Professional burnout and preferred styles of psychological defense among psychologists

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Running head: PROFESSIONAL BURNOUT AND PREFERED STYLES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DEFENSE AMONG PSYCHOLOGISTS 1

National Research University Higher School of Economics

Faculty of Social Sciences

Department of Psychology

Master's theses

“Professional burnout and preferred styles of psychological defense among psychologists”

Student`s name:

Simonova Zhanna

Moscow 2019

Abstract

It is known that representatives of helping professions are exposed to a lot of stresses which often lead to job burnout. Despite the great interest in the study of burnout in professions such as educators and physicians, psychologists have received much less attention and, to our knowledge, have never been studied in the Russian context. This study was conducted to examine which styles of psychological defense leads to the minimization of professional burnout among psychologists of different specializations. The study involved 140 psychologists, they were divided into three groups: school psychologists, counseling psychologists and emergency psychologists. The results of the study showed that school psychologists have the highest level of burnout, while emergency psychologists have the lowest. Counseling psychologists have an average level of burnout. Moreover, it was found that each group differs in the degree of application of four styles of psychological defense in order to minimize the impact of burnout on psychological well-being and self-efficacy. Adaptive defense style (effective) helps to minimize the negative impact of professional burnout on psychological well-being and self-efficacy, while the non-adaptive defense style (ineffective), image-distorting (weakly-adaptive) and self-incriminating (weakly-adaptive) styles enhances the negative impact of professional burnout on well-being and self-efficacy. The results of the study will be useful both for psychologists and for supervisors as well as for the organization of trainings against professional burnout among psychologists.

Keywords: professional burnout, psychological defense, well-being, self-efficacy

Introduction

Burnout is an increasingly widespread phenomenon among professionals around the world. It is known that burnout has a strong influence on the physical and mental health of a person. It can cause neuroses, depressions and problems with the cardiovascular system (Ahola & Hakanen, 2007). Moreover, professional burnout is associated with high costs for society and organizations, as it affects employee turnover and significantly reduces the productivity of labor, as well as the quality of care and customer satisfaction (Dewa, Loong, Bonato, Thanh & Jacobs, 2014). Many studies conducted by scientists confirm that burnout is typically experienced by workers who care for and help others (Chirico, 2016). Today, science describes the main problems that are associated with the professional burnout of representatives of "helping professions" such as teachers or doctors, however, studies of professional burnout of psychologists are very few. At the same time psychologists are often exposed to various stressors. Long hours of work with complex clients, manifestation of empathy and responsibility for confidentiality of information can also lead to professional burnout.

Considering the features of the professional burnout, researchers identify the most effective styles of psychological defense, which contribute to minimizing its negative consequences. However, science still can't say how these styles of psychological defense are associated with the professional burnout of psychologists. Furthermore, previous studies have shown that each profession has special differences in how employees regulate their emotional state (Zembylas, 2005). Also, various professional specializations have their own complexities that need to be overcome and which can cause burnout, for example, emergency psychologists are working under extreme conditions and time constraints, their main goal is to provide emergency assistance that reduces the intensity of acute reactions to stress of people who are in trouble (Weiss, Marmar, Metzler & Ronfeldt, 1995). School psychologists had to work with unmotivated clients because students or parents are most often sent to them by the school (DiGiuseppe, Linscott & Jilton, 1996), while counseling psychologists should be able to deal with a very wide spectrum of psychological problems and be able to be flexible (Hellman, Morrison & Abramowitz, 1987). In this way it is necessary to consider the fact that the specifics of the psychologist work may be different, which means that it is important to understand what kind of psychological defense will be most effective in the professional burnout of psychologists of different specializations. The current research is devoted precisely to this problem.

Based on the above, we can formulate a research question that sounds like this: selection of which styles of psychological defense leads to the minimization of professional burnout and negative consequences among psychologists of different specializations?

Research problem: what kind of psychological defense mechanisms will minimize negative consequences (low self-esteem, satisfaction with life, self-efficacy) of professional burnout among psychologists of different specializations.

The aim of the study - is to identify the role of various defense mechanisms in minimizing the negative consequences (low self-esteem, satisfaction with life and self-efficacy) of emotional burnout of psychologists

Further we have established 4 hypotheses of research:

Emotional burnout of psychologists leads to a decrease in psychological well-being and self-efficacy

The choice of adaptive protection, which contributes to psychological well-being and self-efficacy, may be due to the peculiarities of professional psychological activity

Adaptive psychological defense (humor, affiliation, foresight) used by psychologists in the situation of emotional burnout will reduce the negative impact of emotional burnout on psychological well-being and self-efficacy

Non-adaptive defense (somatization, passive aggression, avoidance), used by psychologists in the situation of emotional burnout will increase the negative impact of emotional burnout on psychological well-being and self-efficacy.

