The Importance and Place of Neuroticism in Predicting Burnout in Employment Service Case Managers

This study investigated the ability of neuroticism to explain variance in burnout scores obtained from a sample of Australian case managers who work with individuals experiencing unemployment. Using a longitudinal survey methodology, 70 case managers completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI; Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996) on 2 occasions. Case managers also completed the Work Environment Scale (Moos, 1994) and the short form of the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1991) on the first occasion. In a series of hierarchical regression analyses, neuroticism added significantly to the explanation of variance in all 3 MBI subscales after summary scores describing work stress and work relationships had been entered at an earlier step. An investigation of whether emotional exhaustion mediated the influence of neuroticism on depersonalization found that emotional exhaustion satisfied the criteria for complete mediation.