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Highly engaged but burned out: intra-individual profiles in the US workforce

Julia Moeller (Yale Child Study Center and Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA) (Department of Education, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany)
Zorana Ivcevic (Yale Child Study Center and Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA)
Arielle E. White (Yale Child Study Center and Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA)
Jochen I. Menges (WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, Düsseldorf, Germany)
Marc A. Brackett (Yale Child Study Center and Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA)

Career Development International

ISSN: 1362-0436

Article publication date: 23 January 2018

Issue publication date: 19 February 2018

2376

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to use the job demands-resources model to investigate intra-individual engagement-burnout profiles, and demands-resources profiles.

Design/methodology/approach

A representative sample of the US workforce was surveyed online. Latent profile analysis (LPA) and configural frequency analysis examined intra-individual profiles and their inter-relations.

Findings

A negative inter-individual correlation between engagement and burnout suggested that burnout tends to be lower when engagement is high, but intra-individual analyses identified both aligned engagement-burnout profiles (high, moderate, and low on both variables), and discrepant profiles (high engagement – low burnout; high burnout – low engagement). High engagement and burnout co-occurred in 18.8 percent of workers. These workers reported strong mixed (positive and negative) emotions and intended to leave their organization. Another LPA identified three demands-resources profiles: low demands – low resources, but moderate self-efficacy, low workload and bureaucracy demands but moderate information processing demands – high resources, and high demands – high resources. Workers with high engagement – high burnout profiles often reported high demands – high resources profiles. In contrast, workers with high engagement – low burnout profiles often reported profiles of high resources, moderate information processing demands, and low other demands.

Originality/value

This study examined the intersection of intra-individual engagement-burnout profiles and demands-resources profiles. Previous studies examined only one of these sides or relied on inter-individual analyses. Interestingly, many employees appear to be optimally engaged while they are burned-out and considering to leave their jobs. Demands and resources facets were distinguished in the LPA, revealing that some demands were associated with resources and engagement.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The study was conducted at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence but completed after the first author became an Assistant Professor at the University of Leipzig.

Citation

Moeller, J., Ivcevic, Z., White, A.E., Menges, J.I. and Brackett, M.A. (2018), "Highly engaged but burned out: intra-individual profiles in the US workforce", Career Development International, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 86-105. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-12-2016-0215

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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