Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze the effects of role ambiguity and self-efficacy on the burnout syndrome (BS). The sample was comprised of 123 professionals in a large production company in Chile. The design was longitudinal. The burnout syndrome was measured using the Questionnaire for Assessing Burnout Syndrome (CESQT from the Spanish:” Cuestionario para la Evaluación del Síndrome de Quemarse por el Trabajo”) (Gil-Monte, 2005). Role ambiguity was measured by means of a 5 reagent scale corresponding to the UNIPSICO battery which relates to aspects that contribute to establish the extent of people’s self definition of role in the organization and the Baessler and Schwarzer self-efficacy scale (1996). The results only partially confirmed the assumptions that role ambiguity in T1 was only a significant predictor of levels of enthusiasm for the job, apathy, guilt and burnout in T2, but not in the psychological exhaustion dimension of CESQT. Results show also that self-efficacy has a significant and positive longitudinal effect on levels of emotional burnout, so it prevents the emergence and development of the syndrome. We conclude that it is necessary to avoid role ambiguity and increase perceptions of self-efficacy in preventing the emergence of burnout in administrative and services professionals.