Burnout has been defined as a job-related syndrome combining pervasive
fatigue and loss of motivation. In recent years, evidence has mounted
that burnout may reflect a depressive condition. In this study, we
expanded on past investigations of burnout-depression overlap by
focusing on interpretation biases toward ambiguous information among the
two entities. We conducted a web-based study involving 1056 participants
(83% female; mean age: 42.87). Burnout symptoms were assessed with the
Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure and depressive symptoms with the PHQ-9.
The Ambiguous Scenarios Test (AST), a measure of interpretation bias
validated among dysphoric individuals, was the outcome of interest. The
AST consists of 24 scenarios that respondents are requested to imagine
and assess in terms of (un)pleasantness. Burnout and depression each
correlated moderately and negatively with scenario pleasantness.
Participants reporting "high" levels of burnout and depression exhibited
a negativity bias when interpreting scenarios whereas participants with
either "low" or "medium" levels of burnout and depression exhibited a
positivity bias. Remarkably, burnout and depression were similarly
associated with the pleasantness of job-related scenarios. Like
depression, burnout may involve a propensity to interpret ambiguous
information negatively. This study supports the view that burnout is
associated with a depressive cognitive style.