Why Jerk Bosses Stress Us: Burnout as an Evolved Appeasement Strategy

Purpose: Burnout is a pandemic and costly public health problem. Studies link leadership and peer behavior to burnout, but explanations are constrained to proximate mechanisms. Evolutionary models describe depression as an ancient appeasement response to avert dangerous physical conflict with higher-ranking group members and coalitions. In turn, psychometric research consistently finds high construct overlap between burnout and depression. This shared phenomenology suggests that burnout in response to workplace social stressors reflects appeasement. The purpose of the current study is to test the relationship between rank and competition related variables and burnout. Method: Participants (N = 256) completed an online survey comprised of burnout and rank-related variables. Results: Domineering leadership, self-perceived low rank, negative workgroup gossip, and perceptions of physical vulnerability predicted burnout. Negative workgroup gossip mediated the relationship between dominant leaders and burnout. Conclusion: Results suggest that occupational burnout may be rooted in an ancient appeasement response to powerful individuals and coalitions. Clarifying evolutionary mechanisms of burnout can inform prevention and treatment, while deepening our understanding of burnout as a construct.