ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines a conceptual framework for burnout and summarizes a series of research studies which had as their objective clarification of the nature of the phenomenon and its unique theoretical content. In addition to the notion of the usefulness of a measure of individual differences, the theoretical account of the findings from a Jungian perspective suggested that the unique and distinctive content of burnout might be properly understood from a developmental perspective emphasizing the role of the unconscious. Determining the precise nature of any unconscious processes involved should be one aim of future burnout research. Freudenberger states that a burnout experience usually has its roots in “the area of a person’s life that seemed to hold the most promise”. Significant relationships only occurred for that personality type dimension for which there was some a priori theoretical relevance.
