Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
BY
S. Sahu
DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO
Dr S. Kalyanasundaram
2008-10
Burnout and Coping Patterns among
IT Professionals: A Preliminary Exploration
BY
S. Sahu
DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO
Dr S. Kalyanasundaram
2008-10
The Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Karnataka
I hereby declare that this dissertation, titled “Burnout and Coping Patterns among IT
Counselling.
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CERTIFICATE FROM THE GUIDE
This is to certify that the dissertation titled “Burnout and Coping Patterns among IT
Sahu in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of M.Sc. (Psychosocial
Designation : Principal
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ENDORSEMENT BY THE HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT/
THE PRINCIPAL/THE HEAD OF THE INSTITUTION
This is to certify that the dissertation titled “Burnout and Coping Patterns among IT
Date : Date :
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COPYRIGHT
I hereby declare that the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Karnataka shall
have the right to preserve, use and disseminate this dissertation in print or electronic
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Graduate College for Psychosocial Rehabilitation & Counselling, Bangalore, kept his
eagle eye on the text of this dissertation throughout and gave it focus. Dr Dharitri
Ramaprasad, Professor at the College, finely chiselled the draft protocol, to start with. Dr
deadly pitfalls in number-crunching, working with me late into the night. Ms Geetha
Ranjan, Asha, Priyank, Anant, Arun, Prabhat, Prabha, Maya, Ratheesh, Prema and Rajesh
worked hard to get me the sample I needed. Vasantha’s help with data entry was vital and
crucial.
All those mentioned above helped me sacrificially. Any credit for this dissertation should
go to them.
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ABSTRACT
Information Technology (IT) professionals in India and elsewhere have high-stress jobs
However, the research conducted to study stress, coping and burnout in this population
has been inadequate. The current study examined the extent of burnout and the coping
variables. The sample comprised 139 software engineers of both genders, aged 23-28
informed consent was obtained from participants. The data collection tools were a socio-
demographic data form, the Coping Checklist by Rao, Subbakrishna and Prabhu (1989)
and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (General Survey) by Schaufeli, Leiter, Maslach and
Jackson (1996). The results tabulated the correlation of burnout and coping pattern scores
with gender, age, marital status, position of respondent among siblings, length of service
in the current organisation, number of daily working hours and gross annual income.
Most respondents did not have more than 2 siblings. Although there was a high
proportion of females, the women had lower Professional Efficacy scores than the men.
The average workday was longer than 8 hours. Exhaustion scores were highest in the 23-
to 24-year age group, a possible cause being high work pressure. Burnout levels had no
correlation with income. Both males and females had similar stress coping styles.
Respondents in the highest income slab (Rs 6 lac-Rs 9 lac) had the poorest coping scores.
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The IT community, although in transition, is already a distinct socio-demographic class
that deserves tailor-made preventive and therapeutic interventions to be developed for it.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Introduction 1
2 Objectives 12
3 Review of Literature 14
4 Methodology 26
5 Results 31
6 Discussion 53
7 Summary 61
8 Bibliographic References 64
9 Annexures A1
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LIST OF TABLES
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1. INTRODUCTION
Michigan in the 1960s and accepted from the late 1970s (Jex, 2002)1 as being coupled
with the onset of significant physical and mental health problems of workers. It causes
Stress is “the response to events that are threatening or challenging.” (Feldman, 1996)2
arising between the human personality and the culture and processes of the organisation
in which the individual is employed (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 20093 and Business
employee lacks the ability or adequate resources to meet those demands. This results in
physical or psychological disorders and is ongoing in nature, sometimes lasting for the
Occupational Burnout
For the purpose of this study, burnout is defined as being a crisis in one’s relationship
with work (Maslach, Jackson and Leiter, 1997)5. It is a state of exhaustion in which one
is cynical about the value of one’s occupation and doubtful of one’s capacity to perform
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professionally. Burnout has three sub-scales, Cynicism, Exhaustion and Professional
the feeling “I don’t really care if my work is done well or poorly.” Exhaustion is fatigue
and is represented by “working all day is really a strain for me.” Professional Efficacy
represents one’s expectations, e.g. “At work, I am confident that I am effective at getting
things done” and, although it includes satisfaction with past and present
one or more of the following: high stress, high emotional commitment and outcomes
independent of the effort exerted by the working individual. Individuals most vulnerable
to burnout are those who are strongly motivated, dedicated and involved in their work.
Work, for such, is an important means through which they derive meaning in life and
achieve their goals and expectations. They therefore experience burnout when they
experience a sense of failure in finding meaning and growth through their work
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The Symptoms of Occupational Burnout
Farlex, Inc., 20108). One is emotional exhaustion: the depletion or draining of emotional
frustrated easily, etc. Depleted physical energy is a close second: the subject feels
physically drained or tired much of the time and no longer has the energy he/she once
did. Even getting out of bed to face another day becomes more difficult than before.
relationships, as a result, because they know they have less to give to and less patience
with others. This is linked with cynicism, indifference or distancing in relation to work
(Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2010)6 and fellow humans, and dehumanised perceptions
and derogatory labelling of the latter. Moreover, one’s experience of burnout translates
into an increasingly pessimistic outlook, making it more difficult for one to feel excited
about life, have fun, expect the best from situations and let go of negative experiences.
People suffering from burnout usually have increased susceptibility to minor and not-so-
minor illnesses.
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Behaviours Characterising Occupational Burnout
individual to blame others in an organisation for one’s own problems, exhibit increased
absenteeism, get more embroiled in interpersonal conflicts and confrontation and isolate
himself/herself from others in the organisation (Maslach and Leiter, 1997)9. Individuals
suffering from job burnout frequently attempt to remove themselves from the situations
they perceive to be the source of their problems. Although they do not actually terminate
their jobs, they stop communicating, often damaging both their organisations and their
own careers.
Professionals in the information technology industry are not spared from such burnout.
The causative factors to which one may attribute job stress (FreeEssays.cc, 2003?)11 have
• Stressors common to a wide variety of jobs, e.g. issues regarding customer demands,
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• Stressors common to a wide variety of organisations, e.g. issues related to absence of
• External changes such as those occurring in the market, which in turn cause the
environment, staffing and job tasks. (Changes in this category feed into those in the
foregoing groups.)
stress within organisations lie in four areas: task demands (specific characteristics of the
job itself), physical demands (environmental factors such as temperature variations, noise
achievement goals within one’s organisation) and interpersonal demands (the demands of
The above causative factors may equally be traced to the following 10 “sources” of stress
(Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, 2001)12:
• Doubt (employees being unsure of what is happening and where things are headed)
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• Mistrust (due to vicious office politics, which disrupt positive behaviour)
• Career and job ambiguity (when things happen without the employee knowing why)
• Random interruptions
• Work “underload” (which results in the employee feeling a lack of job control).
