MBI: The Professional Burnout Assessment Method

What is the MBI?

The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) is the most widely used tool for measuring professional burnout. It was developed in 1981 by psychologists Christina Maslach and Susan Jackson.

This questionnaire helps assess the degree of burnout among professionals in various fields and focuses on analyzing three key components:

• Emotional Exhaustion – feelings of fatigue and depletion of emotional resources resulting from work.
• Depersonalization – development of a cynical attitude towards one’s work and the people one interacts with professionally.
• Reduced Personal Accomplishment – feelings of inefficacy and dissatisfaction with one’s professional achievements.

MBI Administration Procedure

The MBI survey procedure includes several steps:

1. Define the purpose of using the MBI, such as studying burnout levels or the impact of work conditions on employee wellbeing.
2. Select the appropriate version of the MBI tailored to the profession and field of the participants.
3. Obtain informed consent from participants and explain the confidentiality of responses.
4. Distribute and have participants complete the questionnaires in a calm environment to ensure honest responses.
5. Collect completed questionnaires and perform statistical data processing.
6. Calculate total scores for each of the three MBI scales per participant.
7. Interpret the results and develop recommendations to improve work conditions and reduce burnout.
8. Implement measures based on recommendations and evaluate their effectiveness through follow-up surveys.

Instructions

You will be asked to rate 22 statements related to your feelings and experiences at work. Carefully read each statement and indicate how often you have experienced these feelings in your professional life. If you have never felt this way, mark 0 – "Never." If you have, indicate the frequency:

0 – Never; 1 – Very Rarely; 2 – Rarely; 3 – Sometimes; 4 – Often; 5 – Very Often; 6 – Always.

1. Sometimes I feel emotionally drained.
2. At the end of the workday, I feel completely worn out.
3. In the morning, when I have to go to work, I feel tired.
4. I am able to understand the emotions of my colleagues and subordinates and use this to achieve common goals.
5. Sometimes my communication with some colleagues is formal and lacks warmth.
6. I feel full of energy and emotionally uplifted.
7. I find effective solutions in conflict situations.
8. Sometimes I feel depressed and indifferent.
9. I am able to positively influence the performance of my colleagues.
10. Recently, I have become more indifferent to the people I work with.
11. Most of my colleagues seem boring to me, and interacting with them is tiring.
12. I have many plans and believe in their realization.
13. Over time, I experience more disappointments.
14. I notice indifference to things that used to bring me joy.
15. Sometimes I am indifferent to what happens to some of my colleagues.
16. I want to withdraw and rest from everything.
17. I create an atmosphere of friendliness and cooperation among colleagues.
18. I find it easy to establish contact with people of different status and character.
19. I am able to perform a large volume of work.
20. Often I feel I am at the limit of my capabilities.
21. I believe I have many achievements ahead of me.
22. Sometimes colleagues and subordinates pass their problems and tasks onto me.

Answer Analysis

The questionnaire contains three categories: emotional exhaustion (9 items), depersonalization (5 items), and reduced personal accomplishment (8 items).

Responses are scored as follows: 0 points for "Never," 1 for "Very Rarely," 2 for "Rarely," 3 for "Sometimes," 4 for "Often," 5 for "Very Often," and 6 for "Always."

Emotional Exhaustion is assessed with items: 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 13, 14, 16, 20.

Depersonalization is assessed with items: 5, 10, 11, 15, 22.

Reduced Personal Accomplishment is assessed with items: 4, 7, 9, 12, 17, 18, 19, 21.

This tool helps evaluate your emotional state at work by measuring these three aspects. Calculating scores provides an overall picture of your professional burnout and may indicate the need to adjust your attitude or work habits.

Interpreting the Results

Emotional Exhaustion – a lowered emotional state:

• 0–15 points – low level;
• 16–24 points – moderate level;
• 25 points and above – high level.

Depersonalization – reflects distortions in interpersonal relations, such as increased dependence on others or negative, cynical attitudes towards colleagues and work subjects:

• 0–5 points – low level;
• 6–10 points – moderate level;
• 11 points and above – high level.

Reduced Personal Accomplishment – manifests as lowered self-esteem and negative attitudes towards one’s professional abilities or restrictions in professional duties:

• 37 points and above – low level;
• 31–36 points – moderate level;
• 30 points and below – high level.

The overall severity of professional burnout can be judged by the sum of scores across all three scales.