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Article Excerpt
Professional burnout can be a result of chronic stress in the work situation, and is generally considered as a syndrome consisting of three aspects (Maslach & Jackson, 1981), The first and most central aspect is emotional exhaustion (Shirom, 1989). Individuals in a state of burnout experience a depletion of emotional resources and feel 'empty' or 'worn out'. The second aspect of burnout is depersonalization, a negative, cynical attitude towards one's work or the recipients of one's care (e.g. pupils or clients). The third aspect is reduced personal accomplishment, the tendency to evaluate one's accomplishments at work negatively. Despite all the research on burnout, it has often been neglected that burnout develops primarily in a social context (Schaufeli & Buunk, 2003). According to Buunk and Schaufeli (1993), processes such as comparisons with one's colleagues may play an important role in the development of burnout. The present research examined how the responses to comparisons with colleagues are related to coping styles and burnout, and how social comparisons and coping styles are related to the development of burnout over time.
The study was conducted among teachers in primary and secondary schools, a population in which stress and burnout are widespread. In Europe, it is estimated that 60%-70% of the teachers experience frequent stress and that approximately 30% of the teachers show signs of burnout (e.g. Boyle, Borg, Falzon, & Baglioni, 1995; Capel, 1991; Friesen, Prokop, & Sarros, 1988; Friesen & Sarros, 1989; Rudow, 1999). Numerous workrelated factors have been found to be associated with burnout among teachers, including excessive time pressure, poor relationships with colleagues, large classes, lack of resources, fear of violence, behavioural problems of pupils, role ambiguity and role conflict, poor opportunities for promotion, lack of support, and lack of participation in decision-making (e.g. Abel & Sewell, 1999; Fimian & Blanton, 1987; Friedman, 1991; Wolpin, Burke, & Greenglass, 1991). A major reason for examining the role of social comparison processes with respect to burnout in this population was that such processes may play an important role among teachers. Indeed, teachers are always surrounded by colleagues who provide ample opportunity for social comparison. In the staff room, for instance, teachers exchange information about their lessons and students, thereby revealing information about their functioning which may often induce social comparisons.
Identification and contrast in social comparison
Social comparison refers to relating one's own characteristics to those of other similar individuals (e.g. Wood, 1989). Individuals may engage in upward comparisons with colleagues who are performing in a more competent and adequate way than themselves, and they may engage in downward comparisons with colleagues who are performing in a less competent and inadequate way than they do. Expanding social comparison theory, the identification-contrast model proposed by Buunk and Ybema (1997) assumes that upward as well as downward comparisons may be interpreted in a positive or negative way, depending on whether one contrasts or identifies oneself with the comparison target. In the case of upward identification, people focus on the similarities between themselves and better-off others, try to recognize themselves in the others and perceive the other's situation as attainable for themselves. This may foster positive feelings and a sense of self-worth. In the case of upward contrast, individuals will view the other as a sort of competitor who has beaten them, which will generate negative feelings by reminding them that they are inferior, and by evoking envy and frustration. In the case of downward comparison, identification may imply that an individual views oneself as similar to others who are functioning in a worse way, or that one views the situation of worse-off others as a possible future for oneself, which will generally induce negative feelings (see also Lockwood, 2002). In the case of downward contrast, one may distance oneself from a worse-off other, by viewing the other's position as avoidable, or by viewing the other as someone who one has been beaten. This will generally evoke a positive, though not always socially desirable, response (e.g. Brickman & Bulman, 1977).
While it has been shown that the feelings evoked by social comparisons may depend on burnout (Buunk, Schaufeli, & Ybema, 1994; Buunk, Ybema, Gibbons, & Ypenburg, 2001; Buunk, Ybema, Van der Zee, Schaufeli, & Gibbons, 2001), identification and contrast processes in social comparison have not been directly studied in this context. Moreover, no longitudinal research has been published examining the relation between burnout and social comparison over time. In the present study, it was expected that burnout will be accompanied by more negative interpretations of social comparisons, that is, by upward contrast and downward identification, and such negative interpretations will also be associated with an increase of burnout over time. Individuals high in burnout do not function any longer as they did before and will experience envy and frustration in confrontation with better-off others. In turn, such negative responses may undermine motivation and result in poorer performance. Engaging in downward identification, that is, seeing similarities in worse-off others and viewing the situation of such others as a 'feared self' (Lockwood, 2002) may also be typical for those experiencing burnout and subsequently enhance burnout in a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy.
In a similar vein, it was expected that burnout will be accompanied by less positive interpretations of social comparisons, that is, by less upward identification and downward contrast, and that such positive interpretations may be associated with a decrease of burnout over time. Contrast effects from downward comparisons under stress may temporarily restore one's mood and may thus function as part of an emotion-oriented coping style (for reviews, see Gibbons & Gerrard, 1991; Teunen, McKee, & Affleck, 2000). Particularly upward identification, that is, interpreting the fact that others function better than oneself in a positive way by viewing actual or potential similarities between the other and oneself, may help in reducing burnout over time, as better performing others are used as a source of inspiration, learning and self-improvement (e.g. Collins, 1996; Lockwood & Kunda, 2000).
Coping styles as related to burnout
In the present research, we also examined whether social comparison strategies are part of broader coping styles. Coping has been defined as the cognitive and behavioural efforts to master, reduce or tolerate the demands that are created as a consequence of a stressful transaction (Lazarus & Launier, 1978; Folkman & Lazarus, 1980). Coping is a dynamic process that varies on a day-to-day basis. However, we focus here not on this process, but on coping styles as the predisposition to use certain coping behaviours (see e.g. Watson & Hubbard, 1996). Despite the fact that there is no consensus on how to classify coping styles, many distinct coping inventories have been devised (for reviews, see Latack & Havlovic, 1992; Folkman & Moskowitz, 2004). In the present research, based on Dewe's classification (1985), we made a distinction between a direct coping style and apalliative coping style....
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