A Study of the Relation between Social Workers’ Burnout and Job Satisfaction

Summary: The present study aims to examine whether Cypriot professional social workers are satisfied with their job and whether they have been affected by their work and/or have suffered from burnout symptoms. Participants were 134 professional social workers, who consist about 25% of all professional social workers who reside and work in Cyprus. Participants completed a) the Maslach Burnout Inventory-MBI (Maslach and Jaskson, 1986), which examines the existence of burnout symptoms and b) the Job Satisfaction survey (Spector, 1985), which examines the degree to which employees are satisfied with various aspects of their work. Findings: Research findings indicate that 34.3% of the participants were emotionally exhausted from their work, 85.8% showed a lack of personal achievements, 52.6% had a high depersonalization from their work, 76.1% experienced burnout symptoms from their work and 38.1% of the participants were satisfied with their work. Based on the research findings, social workers’ sociodemographic characteristics are significant factors in experienced burnout symptoms and job satisfaction. Particularly, women social workers are more prone and more experienced of burnout symptoms. Married participants, younger age participants, and social workers with higher monthly income feel more satisfaction from their work, less depersonalization, and less experienced burnout. Applications: Professional social work bodies should seriously consider strategies and methods for addressing and minimising burnout factors in the workplace, which have serious impact in the quality of the provided services.