Sex and culture in burnout and coping among human service professionals: A Social Psychological Perspective

In this study, burnout and coping were investigated among 503 human service professionals in the United States and Israel. A standardized self-report measure was used to determine burnout levels. The frequencies of use of 12 different coping strategies were assessed via a self-report questionnaire, differentiating coping efforts along two dimensions (active/inactive; direct/ indirect). A two-way analysis of variance yielded significant main effects for culture and for sex, but no significant interaction. It was found that Americans reported feeling more burned out than Israelis, and women reported feeling more burned out than men. As for coping, women reported using indirect and inactive coping strategies more than men, and Americans reported using them more than Israelis. The pattern of correlation between coping and burnout suggested that active-direct strategies were more effective in coping with stress than were the inactive and/or indirect behaviors. The discussion focuses on how sex role stereotypes and cultural values mediate the availability of various coping strategies, and thus affect the subjective experience of burnout.