(It may be noted that eight of the above 10 sources constitute inter-departmental,
Organisational Stressors
More attention has been given, in the literature of occupational stress research, to
organisational role stressors and “aversive working conditions associated with behaviours
expected of each employee in an organization” than to any other source (Jex, 2002)1.
ambiguity (when one is unsure of what one is supposed to do), role conflict (lack of
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consistency in the role set-related information provided by one’s colleagues or superiors)
and role overload (when one’s employer or one’s work environment demands more than
Studies in the United States of America, Germany and India (Smith, Conway and Karsh,
199913; Sonnentag, Brodbeck, Heinbokel and Stolte, 199414; and Sharma, Khera and
occupational stress and burnout. Moreover, this mode of work introduces new stressors:
Physical symptoms that may occur because of occupational stress include fatigue,
headache, stomach problems, muscles aches and pains, chronic mild illness, sleep
irritability, substance abuse, feeling powerless, low morale, social withdrawal in the
organisation, phobias, etc may develop (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2009)3. The
individual may become unable to perform routine tasks and suffer a loss of enthusiasm
for work and the inability to enjoy life (Tatum, 2010)16. Job stressors have been
associated with psychiatric disorders, including major depression and long working
hours, with a higher risk of myocardial infarction, diabetes mellitus and hypertension, in
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In human-computer interaction, occupational stress manifests itself as increased
mood disturbances, particularly anxiety, fear and anger; and diminished quality of
working life, such as reduced job satisfaction (Smith, Conway and Karsh, 1999)13. In
planning areas (Tominaga, Asakura and Akiyama, 2007)18. Computer-related work has
been found to lead to a high incidence of health problems and, particularly, to visual and
musculoskeletal problems and increased stress (Sharma, Khera and Khandekar, 2006)15.
Coping (Feldman, 1997)2 is the effort one makes “to control, reduce, or learn to tolerate
the threats that lead to stress.” It is one’s effort to deal with stress. Lakshminarayanan
(2008)19 cites research conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) whose findings suggest that, at the individual
maintaining a good work/life balance, being involved with meaningful support groups,
practising meditation and relaxation, etc constitute adaptive coping, i.e. the steps taken
help reduce the effects of stressful working conditions in a healthy way. NIOSH has also
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organisational culture that values the individual worker and keeping management action
consistent with organisational values are among the characteristics associated with low-
People cope with stress in problem- and emotion-focused ways (Carver, Scheier and
Weintraub, 1989)20. Problem-focused coping attempts to solve the problem, i.e. address
the source of the stress. Emotion-focused coping aims at reducing or managing the
emotional distress caused. Others have added appraisal-focused coping, i.e. coping by
controlling the meaning of the stressful situation (Rao, Subbakrishna and Prabhu,
1989)21. Coping with stress can be a proactive process spanning the stages of detection,
Coping has several dimensions. The starting point is perceived self-efficacy (the level one
believes one can perform at). People with a strong sense of efficacy approach difficult
tasks as challenges to be mastered rather than as threats to be avoided, while those who
doubt their capabilities fall easy prey to stress and depression (Bandura, 1994)23. (For
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The second dimension, social support is useful particularly in the face of mega-
organisational transformations, e.g. mergers (Fugate, Kinicki and Scheck, 2002)24. Social
contact, another dimension, is what people using the Internet (a behaviour typical of
young high-tech workers) to cope with loneliness explore (Seepersad, 2001)25, although
Net usage redoubles either the individual’s social engagement or withdrawal. For a
particular, also influence coping (Coyne and DeLongis, 1986)26. Undergraduate students
use social networking for coping (Taylor, Sherman, Kim, Jarcho, Takagi et al, 2004)27
and, significantly, to recover from alcohol abuse (Brown, Vik, Patterson and Schuckit,
1994)28.
The attitudes of a person under stress and his/her physical age and psychological
vulnerability have also been shown to be relevant. Optimism improves coping among
Kolkata, people younger than 30 years of age reported greater distress, including somatic
symptoms of mental illness, from organisational role stress, than older persons
(Bhattacharya and Basu, 2007)30. People with better mental health, to begin with, cope
better emotionally with stress than those without it (Aldwin and Revenson, 1987)31.
Positive affect makes people cope better with stress (Khosla, 2006)32.
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Gender Patterns in Coping
Carver, Scheier and Weintraub (1989)20 showed that broad patterns of gender-based
helping services (Addis and Mahalik, 2003)33, terminally ill women rely on social
networks to cope (Stanton, Danoff-Burg, Cameron, Bishop, Collins et al, 2000)34, while
women under stress generally tended to use the ‘tend and befriend’ and not the ‘fight or
A common stressor for female professionals is sexual harassment. Women react via
avoidance, denial, negotiation, advocacy-seeking and social coping (Wasti and Cortina,
2002)36 and physical mastery, particularly when the threat of physical assault looms
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2. OBJECTIVES
From the 1970s, many countries outside India have studied the impact of job-related
companies and of organisations in other sectors of industry. This is because such workers
have been found to be increasingly prone to suffering from occupational stress- and
In India, however, the study among IT professionals of occupational stress, burnout and
associated health hazards has gathered momentum more recently. Relatively few studies
have thus been conducted on the psychosocial condition of IT professionals in India and,
The current dissertation therefore attempts to study the following among IT professionals
in Bangalore:
1. Extent of burnout
To this end, a field study has been carried out in Bangalore on software engineers in the
23- to 28-year age group who are employed in 10 large and mid-sized IT organisations
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(Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Accenture, TCS Financial Services, Wipro, Oracle,
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3. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The scientific literature on stress dates back to 1936, when Hans Selye systematically
Jackson and Leiter, 1997)5. The literature is vast; this dissertation attempts to cite only a
fraction of the corpus. The literature reviewed here for occupational stress and
occupational burnout is categorised under three heads: cause, effect and coping strategies.
control and social support (Gillespie, Walsh, Winefield, Dua and Stough, 2001)39.
