Examination of occupational burnout in terms of psychopathology, religious belief and locus of control

Objective: This study aims to investigate the state of occupational burnout of white collar office workers whose education levels are high school or above, and its relation to psychopathology, religious belief and locus of control. Method: 143 white collar workers were incorporated into the study through convenience sampling. Participants were subjected respectively to Sociodemographic Form, Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Symptom Checklist 90 Revised (SCL-90-R), Religious Orientation Scale (ROS) and Locus of Control Scale (LCS). Results: According to the analyses conducted in the research, 48% of participant suffer, 52% of participants do not suffer burnout. Through the lenses of sociodemographic variables, burnout scores of participants did not show significant difference in terms of any sociodemographic data. All psychological symptom scores of participants suffering burnout were found to be significantly higher than those do not suffer burnout. SCL-90-R scores increase as burnout scores of participants increase. No significant relation was found between religious belief/inclination and burnout. Positively significant relation was found between participants' burnout scores and LCS scores. It follows that, as burnout increases, direction of locus of control deviates to external locus of control. Lastly, it has been found out that variables of psychopathology, religious belief and locus of control combined explained 32% of total variance in burnout scores. Conclusion: The study established that demographic and occupational characteristic do not have an impact on the level of burnout, and burnout is in a positive relation with psychopathological symptoms and external locus of control. Key words: Occupational burnout, psychopathology, religion, internal control, external control