Association of Emotional Intelligence, Workplace Stress, and Burnout in Behavior Analysts

Abstract

Increasing job demands for board-certified behavior analysts (BCBA) put them at risk of stress and burnout. In other fields of allied health, emotional intelligence (EI) has been shown to be a protective factor that mitigates stress and burnout. However, the influence of EI on these adverse outcomes had not been examined in BCBAs. The purpose of this quantitative, associational study was to investigate the relationships between EI, workplace stress, and burnout in BCBAs. The theoretical framework for this study was based on Goleman’s (1995) theory of EI. A research survey adapting three scales—the TEIQue-SF (Petrides, 2023), Workplace Stress Scale (The Marlin Company and the American Institute of Stress, 2023), and the Burnout Measure, Short instruments (Malach-Pines, 2005)—were used to collect data on participants’ EI, workplace stress and burnout levels, demographic information was collected on professional roles, years of experience as a BCBA, age, gender, and race. Survey data for 45 participants were collected from Qualtrics and underwent descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses. The results showed that BCBAs were adversely affected by both workplace stress and burnout. EI scores in BCBAs were not significantly associated with workplace stress or burnout. Workplace stress levels for novice BCBAs were higher than for BCBAs with more experience. The authors offer recommendations to address burnout early through proactive education and training that helps practitioners develop strategies to cope with the demands of the job.