New study on burnout across Europe

This study uncovers relationships between burnout at country level on the one hand, and a variety of national economic, governance, and cultural indicators on the other hand. Burnout data were used from the 6th European Working Conditions Survey (2015) that includes random samples of workers from thirty-five European countries (total N=43,675). The countries with the highest burnout levels are predominantly found in eastern and southeastern Europe, whereas countries with the lowest burnout scores are found in northwestern and northern Europe. In countries with poorer economic performance in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GPD), higher levels of burnout are observed. Moreover, it was observed that the level of burnout is higher: (a) in countries where work is highly valued; (b) in poorer governed countries with a weak democracy, more corruption, gender inequality, and little integrity; (c) in less individualistic, hierarchical countries where people feel uncomfortable with uncertainty. Taken together, the analyses show that burnout at country level is associated in a meaningful way with various economic, governance, and cultural indicators (download research report).