10. Conclusion
The current research raises some interesting new issues for the burnout field. First, it suggests what might be occurring between the endpoints of burnout and engagement. There are at least three (and possibly more) intermediate states that could be viewed as distinct experiences in the workplace, which deserve further attention. Second, it provides an innovative person-centered approach to assessing these workplace experiences, by going beyond a simpler model of correlations between the three MBI dimensions. Third, it challenges the idea that exhaustion is all there is to burnout. This could have important implications for both research and practice, in terms of how best to assess burnout. Fourth, it points to evidence for the stronger importance of cynicism to the burnout experience. High cynicism alone appears to be closer to the negative Burnout profile than high exhaustion alone. Fifth, it suggests thatthe greater prevalence of high inefficacy alone justifies more attention to this particular dimension ofthe burnout experience. Sixth,the presence of different profiles suggests a more customized approach to interventions for burnout − clearly, “one size does not fit all,” and future solutions for burnout may need to take in to account what are the key underlying problems for different groups of people. In sum,this new focus on burnout profiles points to some new paths for future research and intervention on this important global problem.