A study by Ronen and Pines (2008)40 on women Israeli high-tech engineers revealed that
the sample reported significantly higher levels of burnout than their male colleagues due
to the masculine culture of the organisations they were employed in. The gender
tendency to utilise emotion-focused coping, their more limited peer support and more
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Based on a reportedly systematic review of publications on IT professionals and burnout,
Maudgalya, Wallace, Daraiseh and Salem (2006)41 identified the three key exposure
variables for the phenomenon as being role ambiguity, role conflict and job tasks.
by young professionals in the IT and ITeS industries due to a highly competitive work
Li and Shani (1991)43 studied 109 information system professionals from 109
organisations in the US. They explored organisational characteristics, job satisfaction and
work stress and found that work overload is the major source of perceived work stress,
followed by role conflict, then job-induced anxiety and, finally, role ambiguity.
automated jobs, in particular, are high workload, high work pressure, diminished job
control, inadequate employee training to use new technology, monotonous tasks, poor
supervisory relations and job insecurity. Smith et al concluded also that stressors in
Faragher, Cass and Cooper (2005)44 conducted a comprehensive review of 500 studies
including “grey literature” and unpublished reports, to establish that job satisfaction is
strongly related to mental and physical health, specifically burnout, lowered self-esteem,
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anxiety and depression. The authors confirm that dissatisfaction at work can be hazardous
Bhattacharya and Basu (2007)30 documented the findings of a survey conducted among
IT professionals in Kolkata with a mean age of 29.13 years. They confirm that
organisational role stress is distressful and contributes to a poor sense of wellness among
employees.
In Japan, Tominaga, Asakura and Akiyama (2007)18 conducted a survey on over 1,000 IT
employees distributed across 53 companies and showed that the chief stressors were work
overload, career and future ambiguity, inadequate performance appraisal systems and
poor supervisor support. This confirmed the findings of Kawakami and Haratani
(1999)17, who carried out a research review spanning 15 years to determine that
organisational inadequacies in job control, skill use, worksite support and job demands
In the Information Systems & Technology sector, Sockel, Mak and Bucholz (2004)45
found that lack of innovation also can adversely affect staff and result in burnout.
Jones, Jr. (2008)46, in fact, concluded that burnout can be predicted. He based this thesis
who had worked for at least five years in The Navigators, a 72-year-old US-based
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loneliness, i.e. isolation; role ambiguity; age (negatively); need to raise one's professional
income; number of work hours; and gender (females are more susceptible than males).
Smith, Conway and Karsh (1999)13 identified the deleterious effects of stress caused by
diminished quality of working life (e.g. reduced job satisfaction). For stress reduction,
In their survey in Japan, Kawakami and Haratani (1999)17 also identified that the effects
mellitus and hypertension; higher levels of blood serum lipids; fibrinolytic activity;
De Vente, Olff, Van Amsterdam, Kamphuis and Emmelkamp (2003)47 carried out a
The Netherlands. Resting blood pressure, cardiovascular reactivity and recovery, basal
cortisol levels and cortisol reactivity and recovery were similar for burnout patients and
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healthy controls. Burnout patients showed higher resting heart rates and, during the first
hour after awakening, higher cortisol levels also, indicating possible sustained activation.
showed that 36% of the sample could be considered as probable psychiatric cases.
Common problems noted were the feeling of being constantly under strain; the inability
to enjoy daily activities; being edgy, bad-tempered and dissatisfied with work tasks
assigned; and not feeling in good health. The authors found that the rate of psychiatric
morbidity in the sample was higher than that reported for the general population in India.
Job stress and less job satisfaction, however, have greater adverse impact on 25- to 35-
year-old managers than their older counterparts, state Chandraiah, Agrawal, Marimuthu
Sharma, Khera and Khandekar (2006)15 studied 200 Information Technology (IT)
professionals in the 21- to 30-year age group from the software development, voice-based
call centre and data entry communities and found that this sample’s computer-related
health problems were visual problems (76%), musculoskeletal (77.5%) and stress (35%).
Overall, males and females were almost equally affected although females experienced
more musculoskeletal problems and stress perception among males was higher.
Comparatively, 96.3% in software development, 92.6% in call centre work and 89.1% in
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data entry and data processing jobs had computer-related problems. Sharma et al
Coyne and DeLongis (1986)26 found one’s marital status as being an index of social
support which, along with social involvement, is central to human adaptation and well-
being. According to the study, happily married people usually have many psychological
and social advantages over their unmarried counterparts although, equally, the unhappily
married tend to experience stress that even high support in other social relationships do
not offset.
Ozer and Bandura (1990)37 documented the effect on coping by women when they
achieve physical self-defence mastery. The authors’ study was carried out on 43 women
who ranged in age from 18 to 55 years. Thirty-eight percent of this sample had been
husbands or boyfriends. None had been raped by a stranger, but 27% had had sexual
intercourse forced on them in one or more relationships. The forced intercourse involved
their engagement in recreational, social and cultural activities and reduced intrusive
negative thoughts, anxiety arousal, perceived personal vulnerability and general risk
perception.
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Aspinwall and Taylor (1997)22 conceptualise proactive coping as consisting of five
stages: (1) resource accumulation (building a reserve of temporal, financial and social
resources), (2) recognition of potential stressors (screening the environment for danger),
(3) initial appraisal (identifying the stressor and anticipating how it is likely to evolve),
(4) preliminary coping (determining what one can do in the situation) and (5) eliciting
and using feedback concerning one’s initial efforts (whether they have been effective and
Judge, Thorensen, Pucik and Welbourne (1999)50 conducted a study on over 500
managers in organisations from four continents that had recently experienced large-scale
ability to cope with change, there emerges a positive correlation between positive self-
Taylor, Klein, Lewis, Gruenewald, Gurung et al (2000)35 rounded up the literature and
safety and reduce distress, and creating and maintaining social networks.
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The final mode of coping covers leadership, mentoring and coaching. Transformational
leadership, i.e. leadership that motivates one’s subordinates to perform better than their
own expectations, has been shown by Arnold, Turner, Barling, Kelloway and McKee
(2007)51 to not only improve the psychological well-being of employees but also cause
The same research team surveyed 92 women of average age 51.56 years, from six
ethnicities, and concluded that emotion-focused coping helps adjustment and health for
Seepersad (2001)25 explored the use of social networking in coping with loneliness. He
sampled 350 people averaging 28 years in age, 70% of them being in the 14- to 30-year
age group and found that Internet surfing and chatting and playing games online are
associated with higher levels of not only loneliness but also of coping effectiveness.
Mantler, Matheson, Matejicek and Anisman (2002)52 surveyed 355 workers in Canada,
currency at the time of the study. The authors found that those with lower levels of stress
coping), whereas respondents with moderate and high stress levels did the opposite, i.e.
used more emotion-focused strategies and fewer problem-focused strategies. The entire
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One’s positive psychological state helps one’s coping, found Brissette, Scheier and
Carver (2002)29, who studied 89 first-year college students (with almost equal numbers of
males and females) in a year-long longitudinal study to assess the role of optimism in
coping and psychological adjustment. They found that an optimistic outlook resulted in
smaller increases in stress and depression and greater increases in perceived social
Schwarzer and Knoll (2003)53 present coping as falling into one or more of four modes:
reactive, anticipatory, proactive and preventive coping. Reactive coping deals with a past
or present stressful encounter by compensating for or alleviating the harm or loss caused.