Objectives of the research:

1) to analyze the problem of professional burnout and its consequences for representatives of helping professions

2) to explore the essence of the concept of "psychological defense" and its varieties

3) to establish the relationships between burnout, psychological defenses and psychological well-being and self-efficacy

We assume that this research will contribute to the development of science. There are a lot of studies about psychological defense of physicians, teachers, employees of Ministry of Emergency Measures, but the styles of psychological defense of psychologists remain unexplored. The scientific significance of this research will be directed towards filling this gap. As for practical significance, this study can be applied to the development of training against professional burnout for psychologists. The main goal of the training can be the development of adaptive defense that are most effective for coping with stress Also, the results of the study may be useful for psychological supervision.

professional burnout preferred

1. Study of burnout features and mechanisms of psychological defense

1.1 The Problem of Emotional Burnout

At the end of the 20th century, the phenomenon of "emotional burnout" has attracted great interest of researchers. The term "burnout" refers to a syndrome of emotional exhaustion. This definition was first introduced by H. Freudenberger in 1974 to characterize healthy people who were in intensive communication with clients (Freudenberger, 1974). Initially, the term "burnout" implied a state of overstrain. Later the description of the symptoms grew more and more, and scientists began to associate this phenomenon with the psychosomatic state.

There are many definitions of burnout. For examples, burnout it is a state "characterized by physical depletion, by feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, by emotional drain and by the development of negative self-concept and negative attitudes toward work, life, and other people" (Pines & Kafry, 1987).

N.E. Vodopyanova and E.S. Starchenkova defined “the professional burnout syndrome” as a set of negative psychological experiences that are formed as a result of long and intense communication stresses and lead to disadaptive behavior (Vodopyanova & Starchenkova, 2009).

According to the opinion of American scientists Maslach and Jackson, burnout is a syndrome of emotional exhaustion and cynicism, which is often found among individuals who work in the communications field (Maslach & Jackson, 1981). In addition, they identified three components of burnout:

1) Emotional exhaustion

2) Depersonalization

3) Negative self-esteem

Emotional exhaustion refers to energy emaciationor the draining of emotional resources. Depersonalization means distancing from others and viewing others impersonally, which leads to the development of a negative, cynical attitude towards clients. Low self-esteem is manifested in a negative attitude of the individual to himself. Such individuals tend to belittle their own achievements, dignity and positive traits.

McFarland concluded that a burnout condition in which a person experiences regular psychological stress and anxiety can lead to chronic fatigue, depression and alienation, which in turn leads to physiological changes and significantly reduces working capacity (McFarland, 1971).

Thus, burnout is the result of severe and prolonged psychophysiological stress at work. Usually this happens to employees who cannot cope with the great pressure of work that requires a lot of energy, time and resources, as well as with employees whose work requires communication with people. Currently, researchers identify more than 100 symptoms of emotional burnout (Kahill, 1988). A broader view of the problem gives five key groups of symptoms:

Physical symptoms: physical fatigue; insomnia; labored breathing; headache.

Emotional symptoms: lack of emotion; indifference; irritability; anxiety; depression.

Behavioral symptoms: a constant desire to interrupt during working hours; indifference to food; indifference to physical activity; frequent use of tobacco, alcohol, drugs.

Intellectual state: a decrease in interest in new theories and ideas in the work; indifference to innovations; refusal to participate in developmental experiments (training, education); formal performance of work.

Social symptoms: decrease in social activity; scant relationships with others, both at home and at work; feeling of lack of support from family, friends, colleagues.

1.2 Features of Emotional Burnout of Psychologists

A variety of individual and organizational factors contribute to the "burnout syndrome". V.V. Boiko describes several reasons that cause emotional burnout: environmental conditions content of work and socio-psychological conditions of activities are the most important in the field of burnout research (Boiko, 1999). The worker's condition can be affected, for example, by the length of the working day, the nature of the work performed, the number of clients and the depth of contact, the degree of independence in decision-making, or feedback from management. A study conducted on a sample of French psychologists showed that working in organizational structures (for example in hospitals or companies), lack of personal space and resources such as recognition as well as lack of decent wages can foster burnout (Berjot, Altintas, Lesage & Grebot, 2013). Studies by other scientists (Rupert & Kent, 2007) also showed that psychologists are more at risk of burnout when they work in companies or in private hospitals than when they are independent and provide private services Intensive psycho-emotional activity can also lead to professional burnout. Such activity, as a rule, relates to intensive communication, more precisely, with purposeful perception of partners and influence on them. A professional working with people has to constantly reinforce various aspects of communication with emotions: actively to set and solve problems, to carefully perceive, intensively memorize and quickly interpret visual, audio and written information, quickly weigh alternatives and make decisions. That is why representatives of such professions as lawyers, teachers, doctors and psychologists often face professional burnout (Lloyd & King, 2004). Turkish scientists came to a similar conclusion (Doрan, Laзin & Tutal, 2015). They determined that burnout is often observed in representatives of professions, whose work requires daily intense emotional communication, as well as the manifestation of care and attention.

Specificity of the work of medical personnel with patients implies intensive interaction that is why there are many studies of nurses and doctors related to this issue, (Cronin-Stubbs & Brophy, 1985). Researchers from Singapore (Chan & Huak, 2004) conducted a survey of 491 doctors and nurses in public hospitals to understand how the work environment affects their emotional health. The results of the study showed a high level of stress associated with work, as well as the presence of symptoms of depression and anxiety among doctors (35%) and nurses (28%). Psychiatrists are also subject to emotional exhaustion. During the provision of therapeutic support, they must carefully listen to the problems of their patients and be sensitive to their suffering or anxiety (O'Donovan & May, 2007).

