<p><strong>The purpose of this essay is to try to understand the relationship between the structures of modern working life and the development of burnout. By using the method of qualitative interviews we wanted to see if the Effort-Reward Imbalance Model could be applied to the data we had collected. Two questions have been highlighted in our research: </strong><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p></p><ol><p> </p><li>• Is it possible to establish a relationship between the structures of modern working life and the development of burnout among the subjects interviewed? </li><p> </p><li>• Is it possible to explain the development of burnout among our interviewed subjects through the Effort-Reward Imbalance Model?  </li><p> </p><p> </p></ol><p>Our theoretical frames are the general theories of the modern society and the modern working life as developed by Anthony Giddens, Ulrich Beck and Zygmunt Bauman. We have also used Johannes Siegrist’s medical-sociological Effort-Reward Imbalance Model (ERI-Model). Our main findings are that the characteristics of modern working life mostly have had a negative affect on the lives of four of the five interviewed subjects. Hence, modern working life is one contributing factor to the development of burnout among our interviewed subjects. Four of five interview subjects fulfilled the three hypotheses postulated by the Effort-Reward Imbalance Model. This indicates that these individuals are at an increased risk of developing poor health. It also indicates that an imbalance between efforts and rewards as well as an imbalance between internal and external factors at the workplace might have contributed to their development of burnout.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>

The purpose of this essay is to try to understand the relationship between the structures of modern working life and the development of burnout. By using the method of qualitative interviews we wanted to see if the Effort-Reward Imbalance Model could be applied to the data we had collected. Two questions have been highlighted in our research:               • Is it possible to establish a relationship between the structures of modern working life and the development of burnout among the subjects interviewed?   • Is it possible to explain the development of burnout among our interviewed subjects through the Effort-Reward Imbalance Model?       Our theoretical frames are the general theories of the modern society and the modern working life as developed by Anthony Giddens, Ulrich Beck and Zygmunt Bauman. We have also used Johannes Siegrist’s medical-sociological Effort-Reward Imbalance Model (ERI-Model). Our main findings are that the characteristics of modern working life mostly have had a negative affect on the lives of four of the five interviewed subjects. Hence, modern working life is one contributing factor to the development of burnout among our interviewed subjects. Four of five interview subjects fulfilled the three hypotheses postulated by the Effort-Reward Imbalance Model. This indicates that these individuals are at an increased risk of developing poor health. It also indicates that an imbalance between efforts and rewards as well as an imbalance between internal and external factors at the workplace might have contributed to their development of burnout.