Burnout contagion among general practitioners

This study used a representative sample of 507 general practitioners (GPs) to test the hypothesis that burnout is contagious. Following a two-dimensio nal conceptualization of burnout, it is assumed that burnout is comprised o f emotional exhaustion and negative attitudes (i.e., depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment). We hypothesized that perceived burnout co mplaints among colleagues and susceptibility to emotional contagion would m ake an independent contribution to explaining variance in negative attitude s through their influence on emotional exhaustion. The findings of a series of LISREL-analyses support this burnout contagion model. In addition, susc eptibility to the emotions expressed by others had a moderating effect on t he relationship between perceived burnout complaints among colleagues and i ndividual GPs' emotional exhaustion: Burnout contagion was most pronounced among those GPs who were, in general, highly susceptible to emotional stimu li. These findings, as well as possible routes to burnout contagion are dis cussed in terms of recent theoretical work on emotional contagion.