In anticipatory coping, the individual tries to mitigate the risk or solve the actual problem
Preventive coping is observed when the subject engages in anticipatory coping against
critical events while they are still far in the future. Those who practise proactive coping,
however, first develop life goals and thus interpret potential or actual losses, harm or
threats as mere challenges en route. The authors also report the negative correlation
Coping strategies have been found to be gender-based as well. Addis and Mahalik
(2003)33 argue that, as a group, men seek professional help for mental health-related
problems less frequently than do women. This is explained as being a result of a gender-
role socialisation that emphasises self-reliance, emotional control and power in males. If
a man perceives help-seeking as requiring him to rely on others, to admit that he needs
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help, or to recognise and label an emotional problem, it goes against his perceived
socialisation, viz. the importance of his self-reliance, physical toughness and emotional
control. However, the authors find considerable individual variability within the
stereotype.
Hyman, Scholarios and Baldry (2005)54 conducted a survey among Scottish call centre
and IT employees. The respondents in the survey were mostly women, in the call centres,
and dominantly male, in the software companies. Overall, 40% of the sample had
children to look after. Hyman et al found that the respondents’ coped adaptively by
asking their mothers or mothers-in-law to look after the (respondents’) children; asking
their partners or spouses to stand in for them on chores; or swapping work shifts with
colleagues. Their maladaptive coping strategy was avoidant: absenteeism and quitting
their jobs. Coping among the software employees included taking work home, spending
longer hours at work, working from home part of the time or working longer but fewer
Khosla (2006)32 studied positive affect (PA) as an ingredient of coping through self-
efficacy. She documented coping research on the effect of PA on coping and found that
build his/her enduring personal resources, help the person to find meaning in ordinary
events and experience positive outcomes during stress. It makes for quicker recovery
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from cardiovascular arousal of those under stress, provides physiological resilience to
The 2007 study by Bhattacharya and Basu30 also quotes other studies that show that (a)
men and women use problem- and emotion-focused strategies across genders but that
men prefer the former and women the latter; and (b) women have more choices in social
support- and professional assistance-based coping than men and use behavioural and
Murray and Syed (2007)55 revealed that female executives are faced with stressors
averages and institutional and organisational controls were found to have been used to
discriminate against managerial women. The women coped initially by playing by the
men’s rules, then by ignoring their own systemic marginalisation and finally by working
as hard as it took to prove that they were as capable as the men working alongside them.
Women managers use emotion-focused coping, too, according to Kaila (2007)56, who
conducted a descriptive study of 130 women managers. The stressors were task demand-
related (severe time constraints, i.e. the “treadmill syndrome,” and job insecurity and
related (work overload and unchallenging work lacking achievement goals); and
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and subordinates, unexpected loss of social support, and damage control for colleagues’
fraudulent activities).
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4. METHODOLOGY
Aim of Study
The aim of the study was to assess burnout and coping patterns among IT professionals.
Source of Data
organisations in Bangalore were the population being studied. The organisations chosen
operations/organisations in Bangalore.
professionals within the social networks of both the researcher and the respondents
assisted in identifying the population sub-samples for the survey. The purpose of the
study was explained to the respondents and their informed consent obtained.
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Sample for Study
The sample size was 139. This population was used for most of the analysis although,
because 32 respondents declined to provide details of income from salary, the population
The researcher verbally explained to the respondents the background and aims of the
study and requested that they peruse the questionnaires before filling them out. Also, to
clarify doubts, if any, the researcher was present while the questionnaires were being
filled out. Each respondent was told that his/her response would be considered as being
representative of him/her as an individual and not of the organisation in which he/she was
employed.
Inclusion Criteria
computer-peripheral hardware and software segments were included. At the time of the
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Exclusion Criteria
Employees that were not software engineers were excluded from the sample, i.e.
in the physical premises of these organisations but employed by a contractor were also
excluded. Professionals in the IT-enabled services segment (e.g. voice- and non-voice-
based BPOs and KPOs) were excluded, as were professionals that were either expatriates
The tools circulated for data collection through the questionnaire method were:
• The Coping Checklist by Kiran Rao, D.K. Subbakrishna and G.G. Prabhu (1989):
The list suggests 70 coping patterns, i.e. common behavioural, emotional and
cognitive responses to handle stress and reduce distress. Each item is responded to
with a “Yes” or a “No.” The Checklist has seven sub-scales: one problem-focused
scale; five emotion-focused scales (distraction, both positive and negative; acceptance
and/or re-definition; religion and/or faith; denial; and blame); and one social support-
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focused scale, which combines problem- and emotion-focused coping. The sub-scales
sample.
• The Maslach Burnout Inventory (General Survey; MBI GS) by Wilmar Schaufeli,
Michael P. Leiter, Christina Maslach and Susan E. Jackson (1996). This is a 16-item
service settings or settings that do not require direct contact in service relationships.
by one’s work), de-personalisation (an unfeeling and impersonal response toward the
The data were coded, tabulated and keyed into a computer. Data analysis was done using
the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 10.0. Statistical tests of
significance were used, as appropriate, i.e. the χ2 Test and the t Test.
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Ethical Concerns
Written, informed consent was taken from each participant and the confidentiality of
withdraw their participation in the survey: to this end, they were provided the
researcher’s full contact details, which were printed and handed over to them
individually.
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5. RESULTS
The objectives were to study the extent of burnout and the patterns of coping with stress
• Gender
• Age
• Marital status
In line with the objectives, the analysis of data is presented in three sections:
The results are being presented with reference to the socio-demographic variables listed
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I. SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE SAMPLE
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Table 2: Distribution of Respondents by Gender and Age
AGE OF GENDER
RESPONDENTS N (= 139) TOTAL
(YEARS) MALE FEMALE
N 26 33 59
23-24
% 44.1 55.9 100.0
N 24 19 43
25-26
% 55.8 44.2 100.0
N 27 10 37
27-28
% 73.0 27.0 100.0
N 77 62 139
All
% 55.4 44.6 100.0
VALUE p
χ2
7.694 0.021
proportion of females was highest in the youngest age group. It decreased as the age
groups got older. The corresponding changes in the proportion of males took place in the
reverse order, i.e. from highest in the oldest age group to lowest in the youngest age
group.
