A rapidly growing number of people experience psychological strain at their workplace. In almost all industrialized countries, absenteeism and turnover rates increase, and an increasing amount of workers receive disablement benefits because of psychological problems. This book, first published in 1993, concentrates on a specific kind of occupational stress: burnout, the depletion of energy resources as a result of continuous emotional demands of the job. This volume presents theoretical perspectives that had been developed in the United States and Europe, discusses methodological issues, and examines organisational contexts. Written by an international group of leading scholars, this book will be of interest to students of both psychology and human resource management.

A rapidly growing number of people experience psychological strain at their workplace. In almost all industrialized countries, absenteeism and turnover rates increase, and an increasing amount of workers receive disablement benefits because of psychological problems. This book, first published in 1993, concentrates on a specific kind of occupational stress: burnout, the depletion of energy resources as a result of continuous emotional demands of the job. This volume presents theoretical perspectives that had been developed in the United States and Europe, discusses methodological issues, and examines organisational contexts. Written by an international group of leading scholars, this book will be of interest to students of both psychology and human resource management.

1 This volume is one of four book publications of the project "Social Convoy and S- tainable Employability: Innovative Strategies for Outplacement/Replacement Couns- ling" (SOCOSE). It is supported by the European Commission, DG Research, under the fifth Framework Programme, Key Action "Improving the Socio-Economic Knowledge 2 3 Base" and coordinated by Thomas Kieselbach at the University of Bremen . Starting point of our research is the increase in occupational transitions (Rodgers & Rodgers, 1989). This is caused by the ongoing globalisation of markets and eco- mies as a whole, but might also be considered the central aspect of globalisation: changes and flexibility which - on the part of the individual employee - means tran- tions in his or her occupational biography. These phases might include episodes of - employment as well as training or re-orientation. While transitions increase, employees experience insecurity with regard to their individual employment situation to a much larger degree than in the past. The formal 1 Kieselbach, T. (Ed.) (2004). Social Convoy in Occupational Transitions: Recommendations for a European Framework in the Context of Enterprise Restructuring. Bremen: University of Bremen, Ins- tute for Psychology of Work, Unemployment and Health (IPG). Kieselbach, T., Beelmann, G., Mader, S. & Wagner, O. (2005). Sozialer Konvoi in beruflichen Tran- tionen: Individuelle und organisationale Bewaltigung der Prekarisierung von Beschaftigung in Deutschland Social convoy in occupational transitions: Individual and organisational coping with precarisation of jobs]. Munchen: Rainer Hampp."