The Job Demands–Resources Model of Burnout

Demerouti, Evangelia
Bakker, Arnold B.
Nachreiner, Friedhelm
Schaufeli, Wilmar B.

¹Department of Work and Organizational Psychology, Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany
²Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

³Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Evangelia Demerouti, Department of Work and Organisational Psychology, University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic mail may be sent to [email protected].

This study was supported by the German Academic Exchange Service and by Grant 580-02-202 from the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research as part of the research program Fatigue at Work.

Received Date: May 26, 1999; Revised Date: May 22, 2000; Accepted Date: June 1, 2000

Journal of Applied Psychology 86(3):p 499-512, June 2001.

The job demands–resources (JD-R) model proposes that working conditions can be categorized into 2 broad categories, job demands and job resources, that are differentially related to specific outcomes. A series of LISREL analyses using self-reports as well as observer ratings of the working conditions provided strong evidence for the JD-R model: Job demands are primarily related to the exhaustion component of burnout, whereas (lack of) job resources are primarily related to disengagement. Highly similar patterns were observed in each of 3 occupational groups: human services, industry, and transport (total N = 374). In addition, results confirmed the 2-factor structure (exhaustion and disengagement) of a new burnout instrument—the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory—and suggested that this structure is essentially invariant across occupational groups.