The mean age for males was 25.47 years (SD 1.80) and, for females, 24.71 years (SD
1.67). This difference, too, was statistically significant (t = 2.549, p = 0.012) and is in line
with the foregoing finding regarding the proportion of each gender relative to age group.
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Table 3: Distribution of Respondents by Marital Status and Age
77.0% of the respondents were single. The difference in marital status between age
groups was statistically significant. With increase in age, more respondents were married
or had live-in partners. In the 27- to 28-year interval (the oldest age group), 56.8% were
married. The change in marital status was the highest between the 23- to 24-year and the
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Table 4: Distribution of Respondents by Marital Status and Gender
MARITAL STATUS
N (= 139) TOTAL
SINGLE MARRIED/LIVING IN
N 64 13 77
Male
% 83.1 16.9 100.0
N 43 19 62
Gender Female
% 69.4 30.6 100.0
N 107 32 139
Both
% 77.0 23.0 100.0
VALUE p
χ2
3.671 0.055
Among males, 83.1% were single, as compared with females, among whom 69.4% were
single. The difference was statistically significant. This finding means that, in the age
group of 23-28 years, proportionately more males tend to be single, as compared with
- 35 -
Table 5: Distribution of Respondents by Position among Siblings and Gender
POSITION GENDER
N (= 139) TOTAL
FROM TOP MALE FEMALE
N 45 34 79
1a
% 58.4 54.8 56.8
N 22 13 35
2
% 28.6 21.0 25.2
N 9 9 18
3
% 11.7 14.5 12.9
N 1 6 7
4-5b
% 1.3 9.7 5.0
N 77 62 139
Total
% 100.0 100.0 100.0
VALUE p
χ2
5.867 0.118
a
1st/Eldest Child. b The results for sibling positions 4 and 5 from the top have been clubbed because of low
frequencies in those categories.
The difference between genders was not statistically significant. 56.8% of the
respondents were the eldest/only child. 25.2% of the respondents were the second child
and 12.9% of the respondents were the third child. The above sibling positions covered
95% of the sample. There were comparatively few respondents in the 4th from Top or 5th
- 36 -
Table 6: Distribution of Respondents by No. of Daily Working Hours and Gender
WORKING GENDER
N (= 139) TOTAL
HOURS MALE FEMALE
N 46 35 81
5-9
% 59.7 56.5 58.3
N 31 27 58
10-12
% 40.3 43.5 41.7
N 77 62 139
Total
% 100.0 100.0 100.0
VALUE p
χ2
0.153 0.696
No statistical significance was seen between gender and actual daily working hours.
Thus, 41.7% of the respondents, whether male or female, worked more than 10 hours
daily.
- 37 -
II. IMPACT OF SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES ON THE EXTENT
OF BURNOUT
efficacy sub-scale. Males had higher professional efficacy scores than females.
- 38 -
Table 8: Burnout Sub-Scale Score Means vs. Age
There was no statistically significant difference with regard to age group in any sub-scale
except Exhaustion. Even within this sub-scale, this was noticed only in the age groups of
23-24 and 25-26 years (p = 0.056). The younger age group had higher Exhaustion levels
- 39 -
Table 9: Burnout Sub-Scale Score Means vs. Marital Status
scores of single and married/living-in respondents had no correlation with their marital
status.
- 40 -
Table 10: Burnout Sub-Scale Score Means vs. Position among Siblings
POSITION
SUB-SCALE N (= 139) MEAN SD F p
FROM TOP
1a 79 12.30 7.09
2 35 12.37 8.29
Cynicism 0.212 0.888
3 18 11.28 7.29
4-5 b 7 10.57 4.65
a
1 79 11.97 7.13
2 35 11.09 6.77
Exhaustion 1.995 0.118
3 18 15.83 13.87
4-5 b 7 8.00 7.62
1a 79 26.86 6.83
2 35 27.43 7.11
Professional Efficacy 0.349 0.790
3 18 26.33 5.71
4-5 b 7 24.71 7.41
1a 79 -2.58 15.53
2 35 -3.97 16.57
Total Burnout 0.466 0.707
3 18 0.78 19.08
4-5 b 7 -6.14 6.54
a
1st/Eldest Child. b The results for sibling positions 4 and 5 from top have been clubbed because of low
frequencies in those categories.
None of the mean burnout sub-scale scores was significantly different with regard to
- 41 -
Table 11: Burnout Sub-Scale Score Means vs. Length of Service in Current
Organisation
YEARS OF
SUB-SCALE N (= 139) MEAN SD F p
SERVICE
1 44 1.32 0.47
2 38 1.39 0.50
Cynicism 2.922 0.036
3 26 1.65 0.49
4+* 31 1.52 0.51
1 44 1.39 0.49
2 38 1.53 0.51
Exhaustion 0.559 0.643
3 26 1.46 0.51
4+* 31 1.48 0.51
1 44 1.61 0.49
2 38 1.53 0.51
Professional Efficacy 1.146 0.333
3 26 1.38 0.50
4+* 31 1.52 0.51
1 44 1.30 0.46
2 38 1.26 0.45
Total Burnout 2.697 0.048
3 26 1.58 0.50
4+* 31 1.32 0.48
*
The results for 4-6 years of service have been clubbed because of low frequencies in those categories.
The Cynicism scores were significantly different with regard to length of service. In the
domain of Cynicism, the 3-year group had the highest score, followed by the 4- to 6-year
group.
- 42 -
Table 12: Burnout Sub-Scale Score Means vs. No. of Daily Working Hours
WORKING
SUB-SCALE N (= 139) MEAN SD t p
HOURS
5-9 81 11.89 6.75
Cynicism -0.404 0.687
10-12 58 12.40 8.02
5-9 81 11.36 9.00
Exhaustion -1.161 0.248
10-12 58 13.02 7.23
5-9 81 27.20 6.78
Professional Efficacy 0.763 0.447
10-12 58 26.31 6.75
5-9 81 -3.95 15.50
Total Burnout -1.116 0.266
10-12 58 -0.90 16.45
No statistically significant difference existed between scores on any sub-scale with regard
to working hours. Burnout scores did not have correlation with the number of daily
- 43 -
Table 13: Burnout Sub-Scale Score Means vs. Gross Annual Income
INCOME N
SUB-SCALE MEAN SD F p
(LACS) (= 107a)
0-4b 59 12.14 7.41
Cynicism 4-6 22 13.50 7.02 0.266 0.767
6-9c 26 12.58 8.09
0-4b 59 13.22 7.37
Exhaustion 4-6 22 12.41 7.25 1.299 0.277
6-9c 26 10.50 6.61
0-4b 59 27.00 6.49
Professional Efficacy 4-6 22 26.77 7.71 0.009 0.991
6-9c 26 26.96 6.95
0-4b 59 -1.64 15.52
Total Burnout 4-6 22 -0.86 16.87 0.253 0.777
6-9c 26 -3.88 15.97
a b
32 respondents did not provide income data. Rs 1.4 lac per annum was the lowest gross income.
c
The results for gross annual incomes of Rs 6 lac-Rs 9 lac have been clubbed because of low frequencies in
those categories.
income.
