Images of "moetsuki": The content analysis based on a newspaper database and questionnaire survey

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to reveal people's feelings in Japan about "burnout/moetsuki." In Study 1, we conducted a content analysis using articles in newspapers to confirm the usage of burnout/moetsuki. Results indicated that burnout/moefsufci was viewed negatively: images of burnout were associated with article themes and the profession of the interviewees in the article. In particular, burnout was viewed notably negatively in articles when they were related to human services professionals, although it was viewed positively in articles on sports players (particularly when the sports players themselves talked about their burnout experiences). In Study 2, we confirmed the effect of the article theme (that is, burnout experienced by sports players was viewed more positively than that experienced by workers in human services). However, the study could not support the hypothesis about the effects of the profession of the interviewees. These results imply that the term burnout is defined differently by lay people. Therefore, we should rethink the Japanese translation of burnout.