Cynicism as subscale of burnout

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Cynicism, as a personality trait, has adverse effects on health. The question was asked whether cynical attitudes that develop due to work-related stress correlate with stress levels and whether it has a negative influence on health. OBJECTIVES: To investigate associations of the cynicism subscale scores of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) with levels of stress, anxiety, questionnaire-based physical health and with a number of physiological health risk indicators. METHODS: Cynicism, anxiety, questionnaire-based physical health scores, as well as allostatic load, heart rate variability and C-reactive protein, were assessed in 27 males working between 40 and 80 irregular hours per week. RESULTS: Cynicism scores related to stress levels (r=0.411, p=0.030). Effects of work-related cynicism on physical health were suggested by negative associations with questionnaire-based scores on physical health (r=-0.383, p=0.044) and heart rate variability indicators (r=-0.379, p=0.047 to r=-0.496, p=0.007), and by positive associations with anxiety levels (r=0.408, p=0.031), heart rate (r=0.449, p=0.017), BMI (r=0.426, p=0.024) allostatic load (r=0.360, p=0.065) and levels of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (r=0.407, p=0.035). CONCLUSIONS: Cynicism, as reflected by the MBI-GS, increases with increased stress levels and could contribute to the decline in the health reported for burnout.