- 44 -
III. IMPACT OF SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES ON THE
Statistically, the coping pattern scores were not significantly different with regard to
gender.
- 45 -
Table 15: Coping Sub-Scale Score Means vs. Age
Neither the problem-focused nor the emotion-focused coping scores were significantly
significant with respect to the age groups of 23-24 years and 25-26 years (p = 0.06). The
younger of these two age groups (23-24 years) had higher problem-and-emotion-focused
scores.
- 46 -
Table 16: Coping Sub-Scale Score Means vs. Marital Status
MARITAL
SUB-SCALE N (= 139) MEAN SD t p
STATUS
Single 107 7.15 1.78
Problem-Focused 1.605 0.111
Married/Living In 32 6.56 1.92
Single 107 20.24 7.07
Emotion-Focused 0.296 0.767
Married/Living In 32 19.81 7.64
Problem- & Single 107 3.47 1.38
2.093 0.038
Emotion-Focused Married/Living In 32 2.88 1.48
Only the Problem- & Emotion-Focused scores were significant with respect to marital
status (p = 0.04). Singles had higher scores on this sub-scale than those married or with
live-in partners.
- 47 -
Table 17: Coping Sub-Scale Score Means vs. Position among Siblings
POSITION
SUB-SCALE N (= 139) MEAN SD F p
FROM TOP
1a 79 7.08 1.77
2 35 7.03 2.16
Problem-Focused Sub-Scale 3 18 6.94 1.66 0.275 0.843
4-5b 7 6.43 1.13
Total 139 7.01 1.83
1a 79 20.41 7.67
2 35 19.80 6.58
Emotion-Focused Sub-Scale 3 18 20.83 5.79 0.519 0.670
4-5b 7 17.14 8.30
Total 139 20.14 7.18
1a 79 3.37 1.40
2 35 3.49 1.54
Problem- & Emotion-
3 18 3.11 1.02 0.734 0.534
Focused Sub-Scale
4-5b 7 2.71 1.98
Total 139 3.33 1.42
a
1st/Eldest Child. b The results for sibling positions 4 and 5 from top have been clubbed because of low
frequencies in those categories.
Statistically, the coping pattern scores were not significantly different with regard to
- 48 -
Table 18: Coping Sub-Scale Score Means vs. Length of Service in Current
Organisation
YEARS OF
SUB-SCALE N (= 139) MEAN SD F p
SERVICE
1 44 7.30 1.68
2 38 7.24 1.53
Problem-Focused Sub-Scale 3 26 6.73 1.71 1.338 0.265
4+* 31 6.58 2.35
Total 139 7.01 1.83
1 44 19.84 5.77
2 38 19.63 6.96
Emotion-Focused Sub-Scale 3 26 21.77 6.81 0.548 0.651
*
4+ 31 19.84 9.40
Total 139 20.14 7.18
1 44 3.61 1.17
2 38 3.32 1.58
Problem- & Emotion-
3 26 3.27 1.46 1.162 0.327
Focused Sub-Scale
4+* 31 3.00 1.51
Total 139 3.33 1.42
*
The results for 4-6 years of service have been clubbed because of low frequencies in those categories.
The coping scores were not significantly different with regard to length of service in
current organisation.
- 49 -
Table 19: Coping Sub-Scale Score Means vs. No. of Daily Working Hours
WORKING
SUB-SCALE N (= 139) MEAN SD t p
HOURS
Problem-Focused 5-9 81 7.00 1.96
-0.109 0.913
Sub-Scale 10-12 58 7.03 1.63
Emotion-Focused 5-9 81 20.38 7.77
0.462 0.645
Sub-Scale 10-12 58 19.81 6.32
Problem- & 5-9 81 3.33 1.45
Emotion-Focused 0.023 0.981
Sub-Scale 10-12 58 3.33 1.39
The coping scores were not significantly different with regard to number of daily
working hours.
- 50 -
Table 20: Coping Sub-Scale Score Means vs. Gross Annual Income
INCOME
SUB-SCALE N (= 107a) MEAN SD F p
(RS LACS)
0-4b 59 7.44 1.25
4-6 22 7.50 1.60
Problem-Focused 6.258 0.003
6-9c 26 6.08 2.59
Total 107 7.12 1.82
b
0-4 59 21.15 6.02
4-6 22 20.64 5.84
Emotion-Focused c
4.609 0.012
6-9 26 16.50 8.37
Total 107 19.92 6.85
0-4b 59 3.68 1.38
Problem- & 4-6 22 3.64 1.26
5.548 0.005
Emotion-Focused 6-9c 26 2.62 1.55
Total 107 3.41 1.46
a b
32 respondents did not provide income data. Rs 1.4 lac per annum was the lowest gross income.
c
The results for gross annual incomes of Rs 6 lac-Rs 9 lac have been clubbed because of low frequencies in
those categories.
The problem-focused coping scores were significantly different between the income slabs
of Rs 0 lac-Rs 4 lac and Rs 6 lac-Rs 9 lac (p = 0.003) and between the income slabs of Rs
• The Rs 0 lac-Rs 4 lac income group had higher (or better) problem-focused coping
• The Rs 4 lac-Rs 6 lac income group had higher(or better) problem-focused coping
Thus, the Rs 6 lac-Rs 9 lac income group had the lowest problem-focused coping scores.
- 51 -
Emotion-focused coping scores were significantly different between the income slabs of
Rs 0 lac-Rs 4 lac and Rs 6 lac-Rs 9 lac (p = 0.011). The Rs 0 lac-Rs 4 lac income group
had higher emotion-focused coping scores than the Rs 6 lac-Rs 9 lac group.
income slabs of Rs 0 lac-Rs 4 lac and Rs 6 lac-Rs 9 lac (p = 0.005) and between the
• The Rs 0 lac-Rs 4 lac income group had higher (or better) coping scores than the Rs 6
• The Rs 4 lac-Rs 6 lac income group had higher (or better) coping scores than the Rs 6
Thus, the Rs 6 lac-Rs 9 lac income group had the lowest problem-and-emotion-focused
coping scores.