A recent study conducted by Dutch scientists showed that human service professionals are inclined to internalize the ideal image of their professional role. Since such specialists offer services that relate to support and assistance, they tend to think that recognizing the need for help is a disgrace and a sign of unprofessionalism. They seek to preserve this image in spite of everything, while the desire to conform to the ideal professional image depletes their physical and psychological resources and leads to burnout (Putnik, de Jong & Verdonk, 2011).

The study of professional burnout in teachers showed that burnout correlate with decrease of personal accomplishment which reflects low self-efficiency and the tendency to low self-esteem (Maslach, Jackson, Leiter, Schaufeli & Schwab, 1986). Another research confirmed that teachers with a sufficient amount of personal resources and professional competencies (i.e teachers with high self-efficacy, self-esteem and adaptive coping strategies) are easier to cope with stress at work and are less prone to burnout (Schwarzer & Hallum, 2008).

Thus, professional burnout is a combination of psychological and physical problems. Its prevention is necessary for mental and physical well-being as a whole; otherwise, it leads to illnesses, depression, loss of activity and productivity, greatly reducing the quality of life.

1.3 Characteristics of psychological defense mechanisms

Everyone faces different negative situations in daily life. Some people can overcome traumatic experiences, while others are less resilient. This is because the same events of life cause a different degree of stress depending on their subjective assessment. It is known that the human psyche has mechanisms that help to minimize or eliminate negative experiences. They help to maintain the stability of self-esteem of the person, self - image and image of the world. In psychology these mechanisms are called psychological defense. The American Psychiatric Association defines them as “automatic psychological processes that protect the individual against anxiety and from the awareness of internal or external dangers or stressors (American Psychiatric Association, 1987)”.

It is important to distinguish defense mechanisms from coping mechanisms. Unlike defense mechanisms, coping-behavior is chosen by the individual consciously and varies depending on the context, while the mechanisms of psychological defense are unconscious. The fixed psychological mechanisms can lead to non-adaptive behavior (Moos, 1974).

The father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, first introduced the term “psychological defense” in 1894, in his article “The neuro-psychoses of defence” (Freud, 2014). He believed that defense mechanisms are an unconscious set of reactions to negative impulses, as well as stressful situations. Freud argued that leading role in human behavior plays his unconscious. While unconscious includes innate instincts: sexual ("Eros") and aggressive, which are manifested in the desire to destroy ("Tanatos"). In addition, the unconscious includes desires and affects that are forced out of consciousness because of their inadmissibility or unwillingness, for example, because of cultural unacceptability or if they are painful for a person. Unconscious drives are in contradiction with the culture created by the society. According to Freud's theory, human instincts are antisocial and self-centered, they are not supported by society. The human psyche seeks to establish a balance between instincts and cultural norms, this balance is established through the defense mechanisms of the psyche. Defense mechanisms are a specific change in the content of consciousness that arises in a situation of internal conflict.

Freud described several basic defense mechanisms, most of them are included in the classifications of other researchers. For example, he described such mechanisms as:

Repression - this is one of the main psychological defenses. Repression is also called suppression. This is such a mechanism, as a result of which unacceptable thoughts, memories or experiences for a person are “pushed out” from the consciousness and transferred to the sphere of the unconscious, but at the same time continue to influence the behavior of the individual, manifested in the form of anxiety, fear, etc (Eriksen & Pierce, 1968). For example, a person forgets the name of someone with whom he has unpleasant memories

Displacement is a mental defense against an unpleasant situation, based on the transfer of a reaction from an inaccessible object to an accessible or replacement of an unacceptable action by an acceptable. For example, a woman who feels angry at the authorities takes out her aggression on her husband or children at home.

Projection is the process by which an individual's attributes of his or her own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to others. Thus, the projection allows a person to blame someone or something for their shortcomings or mistakes. For example, a student who has not prepared properly for the exam, attributes his low rating to unfair testing, or blames the professor for not explaining this topic at the lecture.

Rationalization is one of the most common defense mechanisms of the psyche from frustrating events. With the help of rationalization, a person seeks to give a rational explanation to actions and justify himself or someone else. Rationalization manifests itself in two ways a person either justifies himself or seeks explanations in factors not related to his person (circumstances, actions of other people). For example, a man who was rejected by a woman when he invited her on a date, comforts himself that she is completely unattractive.

Regression is a method of protection when a person begins to reproduce children's patterns of behavior. As a rule, these types of protective mechanisms are used by immature, infantile individuals. However, normal adults in situations of mental overload can use this psychological defense. Examples of regression are reactions to traumatic experiences such as crying or whimpering.

Thus, relying on Freud's classification, we can say that all defense mechanisms have two general characteristics:

they operate on an unconscious level and therefore they can be considered as self-deception;

they distort, deny or falsify the perception of reality in order to make anxiety less threatening to the person.

