Title: Development and validation of job burnout scale in the Indian context

Authors: Shilpa Surana, Anup K. Singh

Addresses: Institute of Management, Nirma University of Science and Technology, Ahmedabad, 382481, India. ' International Management Institute, B-10, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi, 110016, India

Abstract: Ever since the term |burnout| was coined to describe a state of chronic emotional fatigue, this phenomenon has become the focus of much research interest. Employee burnout is a topic of major interest for management researchers because it has consequential implications for both individuals and organisations. The objective of the paper is to develop a standardised scale to measure job burnout in the Indian context. India has stood as the most dominant outsourcing destination in the world and call centres form the most important segment of the outsourcing industry. Thus, the scale is validated with a sample of 303 customer service representatives from call centres in India. Moreover, validating the scale with a sample drawn from the cross-cultural diversity of India enables cross-cultural validity of the scale. The factor analysis of the scale yielded three factors, namely meaninglessness, exhaustion and demotivation. The scale demonstrates sound nomological and discriminant validity and its reliability estimates are also high. The paper argues that the present scale can be used in cross-cultural studies of burnout as a reliable measure of burnout.

Keywords: business process outsourcing; call centres; discriminant validity; factor analysis; India; job burnout; nomological validity; meaninglessness; exhaustion; demotivation; cross-cultural studies.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSS.2009.026509

International Journal of Society Systems Science, 2009 Vol.1 No.4, pp.351 - 374

Published online: 18 Jun 2009 *

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