- 52 -
6. DISCUSSION
In line with the Objectives and as given in the Results, this discussion will cover the
impact of the 7 socio-demographic variables listed earlier on the extent of burnout and on
In the organisations surveyed, the proportions of male and female employees were
uniformly distributed as 55.4% and 44.6%, respectively (Table 1). Moreover, among the
youngest of these employees (Table 2), the corresponding proportions were even higher
for females (44.1% and 55.9%, respectively), indicating that IT companies have perhaps
which most of the Indian IT industry markets its services. It also perhaps indicates that
Indian industry, especially the IT-related sectors, have come of age in that they include
more women in the workforce. It also demonstrates that the new-age Indian woman can
Table 3 shows that 77% of the sample was single. Also, in the 5-year age span (23-28
years) covered in this study, the change in marital/sexual partnership status among
respondents was notable: every 2 years, significant numbers of singles were finding
partners. The proportion of singles dropped from 93.2% at age 23-24 years to 56.8% by
- 53 -
the time they were 27-28 years in age. This trend is consistent with the demographics of
Table 4, that more males (83.1%, in the sample covered) tend to be single, compared with
The trend toward having up to 2 siblings per respondent is reflected by the data on
frequencies with respect to position among siblings (Table 5): 95% of the sample had 1, 2
Table 6 shows that the length of the actual average workday for IT professionals today
has changed. It is no longer the stipulated, official 8 hours per day, but longer: 41.7% of
the sample actually worked an average of over 10 hours daily. Also, women and men
As shown in Table 7, as a gender, women had lower professional efficacy scores than
men, i.e. they were less confident of being effective in getting things done at work.
Murray and Syed (2007)55 and Ronen and Pines (2008)40 suggest that this is due to the
- 54 -
The Maslach Burnout Inventory (General Survey) expresses the Exhaustion dimension of
burnout as “working all day is really a strain for me.” On this dimension, 23- to 24-year-
olds had higher scores than their 25- to 26-year-old counterparts (Table 8). This could be
Table 9 shows that there was no impact on the respondents’ extent of burnout due to
sexual partnership status: both single and married/living-in respondents had similar
burnout scores. This may be viewed in light of the fact that Coyne and DeLongis (1986)26
found happily married individuals enjoying many psychological and social advantages
over their unmarried counterparts while, equally, the unhappily married tended to
experience stress that even the high support of other social relationships did not offset.
The socio-demographic variable of position among siblings did not have correlation with
burnout (Table 10). This was perhaps because birth order affects sibling dynamics and
family dynamics. For instance, the eldest child frequently faces higher expectations,
tougher rules and harsher discipline from its parents than its younger siblings; and these
stresses are further accentuated in large families. In the current study, since 95% of the
respondents came from relatively small families (of 1-3 children), parental expectations
and birth order-related stress were probably lower than those that would apply to families
with 4 or more children. Thus the burnout score differentials in the sample were not
significant.
- 55 -
Cynicism scores were significantly different for different lengths of service in the current
organisation (Table 11). They were the highest for respondents with 3 years’ experience.
Respondents with 4-6 years’ experience came second, and respondents with 2 years’
experience, third. A plausible explanation for this (and for the total burnout scores, which
showed the same trend) may be tendered as follows. In Indian IT companies, the first
year of employment is often a probationary year for the employee, at the end of which the
individual is confirmed and awarded a token promotion. It is also the year of discovery
for the employee. The second year is usually the year during which the employee
experiences serious engagement with the company. But it is also the year that frequently
closes with additional professional responsibilities being assigned to the individual, but
no promotion. This begins the employee’s third year, a year of disillusionment, at the end
employee. Many employees leave the company during their third year of service. Those
The lack of correlation between burnout and number of daily working hours (Table 12),
when taken together with the exhaustion experienced by the 23- to 26-year age group (i.e.
the younger age groups; Table 8), could be interpreted to mean that organisational factors
other than those related to the sheer physical effort of working correlate positively with
burnout. Similar findings have been reported in the studies by Li and Shani (1991)43;
Smith, Conway and Karsh (1999)13; and Kalyanasundaram and Nautiyal (2008)42.
- 56 -
The finding, in Table 13, that burnout was not correlated with income, is in line with the
findings of Li and Shani (1991)43; Kawakami and Haratani (1999)17; Smith, Conway and
Karsh (1999)13; Faragher, Cass and Cooper (2005)44; Maudgalya, Wallace, Daraiseh and
Salem (2006)41; Tominaga, Asakura and Akiyama (2007)18 and Ronen and Pines
(2008)40.
The data in Table 14 show that coping styles did not correlate with gender. This finding
may be compared with five relevant research works. The first two are the studies of
Murray and Syed (2007)55 and Bhattacharya and Basu (2007)30, who report that women
adopt masculine styles in order to prove their success in competition with their male
colleagues. The third is the research by Taylor, Klein, Lewis, Gruenewald, Gurung et al
(2000)35, which concludes that women use the tend-and-befriend coping style rather than
gatherer society and was conducted at a time when Computer Science was a male
preserve. The fourth comparison may be made with the work of Addis and Mahalik
(2003)33, who argue for gender differences in coping styles but who also, in the same
paper, report the existence of considerable individual variability within stereotypes. The
final comparison (a contrast, to be precise), may be made with the results of Hyman,
Scholarios and Baldry (2005)54, which are based on a much older sample than in our
- 57 -
The Problem- & Emotion-Focused coping scores of 23- to 24-year-olds were marginally
higher than that of the 25- to 26-year-olds (Table 15). The preference of the former age
group for social support could be attributed to the possibility that, with increase in age
The same argument could be applied to the finding of Table 16, in which single
scale than those married or with live-in partners. (Typically, partners in young couples
are found to draw more emotional support from each other than from their social
networks.)
The uniformity in coping sub-scale scores with regard to position among siblings (Table
in the smaller family sizes found to be characteristic of the sample in the current study.
Table 18 and Table 19 showed that coping patterns had correlation neither with length of
service in the current organisation nor with the number of daily working hours. The
literature does not comment on these findings, as studies have yet to be documented on
these inter-relationships.
Respondents in the Rs 6 lac-Rs 9 lac income slab (Table 20) had the lowest problem-
focused coping scores among the three income slabs. The following may constitute a
- 58 -
possible explanation for this. Many young Engineering graduates – who typically fit into
the Rs 0 lac-Rs 4 lac and the Rs 4 lac-Rs 6 lac income slabs – start out with the belief that
the empirical problem-solving methods of the exact sciences can be applied uncritically
to the area of human behaviour. It is only as a result of one’s growth in empathy that the
realisation dawns that solving one’s life problems (i.e. coping with stress) is not to be
treated in cut-and-dried fashion as if they were Engineering problems. One thus learns to
consider not only the source of the stress (i.e. using a problem-focused approach) but also
the perception of that stress (i.e. the value of using emotion- and appraisal-focused
strategies).