Followers of Z. Freud, as well as representatives of other schools, began to develop the concept of psychological protection. Freud's daughter Anna introduced corrections into the basic concept of the father. She emphasized the role of defense mechanisms in resolving external or sociogenic conflicts (Freud, 1992). Proceeding from this, we can say that she considered protective mechanisms as products of development and learning. In addition, she put forward the idea that the set of protective mechanisms is individual, and it characterizes the level of personal adaptation.

Robert Plutchik developed a psychoevolutionary theory of basic emotion the main idea of which is that every person experience emotions that are not always acceptable to him or to his surroundings. Protective mechanisms are activated if it is necessary to suppress unacceptable emotions. According to plutchik's theory, there are eight basic protections that are closely related to eight basic emotions, for example, fear provokes repression or anger becomes the cause of displacement (Plutchik & Conte, 1989).

It is important to say that everyone has a unique set of defense mechanisms that forms their individual style of overcoming difficulties. The automatic use of certain protections is usually the result of the interaction of several factors:

innate temperament

the nature of stress experienced in early childhood

defense mechanisms, models of which were parents and other significant adults

defenses that are acquired as a result of reinforcement

At the same time, defense mechanisms can be adaptive or non-adaptive. Previous studies have shown that more adaptive defense mechanisms are associated with better relationships, job satisfaction, mental health and subjective well-being (Vaillant, 1976). Non-adaptive defense mechanisms are inflexible behavior stereotypes they can be the cause of neurotic disorders, anomalies of behavior or antisocial personality disorders. For example, they can cause anxiety, depression or eating disorders (Bond & Perry, 2005; Muris, Winands & Horselenberg, 2003)

M. Bond and his colleagues has developed a classification of the mechanisms of psychological defense which consists of 4 groups:

Group 1 - non adaptive (ineffective) psychological defenses

Group 2 - image-distorting (weakly adaptive) psychological defense

Group 3 - self-incriminating (weakly adaptive) psychological defenses

Group 4 - adaptive (effective) psychological defense

The first group includes immature or non-adaptive defense. A person unconsciously uses non-adaptive psychological defenses in order to minimize stressful factors, however they do not lead to effective interaction with surrounding people and environment and can impede the realization of his own desires and aspirations.

Bond identified 10 types of non-adaptive defense:

somatization (the tendency to respond to psychological stress with bodily symptoms);

autistic fantasy (leaving reality for virtual conflict resolution and getting satisfaction);

consumption (food, cigarettes, alcohol, drugs);

hypochondria (complaints with refusal of help);

regression (return to child forms of behavior);

6) response (action without taking into account subsequent negative consequences, direct behavioral expression of unconscious desires);

7) refraining (subconscious limitation of the ego - a function to avoid conflict with instinctual impulses);

8) passive aggression (indirect aggression towards others, expressed through passivity, masochism and directed against oneself);

9) projection (erroneous attribution of one's own unconscious feelings, impulses or thoughts to others);

10) avoidance (active avoidance of undesirable, disturbing thoughts, objects, feelings or experience).

The second group includes defenses that do not allow a person to perceive objective reality without significant distortions of the image of reality and the image of oneself:

predominance (omnipotence, superiority);

isolation (inability to simultaneously perceive the cognitive and affective components of reality);

primitive idealization (narcissistic defense, idealization of other people);

splitting or dissociation (a person can't integrate the positive and negative qualities of people into a single image).

The third group includes defenses, which manifests itself in unconscious or semi-conscious self-abasement, as well as inability to express true feelings and emotions. There are only three protections:

negation (inability to accept frightening information);

pseudo-altruism (replacing, but constructive help to others with an instinctive expectation of gratitude);

reaction formation (the opposite reaction), the substitution of their own unacceptable thoughts and feelings for diametrically opposite.

The fourth group includes effective or adaptive psychological defenses, the use of which allows a person to interact productively with other people and the environment:

affiliation (to seek assistance from other people);

humor (search for funny aspects in a conflict situation);

foresight (prediction, preliminary thinking);

sublimation (indirect, weakened expression of instincts without distorted transformations or loss of pleasure);

suppression (conscious or half-conscious decision to postpone consideration or awareness of impulses or conflicts).

Thus, on the one hand, psychological defenses act as a shield, they protect the psyche from the negative impact of traumatic circumstances, thereby supporting the ability to adapt. On the other hand, psychological protection can cause somatic and mental disorders. This is closely related to the fact that they impede the assimilation of new experiences and have a negative impact on the person and her professional effectiveness that can lead to burnout.

1.4 The relationship between Psychological defense and Emotional Burnout

There are several studies of the relationship between psychological defenses and burnout. The researchers conducted a study on 120 Italian nurses working in psychiatric hospitals. They found the relationship between burnout and some specific defense mechanisms. For example, such defense mechanisms as intellectualization, rationalization, conflict isolation and negation have a negative correlation with the depersonalization and emotional exhaustion of the burnout scale, while the use of such psychological defenses as masochism and introjection can lead to aggravation of the symptoms of burnout (Pompili, Rinaldi, Lester, Girardi, Ruberto & Tatarelli, 2006).

A study of air staff by Arab scientists showed that people who use immature mechanisms of psychological defense, have higher rates of emotional burnout. It was also found that mature and neurotic defense has positive significance affect on depersonalization (Sepidehdam, Karimi & Besharat, 2012). 

