognition and personal
authority – the higher degree of the
reduction of personal achievements
determines a low value of work
attractiveness under scale 4 (F= 6,26;
p<0,001).
4. Scale 7 – Need for principle and respectful
relations in the team – the high level of
reduction of the personal achievements
determines a statistically significant low
level of work attractiveness under scale 7
(F= 4,86; p<0,001).
5. Scale 9 – Need for an active life position of
all team members – the higher reduction of
personal accomplishments is, the lower the
value of work attractiveness is under scale 9
(F= 4,15; p<0,05).
6. Scale 10 – Need for good labor organization
– the highest degree of reduction of personal
achievements determines in a statistically
significant aspect the lowest work
attractiveness under scale 10 (F=4 ,41;
p<0,05).
7. Scale 11- Need for common success of the
whole team – the higher level of reduction of
personal achievements determines in a
statistically significant aspect a low level of
work attractiveness under scale 11 (F= 4,51;
p<0,05).
8. Scale 14 – Need for communication “under
the vertical” and “along the horizontal” –
the higher the reduction of the personal
achievements is, the lower the work
attractiveness is under scale 14 (F= 3,06;
p<0,05).
Discussion
The main problems which the social workers
from the social services for residential care for
adults with disabilities face are determined
through an exhaustive empirical study.
The study presented in this article supplements
the specification of the social work in the social
service.
The results outlining the profile of the social
worker in the social services on the territory of
Bulgaria by socio-demographic parameters
showed the following: women at the average age
of 41, with work experience at this position up to
5 years, with remuneration below BGN 500
(approx. 280 USD) and education other than
Social activities / Social work. This represents
the general tendency in the profession of social
work – feminization of the profession,
insufficient public recognition by the society and
low remuneration.
As a result of the empirical study and the analysis
performed, the following tendencies of
theoretical and practically applied nature have
been outlined:
• Influence of the “occupational burnout
syndrome” in the part of emotional
exhaustion on the work attractiveness. The
social workers within the social services for
residential care for adults with disabilities
with low and high emotional exhaustion
show higher work attractiveness, i.e. less
dissatisfaction, while those with a medium
level of emotional exhaustion report
statistically lower work attractiveness.
Probably the low emotional exhaustion is
attractive by itself, as the people are
preserved in the profession. The high
emotional exhaustion may be related to
devotion to the profession or the ambition
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for a career growth, which also maintains
attractiveness. The hypothesis is partially
confirmed. The high level of emotional
exhaustion does not presuppose low work
attractiveness, just the opposite. This is a
very interesting result;
• Influence of the ‘occupational burnout
syndrome’ in the part of emotional
exhaustion on the probability of leaving. It
was found out that the dependency between
the high emotional exhaustion and the low
work dissatisfaction precondition a higher
probability of leaving. Even for the work
attractiveness, which means that they would
probably remain in the profession of social
worker but not in the social services for
residential care for adults with disabilities;
• Influence of the “occupational burnout
syndrome” in the part reduction of personal
achievements on the work attractiveness.
The high reduction, i.e. decreased capacity
for work, the lack of confidence in one’s
own strengths, the loss of faith in the
accomplishment of future plans in the social
workers in the social services for residential
care for adults with disabilities determines
the higher level of occupational
dissatisfaction.
The data from the study confirmed though
partially but statistically significant, the
dependence of work attractiveness in the
profession of social work in the social services
for residential care for adults with disabilities on
the parameters of the occupational burnout
syndrome (i.e. the parameters of the professional
activity in the professional practice). The
importances of the practical application of the
results of the study clearly outline the need for:
• establishment of professional environment
stimulating the increase in the satisfaction
with the labor of the social worker in the
social services for residential care for adults
with disabilities with reduction of the
possibilities for occurrence of
dissatisfaction;
• development of programs for prevention of
the “occupational burnout syndrome” and
“work attractiveness” and their application
in the practice of social work.
Conclusions
Social work in the social services has its
specifications. Our study shows that this
specification of the social work in the social
services for residential care for adults with
disabilities depends both on the conditions of
labor and the personal qualities of the social
workers.
The results of the presented study show that the
“occupational burnout syndrome” and “work
attractiveness” as parameters of the quality of
social work should be considered in their
interdependence, and the summaries and
conclusions are directed to the practice of the
social workers.
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