Characteristics of Job Burnout and Humor among Psychotherapists
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Alfred J. Malinowski
Abstract
Job burnout is one factor that has led many individuals to be ineffective in their profession. Psychotherapists have been shown to be especially vulnerable to the effects of job burnout in their field of specialization. Because of this fact, coping strategies are needed to protect the psychological well-being of the therapist and the therapeutic process. Humor is one coping technique that has been used in dealing with job burnout in various professions, but humor has also been shown to be detrimental to psychological well-being. In this study, a total of 133 doctoral degreed psychotherapists responded to a survey to determine the relationship between different types of humor (affiliative humor, self-enhancing humor, aggressive humor, and self-defeating humor) and various characteristics of job burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of a sense of personal accomplishment). Regression results indicated that self-defeating humor contributed to the job burnout characteristics of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, whereas self-enhancing humor contributed to a therapist's sense of personal accomplishment. The results seem to indicate that different types of humor may either buffer or contribute to job burnout depending on how humor is used.
©[2013] by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
Abstract
Job burnout is one factor that has led many individuals to be ineffective in their profession. Psychotherapists have been shown to be especially vulnerable to the effects of job burnout in their field of specialization. Because of this fact, coping strategies are needed to protect the psychological well-being of the therapist and the therapeutic process. Humor is one coping technique that has been used in dealing with job burnout in various professions, but humor has also been shown to be detrimental to psychological well-being. In this study, a total of 133 doctoral degreed psychotherapists responded to a survey to determine the relationship between different types of humor (affiliative humor, self-enhancing humor, aggressive humor, and self-defeating humor) and various characteristics of job burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of a sense of personal accomplishment). Regression results indicated that self-defeating humor contributed to the job burnout characteristics of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, whereas self-enhancing humor contributed to a therapist's sense of personal accomplishment. The results seem to indicate that different types of humor may either buffer or contribute to job burnout depending on how humor is used.
©[2013] by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- >From the editor
- Humorous similes
- No laughing matter? Young adults and the “spillover effect” of candidate-centered political humor
- The use of co-textual irony markers in written discourse
- Joke telling, humor creation, and humor recall in children with and without hearing loss
- Early maladaptive schemas, styles of humor and aggression
- Characteristics of Job Burnout and Humor among Psychotherapists
- Humorous cartoons in college textbooks: Student perceptions and learning
- A second look at laughter: Humor in the visual arts
- Book Reviews
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- >From the editor
- Humorous similes
- No laughing matter? Young adults and the “spillover effect” of candidate-centered political humor
- The use of co-textual irony markers in written discourse
- Joke telling, humor creation, and humor recall in children with and without hearing loss
- Early maladaptive schemas, styles of humor and aggression
- Characteristics of Job Burnout and Humor among Psychotherapists
- Humorous cartoons in college textbooks: Student perceptions and learning
- A second look at laughter: Humor in the visual arts
- Book Reviews