Validation of the Maslach Burnout Inventory – General Survey: An Internet Study across Occupations

This study examined the factorial validity of the Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey (MBI-GS; Schaufeli et al., 1996) in eight different occupational groups of employees (N = 2919), who were recruited through the Internet. Results of multi-group confirmatory factor analyses favored the proposed Three-Factor Model over alternative Two-Factor and One-Factor Models. Exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy were identified as separate burnout dimensions for the sample as a whole, as well as for each occupational group separately. This means that the factor structure of the MBI-GS is similar across a wide variety of occupations (including human services and technical professions), although there are differences between occupations regarding factor loadings, path coefficients, and error variances. In addition, MANOVAs produced significant gender x age, and gender x working experience interaction effects on burnout. Across occupations, females reported higher levels of burnout than males, particularly when they were relatively young or had relatively little working experience.