Depersonalization refers to a negative, callous, or excessively detached response to other people, who are usually the recipients of one's service or care. Diminished personal accomplishment refers to a decline in one's feelings of competence and successful achievement in one's work. Nearly all work exhaustion research has utilized the Maslach and Jackson conceptualization and, thus, has focused on exhaustion in human services work. This revised conceptualization is intended to apply to a wide range of occupations. Schaufeli and his colleagues define work exhaustion as the depletion of mental resources.
Cynicism is defined as an indifferent or distant attitude toward work.
Professional self-efficacy is defined as perceived effectiveness and accomplishment at work. The present study applies the Schaufeli et al. The Schaufeli et al. Assuming that work exhaustion is perceived by the individual to be a negative effect and that the individual desires to bring about a discontinuance of work exhaustion, attribution theory provides a basis for modeling the individual's attitudinal and behavioral reactions to work exhaustion. The scope of the present study is reflected in the research model shown in Figure 1.