Burnout among Canadian and Chinese employees: a cross-cultural study

This study examined the relationship of job stress with overall burnout and its three dimensions (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and lack of accomplishment) and health problems among employees in Canada (N=535) and the People's Republic of China (N=685). Data were collected by means of a structured questionnaire from Canadian employees in Montreal and Chinese employees in Beijing. Pearson correlation and moderated multiple regressions were used to analyze the data. Job stressors such as work overload, ambiguity, conflict and resource inadequacy, were significantly related to many dependent variables in both countries. Moderated multiple regressions only marginally supported the role of gender as a moderator of stressor-burnout relationship. Implications of findings are discussed for cross-cultural research. European Management Review (2005) 2, 224-230. doi: 10.1057/palgrave.emr.1500038