Burnout Factors in Private Health and Fitness Centers’ Sector: A Case Study in Greece

Abstract

Introduction Shirom (2005) agreed that a syndrome refers to a set of signs and symptoms that characterize a particular malfunction. Burnout Syndrome (BS) is characterized by Emotional Exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (D)/cynicism and reduced Professional Achievements (PA) and is derived from chronic exposure to stressors (Maslach, Schaufeli & Leiter, 2001). Chronic exposure to occupational factors, manifests BS and leads mathematically to the bad physical, the psychological and mental health state of the employee, and as a result to several disorders and health problems (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004). Although burnout was at fi rst addressed to the human service professions, it can also be found in other types of occupations. Recently, the concept of burnout has also begun to appear frequently in the sport, health, and fi tness industry services worldwide and recently in Greece (Kelley, Eklund, Ritter, & Taylor, 1999; Koustelios, 2010; Koustelios, 2001; Koustelios & Tsigilis, 2005; Koustelios, Zounatzi, & Karabatzaki, 2012; Martin, Kelley, & Dias, 1999; Tsigilis, Zournatzi, & Koustelios, 2011). Some similar researches have been contacted also in Greece, in diff erent occupational environments, also in the sports services area, but never before in the private sector of the health and fi tness services centers. Several occupational as far as individual factors are responsible for the evolution of BS. Many studies in the past investigate some of the abovementioned factors intensively among them gender, age, marital status, type of employment and level of education. Gender is most commonly the fi rst factor concerning the interest of the researchers of the fi eld. Th ere are several results referred to participants’ diff erences concerning gender which can also be a predictive factor of EE and D (Tang & Lau, 1996). Females show to be more vulnerable to EE than their males counterparts (Giacobbi Jr., 2009), while males seem to be more vulnerable to D than females do (Twellaar, Winants, & Houkes, 2008). Other results present that females employees may evolve higher levels of BS than males do (Bakker, Demerouti, & Schaufeli, 2002), and this is a factor which predicts work absence for females but not for males employees (Duijts, Kant, Landeweerd, & Swaen, 2006). In Greece, Antoniou (1999) agreed that female doctors showed higher levels of EE Abstract