Personnel who work in the department of oncology often observe patients with incurable diseases. Polish scientists have identified psychological defense mechanisms that are most often used by personnel in order to overcome these traumatic circumstances of work. It was regression, intellectualization, projection and dislocation defense mechanisms (Kocijan Lovko, Gregurek & Karlovic, 2007).

Based on theoretical and practical research can be concluded that the mechanisms of psychological defense are very diverse and depend on the maturity of the individual and the cognitive characteristics of the individual. Psychological defenses affect our emotions, feelings and behavior in order to minimize the impact of stress. However, the inflexible use of defense can adversely affect personal and professional well-being

2. Methods

2.1 Sample Description

The sample includes 140 psychologists of different specializations and is divided into 3 groups:

counseling psychologists (56 participants);

emergency psychologists (34 participants);

school psychologists (50 participants).

There are 114 women and 26 men in the sample, most of them have higher education (132 participants) and others have specialized secondary education (8 participants). Minimum age of participants - 23 years, maximum -58 years, average age of participants-32 years.

Division of income in the sample:

high (24 participants);

average (72 participants);

low (34 participants);

very low (10 participants).

2.2 Procedure and Design of the Study

Respondents were tested using the online questionnaire. Snowball method was used for data collection.

2.3 Variables

Controlled variables: specialization

Dependent variables: 4 styles of psychological defenses, life satisfaction, self-esteem, self-efficacy

Independent variables: burnout

2.4 Measurement methods

The Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ) is a self-report inventory consisting of 88 questions and developed by the American scientist M. Bond (Andrews, Singh & Bond, 1993). The main purpose of the questionnaire is to investigate the styles of unconscious defense mechanisms. Respondents are asked to assess the degree of agreement or disagreement with each statement proposed in the questionnaire on a 9-point scale from 1 “strongly disagree” to 9 “strongly agree” (Bond, 2004). The questionnaire included for the following scales:

Defense style 1 - non-adaptive (ineffective) psychological defenses. This group includes 10 types of defense mechanisms: somatization, autistic fantasy, consumption, hypochondria, regression, response, refraining, passive-aggression, projection, avoidance. The scale consists of 33 items. An Example of a statement: “In a difficult situation, I behave like a child” (Andrews, Singh & Bond, 1993) (б> .89).

Defense style 2 - image-distorting (weakly adaptive) psychological defenses. This group includes 4 types of defense mechanisms: predominance, isolation, primitive idealization, dissociation. The scale consists of 15 items. An Example of a statement: “I am convinced that every person is either very good or very bad” (Saint-Martin, Valls, Rousseau, Callahan & Chabrol, 2013) (б> .70).

Defense style 3 - self-incriminating (weakly adaptive) psychological defenses. This group includes 3 types of defense mechanisms: negation, pseudo-altruism, reaction formation. The scale consists of 8 items. An Example of a statement: “We should never be angry with people we don't like” (б> .71).

Defense style 4 - adaptive (effective) psychological defenses. This group includes 5 types of defense mechanisms: affiliation, humor, foresight, sublimation, suppression. The scale consists of 3 items. An Example of a statement: “I can easily laugh at myself” (б> .60).

The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) - is a test method is that has been designed for professionals in human services to diagnose the burnout level. The questionnaire consists of 22 items, and includes 3 scales: "Emotional exhaustion", "Depersonalization" and "Reduction of professional achievements" (Maslach, Jackson, Leiter, Schaufeli & Schwab, 1986). All items are scored on a seven-point Likert scale, ranging from 0 “never” to 6 “every day”. An example of a statement: I am sure that my work is necessary for people. (б> .73).

The Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) - is a 10-item questionnaire which was developed for measuring self-esteem, it has high reliability and validity (Martнn-Albo, Nъсez, Navarro & Grijalvo, 2007). Respondents should evaluate on how much they strongly agree or disagree with each statement. Scores range from 10 to 40, the higher the score on the scale, the higher the self-esteem. An example of a statement: “On the whole, I am satisfied with myself” (б> .76).

The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) - is a brief self-report measure, consisting of 5 items that is designed to evaluate the subjective well-being of a person (Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985). The answers to the statements range from complete disagreement to full agreement. Each answer is given a score the minimum possible score on the scale is 7, the maximum is 35 points. An example of a statement: “If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing” (б> .75).

The General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) - is a 4-point scale that was created by scientists in order to measure general sense of perceived self-efficacy, the blank of the questionnaire consists of 10 judgments that should be evaluated (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 2010). The answers vary from “absolutely true” to “absolutely incorrect”. The final score has a range from 10 to 40, the high scores on the scale reflect a high level of self-efficacy. An example of a statement: “I can always manage to solve difficult problems if I try hard enough” (б> .74).

2.5 Processing methods

To determine whether there are any differences between independent groups on more than one dependent variable we used the method of Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). To display the causal relationships between variables we used Structural Equation Modeling method (SEM).