The Rs 6 lac-Rs 9 lac income slab also recorded the lowest Problem- & Emotion-Focused
coping scores perhaps because, as suggested earlier (in the discussion of the results of
Table 15), the older age groups (i.e. the higher income slabs) had less opportunity to draw
on their social networks due to the weightier professional responsibilities they were
Finally, the Rs 6 lac-Rs 9 lac income slab recorded lower Emotion-Focused coping scores
than the Rs 0 lac-Rs 4 lac slab. This is possibly because those in the lower income slab,
who tend to come from a younger age group, also tend to be more emotion-focused in
their coping while, as one grows older (and tends to draw a higher income), one’s rational
- 59 -
To summarise, the sample reflected, in several ways, the social transitions in modern
urban India. Most respondents did not have more than 2 siblings. Although the sample
had a high proportion of females, the women had lower professional efficacy scores than
the men, perhaps because of a masculine organisational work culture. The average
workday was longer than 8 hours. Exhaustion scores were highest in the 23- to 24-year-
olds bracket, caused not necessarily by the length of the workday but possibly by the high
work pressure typical in the industry. Burnout levels had no correlation with the income
levels. Both males and females had similar stress coping styles. Also, coping styles
changed neither with the number of years the respondent had served in the current
organisation nor with the length of the workday. Preference for social support-based
coping was seen in the 23- to 24-year age group. Lastly, the highest income slab (Rs 6
- 60 -
7. SUMMARY
The present study was a preliminary exploration that looked into burnout and coping
Bangalore. The objectives were therefore to study the impact of select socio-demographic
variables on the extent of burnout and on the patterns of coping with stress of these
professionals.
This study was a questionnaire-based survey. Purposive sampling was used to get a
sample size of 139. (32 respondents did not provide data on one variable.) Written,
informed consent was obtained from each participant, and confidentiality of the
months’ work experience in their current organisation, were included in the sample.
The key findings were that today’s urban Indian professionals are probably a distinct
social class. In the age bracket of 27-28 years, over half were still single.( males?) Family
sizes had shrunk: 95% of the sample had not more than 2 siblings. Regardless of gender,
more than 2 out of 5 respondents had over 10-hour workdays. Although almost 45% of
the sample was female, the organisational culture tended to be masculine. The youngest
respondents (23-24 years) felt exhaustion component of burnout the most; the reason was
not necessarily long work hours but, possibly high work pressure (which is typical in this
- 61 -
‘high expectation’ industry). Income did not have an impact on burnout. Male and female
coping styles were similar. Finally, respondents in the highest income slab surveyed (Rs
A key limitation of the study of the study was that the literature specific to the Indian IT
industry was difficult to obtain. Owing to limitations in resources, the scope of the
current study could not be extended to study the phenomenon of job stress in the sample.
guarded regarding organisation information related to the topic under study. Also, the
busy working life of the respondents prevented them from responding to a questionnaire
populations engaged in the IT profession in India, the small sample size imposed
Nonetheless, a gamut of strategic implications exists in the areas of further study and
future psychosocial intervention. In-depth studies based on this preliminary attempt will
throw light on the physical health- and mental health-related vulnerabilities of the IT
professional and stimulate primary and secondary prevention and psycho-education. The
efficacy of conducting large-scale Internet-based studies to map this key human resource
- 62 -
Neither should the above research be restricted to India alone. Several other countries in
the developing world have socio-cultural contexts similar to ours. They should be invited
- 63 -
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9. ANNEXURES
Annexure A
Consent Form
CONSENT
I, ................................................................................................................... (full name),
residing at .........................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
- A1 -
Annexure B
Sex :
Religion :
No. of Siblings :
- A2 -
PROFESSIONAL INFORMATION (Please tick wherever applicable)
- A3 -
Annexure C
by
Wilmar Schaufeli, Michael P. Leiter, Christina Maslach and Susan E. Jackson (1996)
Listed below are 16 statements of job-related feelings. Please read each statement
carefully and decide if you have ever felt this way about your job. If you have never had
the feeling, write a “0” before the statement. If you have had the feeling, indicate how
often you have felt it, by writing a number from 1 to 6 that best describes how frequently
you have felt that way. Use the following correlation:
0 = Never
1 = A few times a year or less
2 = Once a month or less
3 = A few times a month
4 = Once a week
5 = A few times a week
6 = Every day
- A4 -
12. ___ I have accomplished many worthwhile things in this job.
13. ___ I just want to do my job and not be bothered.
14. ___ I have become more cynical about whether my work contributes anything.
15. ___ I doubt the significance of my work.
16. ___ At my work, I feel confident that I am effective at getting things done.
- A5 -
Annexure D
by
Below is a 70-item checklist. The purpose of the checklist is to find out how people
handle difficult situations. The list indicates, in italics, some commonly used methods.
Please read each item in the list carefully and tick:
• “Yes” if you use the method often or frequently
• “No” if you use the method infrequently or not at all
Please do not omit any item.
1. You go over the problem again and again in your mind, to try and
Yes | No
understand it
4. Get away from things for a while, get some rest or take a vacation Yes | No
5. Compare yourself with others and feel that you are better off Yes | No
- A6 -
13. Console yourself that things are not all that bad and could be worse Yes | No
14. Try your luck at games of chance, e.g. horse racing, the lottery or cards Yes | No
17. Try to make yourself feel better by having a drink or two of alcohol Yes | No
18. Accept the next best thing to what you wanted Yes | No
19. Think about fantastic or unreal things to make yourself feel better Yes | No
23. Blame your fate and tell yourself that sometimes one just has bad luck Yes | No
26. Talk to a friend who can do something about the problem Yes | No
28. Make light of the situation or refused to get too serious about it Yes | No
32. Avoid being with people and seek complete isolation Yes | No
- A7 -
38. Hope a miracle will happen Yes | No
41. Feel that time will remedy things and that the only thing to do is wait Yes | No
52. You know what has to be done, so you double your efforts and try
Yes | No
harder to make things work
59. Read novels, magazines, etc much more than usual Yes | No
- A8 -
62. Make special offerings or perform special pujas Yes | No
67. Compare yourself with others and feel that you are worse off Yes | No
68. Feel that other people are responsible for what has happened Yes | No
- A9 -