Cynicism as subscale of burnout.

BACKGROUND: Cynicism, as a personality trait, has adverse effects on health. The question was asked whether cynical attitudes that develop due to work-related stress correlate with stress levels and whether it has a negative influence on health.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate associations of the cynicism subscale scores of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) with levels of stress, anxiety, questionnaire-based physical health and with a number of physiological health risk indicators.

METHODS: Cynicism, anxiety, questionnaire-based physical health scores, as well as allostatic load, heart rate variability and C-reactive protein, were assessed in 27 males working between 40 and 80 irregular hours per week.

RESULTS: Cynicism scores related to stress levels (r = 0.411, p = 0.030). Effects of work-related cynicism on physical health were suggested by negative associations with questionnaire-based scores on physical health (r = -0.383, p = 0.044) and heart rate variability indicators (r = -0.379, p = 0.047 to r = -0.496, p = 0.007), and by positive associations with anxiety levels (r = 0.408, p = 0.031), heart rate (r = 0.449, p = 0.017), BMI (r = 0.426, p = 0.024) allostatic load (r = 0.360, p = 0.065) and levels of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (r = 0.407, p = 0.035).

CONCLUSIONS: Cynicism, as reflected by the MBI-GS, increases with increased stress levels and could contribute to the decline in the health reported for burnout.