3. Results

3.1 Specialization differences

Descriptive statistics of variables is shown at Table 1. Comparative analysis of variables using MANOVA, in which specialization is independent variable and 4 styles of psychological defenses, burnout, life satisfaction, self-esteem, self-efficacy as dependent variables showed significant multivariate effect among 3 different types of psychologist's specializations: Wilks's Л=.782, F (16, 260) =2.122, p=.008, зІ=.115. ANOVA's on the individual measures were also significant represented at the Table 2.

Table 2. Comparison of 4 types of Psychological defenses, Burnout, Life Satisfaction, Self-Esteem, Self-Efficacy of psychologists of different specializations.

Variables		Mean Specialization School Psychologists	Mean Specialization Counseling Psychologists	Mean Specialization Emergency Psychologists
	Mean				F	Partial зІ
Psy. Defense style 1 non-adaptive (ineffective)	3,39	3,78a	3,39a	2,81b	10,654	,135***
Psy. Defense style 2 image-distorting (weakly adaptive)	3,17	3,42a	3,13ab	2,85b	4,344	,060*
Psy. Defense style 3 self-incriminating (weakly adaptive)	3,70	4,11a	3,52b	3,38b	5,264	,071**
Psy. Defense style 4 adaptive (effective)	6,49	6,12a	6,57a	6,89a	2,936	,041
Burnout	3,83	4,07a	3,78b	3,55b	10,926	,138***
Life Satisfaction	3,40	3,24a	3,41a	3,59a	2,342	,033
Self-Esteem	4,29	4,20a	4,35a	4,31a	,731	,011
Self-Efficacy	3,74	3,72a	3,69a	3,83a	,874	,013

Note: Means with different subscripts are significantly different in Least Significant Differences post hoc tests

(p < .05). **p < .01.

In the course of our work we obtained the following results:

Mean value in Psy. Defense style 1 non-adaptive (ineffective) among all groups is 3.39, while the highest rate was found in the group of school psychologists (3.78) and the lowest in the group of emergency psychologists (2.81). The mean value in the group of counseling psychologists is 3.39. There are no significant differences between group of school psychologists and counseling psychologists, however group of emergency psychologists significantly differ from other two groups.

Mean value in Psy. Defense style 2 image-distorting (weakly adaptive) among all groups is 3.17, there is no significant differences between group of school psychologists (3.42) and counseling psychologists (3.13) and also between counseling psychologists and emergency psychologists (2.85), while group of school psychologists and emergency psychologists differ significantly.

Mean value in Psy. Defense style 3 self-incriminating (weakly adaptive) among all groups is 3.70, there is no significant differences between group of counseling psychologists (3.52) and emergency psychologists (3.38), however group of school psychologists significantly differ from other two groups and have the highest rate (4.11).

Mean value in Psy. Defense style 4 adaptive (effective) among all groups is 6.49, there is no significant differences between three groups, the highest rate was found in the group of emergency psychologists (6.89) and the lowest in the group of school psychologists (6.12), the mean value in the group of counseling psychologists is 6.57.

Burnout index shows mean value among three groups - 3.83, the highest rate was found in the group of school psychologists (4.07) and the lowest in the group of emergency psychologists (3.55), while the mean value of burnout in the group of counseling psychologists is 3.78. There are no significant differences between group of counseling psychologists and emergency psychologists, however group of school psychologists significantly differ from other two groups.

Life satisfaction's mean value among all specializations is 3,40. There are no significant differences between three groups, whereas the highest rate was found in the group of emergency psychologists (3.59) and the lowest in the group of school psychologists (3.24). The mean value of life satisfaction in the group of counseling psychologists is 3.41.

Self-esteem's mean value among all specializations is 4.29. There are no significant differences between three groups, whereas the highest rate was found in the group of counseling psychologists (4.35) and the lowest in the group of school psychologists (4.20). The mean value in the group of emergency psychologists is 4.31.

Self-efficacy's mean value among all specializations is 3.74, there are no significant differences between three groups, while the highest rate was found in the group of emergency psychologists (3.83) and the lowest in the group of counseling psychologists (3.69). The mean value in the group of school psychologists is 3.72.

Сorrelation matrix (Table 3.) show us following significant correlations:

Table 3. Correlations
	Specialization	Psy. Defense style 1	Psy. Defense style 2	Psy. Defense style 3	Psy. Defense style 4	Burnout	Life Satisfaction	Self-Esteem	Self-Efficacy
Specialization	Pearson Correlation	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)
	N	140
Psy. Defense style 1 non-adaptive (ineffective)	Pearson Correlation	-,364**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	,000
	N	140	140
Psy. Defense style 2 image-distorting (weakly adaptive)	Pearson Correlation	-,244**	,677**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	,004	,000
	N	140	140	140
Psy. Defense style 3 self-incriminating (weakly adaptive)	Pearson Correlation	-,250**	,440**	,360**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	,003	,000	,000
	N	140	140	140	140
Psy. Defense style 4 adaptive (effective)	Pearson Correlation	,201*	-,483**	-,211*	-,191*	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	,017	,000	,012	,023
	N	140	140	140	140	140
Burnout	Pearson Correlation	-,370**	,598**	,365**	,323**	-,285**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	,000	,000	,000	,000	,001
	N	140	140	140	140	140	140
Life Satisfaction	Pearson Correlation	,182*	-,365**	-,268**	-,159	,216*	-,269**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	,032	,000	,001	,061	,010	,001
	N	140	140	140	140	140	140	140
Self-Esteem	Pearson Correlation	,075	-,235**	-,103	-,130	,143	-,268**	,348**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	,377	,005	,227	,126	,091	,001	,000
	N	140	140	140	140	140	140	140	140
Self-Efficacy	Pearson Correlation	,073	-,335**	,048	-,183*	,291**	-,187*	,202*	,223**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	,394	,000	,577	,031	,000	,027	,017	,008
	N	140	140	140	140	140	140	140	140	140
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

Psy. Defense style 1 non-adaptive (ineffective) has significant positive correlation with Psy. Defense style 2 image-distorting (weakly adaptive) (.677**), Psy. Defense style 3 self-incriminating (weakly adaptive) (.440**) and with Burnout (.598**). Also, it has significant negative correlation with Psy. Defense style 4 adaptive (effective) (-.483**), Life Satisfaction (-.365**), Self-Esteem (-.235**) and Self-Efficacy (-.335**).

Psy. Defense style 2 image-distorting (weakly adaptive) has significant positive correlation with Psy. Defense style 3 (.360**) and Burnout (.365**), also it has significant negative correlation with Psy. Defense style 4 (-.211*) and Life Satisfaction (-.268**).

Psy. Defense style 3 self-incriminating (weakly adaptive) has significant positive correlation with Burnout (.323**) as well as significant negative correlations with Psy. Defense style 4 (-.191*) and with Self-Efficacy (-.183*).

Psy. Defense style 4 adaptive (effective) has significant positive correlation with Life Satisfaction (.216*) and Self-Efficacy (.291**) also it has significant negative correlation with Burnout (-.285**).

Burnout has significant negative correlation with Life Satisfaction (-.269**), Self-Esteem (-.268**) and Self-Efficacy (-.187*).

Life Satisfaction has significant positive correlation with Self-Esteem (.348**) and Self-Efficacy (.202*).

Self-Esteem has significant positive correlation with Self-Efficacy (.223**).

3.2 Structural modeling (SEM)

Before performing SEM analyses, we clear the influence of gender to the variables: burnout, 1st/2nd/3rd/4th style of psychological defense, life satisfaction, self-esteem and self-efficacy, by performing linear regression analyses in which we use sex as independent variable, and our cleanable variables as dependent as a result we got unstandardized residuals which is our main set of variables clear from influence of gender. Further, manipulation in framework of SEM analyses will be performed with “clean” set of variables (Table 4).

Table 4. SEM Model with standardized estimates

We tested 4 models each for every style of psychological defenses, model fit indicators represented at the Table 5. The goal of the analyses was to establish whether each style of psychological defense performs mediating role between burnout and life satisfaction, self-esteem, self-efficacy, by showing significant indirect effect (в). As well as approve relations acquired by MANOVA analyses and correlation matrix.

Table 5. Fit Indices of the Path Models of the role of Psychological Defense Style as mediator between Burnout and Well-Being, Self-Efficacy.

	ч2/df	CFI	SRMR	RMSEA	PCLOSE
PSY Def. Style 1 non-adaptive (ineffective)	1.27	.998	.0225	.044	.338
PSY Def. Style 2 image-distorting (weakly adaptive)	5.14	.935	.0476	.173	.049
PSY Def. Style 3 self-incriminating (weakly adaptive)	3.38	.954	.0391	.131	.113
PSY Def. Style 4 adaptive (effective)	2.38	.975	.0319	.100	.186

In all four models burnout has significant direct negative effect on self-esteem. Burnout has significant direct negative effect on life-satisfaction in 2nd, 3rd, 4th models. Burnout has significant direct negative effect on self-efficacy in 2nd model.

1st style of psychological defenses (non-adaptive) show tendency to perform slight mediating role putting indirect effect on Life Satisfaction (в = -.188; p =.060), Self-Esteem (в = -.0.69; p =.061) and Self-Efficacy (в = -.208; p =.063). Standardized estimates of regression weights represented in Table 4. Further relations, consider to be significant: Burnout relation to Def. Style 1 (p<.001); Burnout relation to Self-Esteem (p=0.49); Def. Style 1 relation to Life-Satisfaction (p=.001); Def. Style 1 relation to Self-Efficacy (p<.001)

2nd style of psychological defenses (image-distorting) perform mediating role putting indirect effect on Life Satisfaction (в = -.073*; p =.036), Self-Esteem (в = -.0.02*; p =.034) and Self-Efficacy (в = .048*; p =.036). Standardized estimates of regression weights represented in Table 4. Further relations consider to be significant: Burnout relation to Def. Style 2 (p<.001); Burnout relation to Life Satisfaction (p=.022); Burnout relation to Self-Esteem (p=.002); Burnout relation to Self-Efficacy (p=.014); Def. Style 2 relation to Life Satisfaction (p=.025).

3rd style of psychological defenses (self-incriminating) perform mediating role putting indirect effect on Life Satisfaction (в = -.026*; p =.028), Self-Esteem (в = -.0.015*; p =.029) and Self-Efficacy (в = -.042*; p =.031). Standardized estimates of regression weights represented in Table 4. Further relations, consider to be significant: Burnout relation to Def. Style 3 (p=<.001); Burnout relation to Life Satisfaction (p=.004); Burnout relation to Self-Esteem (p=.003)

4th style of psychological defenses (adaptive) perform mediating role putting indirect effect on Life Satisfaction (в = -.041*; p =.025), Self-Esteem (в = -.0.20*; p =.024) and Self-Efficacy (в = -.064*; p =.030). Standardized estimates of regression weights represented in Table 4. Further relations consider to be significant: Burnout relation to Def. Style 4 (p=.002); Burnout relation to Life Satisfaction (P=.006); Burnout relation to Self-Esteem (p=.003); Def. Style 4 relation to Self-Efficacy (p=.003).

4. Discussion and Conclusions

In this study, we investigated professional burnout and preferred styles of psychological defense among psychologists and its impact on their well-being (life satisfaction, self-esteem) and self-efficacy. The study involved 140 people who were divided into three groups according to their specialization. The first group includes 56 counseling psychologists, the second group consists of 50 school psychologists and the third group includes 34 emergency psychologists. Respondents' age ranged from 23 to 58. Psychologists of different specializations faced different working conditions which forced them to use different styles of psychological defenses in order to cope with job related stress. We assume that depending on preferred style of psychological defense, respondent could increase or decrease the influence of burnout on life satisfaction, self-esteem and self-efficacy. Styles of psychological defense divide into 4 groups: non-adaptive; image-distorting (weakly adaptive); self-incriminating (weakly adaptive); adaptive.

The results of our study showed that emotional burnout of psychologists leads to a decrease in psychological well-being and self-efficacy. These findings are consistent with previous studies that found a correlation between burnout and reduced self-efficacy, self-esteem and life satisfaction (Maslach, Jackson, Leiter, Schaufeli, & Schwab, 1986).

Previous studies have shown that employees of different professions have differences in how they regulate emotional state (Zembylas, 2005). We have a similar result, however, based on data from psychologists of various specializations. Thus, we can state that the choice of adaptive protection, which contributes to psychological well-being and self-efficacy, may be due to the peculiarities of professional psychological activity.

According to our research adaptive psychological defenses such as humor, affiliation and foresight used by psychologists in the situation of emotional burnout, reduce the negative impact of emotional burnout on psychological well-being and self-efficacy. These results confirm previous similar studies that showed that adaptive psychological defenses are associated with job satisfaction, mental health, and subjective well-being (Vaillant, 1976).

Furthermore, our study showed that non-adaptive defenses such as somatization, passive aggression and avoidance, used by psychologists in the situation of emotional burnout, increase the negative impact of emotional burnout on psychological well-being and self-efficacy. A study that established a similar relationship between burnout and weakly adaptive defenses was conducted by Arab scientists (Sepidehdam, Karimi & Besharat, 2012). 

Additionally, our study showed that psychologists of different specializations do not have significant differences in the indicators of well-being and self-efficacy, but they differ in the level of burnout. School psychologists have a significantly higher level of burnout than psychologists of other specializations (Table 2). This may be due to the fact that psychologists of different specializations use different styles of psychological defenses.

Moreover, we have found that non-adaptive psychological defense styles such as, somatization, passive aggression and other which lead to a decrease in life satisfaction, self-esteem and self-efficacy are most often used by school psychologists. While emergency psychologists use non-adaptive defense styles less than other groups and at the same time have higher rates of well-being and self-efficacy

The results of data analysis showed us that there are significant differences in burnout level and 4 styles of psychological defenses between 3 group of specializations (Table 2.). However, indicators of life satisfaction, self-esteem and self-efficacy do not have significant differences among psychologists of various specializations (Table 2.). We found that the burnout rate is significantly higher in the group of school psychologists than in counseling psychologists and emergency psychologists, while the lowest level of burnout found in the group of emergency psychologists (Table 2.) The study also showed that school psychologists use non-adaptive, image-distorting and self-incriminating psychological defenses more often than psychologists of other specialization, on the other hand they less often use adaptive psychological defense than other group which can be related to the fact that they have highest burnout level among other specializations. Counseling psychologists shows rates close to average meanings in every indicator. Emergency psychologists more often use adaptive style of psychological defense than other two groups, more over these specialists tend to less use non-adaptive, image-distorting and self-incriminating psychological defenses which consider to be less efficient than adaptive, this fact could contribute to the lowest level of burnout which is shown by emergency psychologists.

In general, absence of significant differences in life satisfaction, self-esteem and self-efficacy could explained by efficiency of psychological defenses which psychologists of various specializations using. The level of burnout significantly differs in every group and due to that fact that we have significant positive correlations between burnout and 1st, 2nd and 3rd style of psychological defense which means that respondents who more often use these styles are tend to have higher level of burnout, and also strong negative correlation between burnout and 4th style of psychological defense which means that respondents who more often use 4th (adaptive) style of psychological defense tend to have lower level of burnout. Taking into consideration that adaptive style of psychological defense is more often used by psychologists of all specialization we could state that reduction of using non-adaptive, image-distorting and self-incriminating psychological d...