Received: 20 February 2019 Revised: 3 February 2020 Accepted: 7 February 2020

DOI: 10.1002/smi.2936

RESEARCH ARTICLE

From emotional exhaustion to cynicism in academic

burnout among Korean high school students: Focusing
on the mediation effects of hatred of academic work

Minyoung Lee1 | Kyeong-Joo Lee1 | Sang M. Lee1 | Soohyun Cho2

1
Department of Education, Korea University,
Seoul, South Korea Abstract
2
Department of Education, Keimyung This study aimed to investigate the effect of academic hatred, referring to the hatred
University, Daegu, South Korea
of academic work, on the developmental process of the core dimensions of academic
Correspondence burnout, namely, emotional exhaustion and cynicism. Data were collected from 1015
Soohyun Cho, Department of Education,
(57.3% female) senior high school students in South Korea. The results showed that
Keimyung University, 1095 Dalgubeol-daero,
Dalseo-gu, Daegu 42601, South Korea. emotional exhaustion, cynicism and academic hatred were stable across three waves.
Email: jenif2r@[Link]
An autoregressive cross-lagged model showed that emotional exhaustion was predictive
of future academic hatred, which in turn was associated with future cynicism. Significant
mediation pathways were also identified, with academic hatred mediating the longitudinal
link between emotional exhaustion and cynicism. This longitudinal study can strengthen
the understanding of academic hatred within the developmental process of academic
burnout. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

KEYWORDS

academic emotions, academic hatred, achievement emotion, autoregressive cross-lagged

model, development of academic burnout, Korean adolescents, Korean high school students,
longitudinal study

1 | I N T RO DU CT I O N Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, and the

level of academic stress has increased with grade level (Lee & Lee,
Context is a term that describes the changeable stream of events that 2018). In this context, Lee, Lee, and Lee (2009) proposed academic
can exert an organizing effect on performance (Hayes, Strosahl, & hatred, which is used synonymously with hatred of academic works,
Wilson, 2011). In this regard, several researchers (Bong, Kim, Shin, and academic anxiety as new and additional dimensions of academic
Lee, & Lee, 2008) have emphasized the importance of the sociocul- burnout among Korean students. Lee et al. (2009) construe academic
tural context students experience during their studies because the burnout as a multi-dimensional construct consisting of emotional
social climate influences the education system. Education systems exhaustion, cynicism, inefficacy (i.e. the original three dimensions of
across societies with contrasting characteristics provide students with academic burnout), anxiety, and hatred (i.e. the added dimensions of
different academic goals and achievement processes. Such variations academic burnout among Korean students). Although anxiety would
engender varying effects on students' internal outcomes as well as appear as a symptom in the early stages of burnout, Korean scholars
visible academic performance. Korean society's centralized education Kim, Lee, Shin, Park, and Lee (2010) proved that it is unreasonable to
system, which is highly controlling and authoritarian, is one represen- include anxiety as a dimension of academic burnout. Thus, in the pre-
tative case. Korea's education system demands students to attain sent study, academic hatred is only considered as an additional dimen-
remarkable academic achievements and creates fierce academic com- sion of Korean academic burnout.
petition and academic elitism. Consequently, Korean adolescents are Academic burnout is a psychological symptom that occurs in
the highest ranked in academic stress among the Organisation for response to chronic academic stressors, as it applies to students

376 © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [Link]/journal/smi Stress Health. 2020;36:376–383.
LEE ET AL. 377

(Lee & Lee, 2018). Academic burnout has thus far been known to con- then provokes cynicism, as an ineffective strategy, and incompetence. In
sist of three dimensions including both emotional and cognitive this model, phase-based worsening of emotional exhaustion results in
aspects (Kim, Lee, Kim, Choi, & Lee, 2014; Schaufeli, Martinez, Pinto, increasing cynicism, and then, high levels of inefficacy. Similarly, Cordes
Salanova, & Bakker, 2002): (a) Emotional exhaustion, referring to an and Dougherty (1993) reported that exhausted people who have burn-
emotional aspect, and being emotionally drained by overloaded aca- out symptoms gradually employ cynicism as a coping strategy. Faber
demic demands and lack of resources; (b) Cynicism, a cognitive aspect, (2000) found that teachers who are cynical towards their students are
defined as indifference or a distant attitude of being cynical and less not exhausted emotionally and do not feel inefficacy because they lack
enthusiastic towards study; (c) Inefficacy (reverse of efficacy), another energy to exert themselves and engage in their work and with their stu-
cognitive aspect, defined as the tendency to take a pessimistic view dents. These previous results suggest that academic and professional
of one's achievements in studying. Schaufeli, Salanova, González- burnout have a similar developmental process. Considering that job
Romá, and Bakker (2002) confirmed that exhaustion and cynicism are demand is more likely related to emotional exhaustion than cynicism and
the core dimensions of burnout, whereas efficacy may be subsumed inefficacy (Taris, Schreurs, & Schaufeli, 1999), it can be assumed that
under the broader concept of engagement. Previous research has also Korean students experience emotional exhaustion due to the heavy bur-
stated that professional efficacy holds an independent role and devel- den of academic demands, and they lose their physical and emotional
opment compared with exhaustion and cynicism (Lee & Ashforth, energy or enthusiasm to be engaged in their study. Subsequently, they
1996; Leiter, 1993; Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001). distance themselves psychologically from their study. That is, cynicism
Emotional exhaustion is the core component of academic burnout serves as a cognitive defence strategy against emotional deterioration on
resulting from long-time academic stress. It signifies the feeling of being the process of being burned out.
overloaded and depleted of resources (Kim et al., 2014). In addition, it Then, why do emotionally exhausted students take a cynical atti-
can be characterized by low energy, chronic fatigue, listlessness, restless- tude towards their studies? Is it only because of the depletion of
ness, nervousness, and feeling drained and frustrated (Shin, 2012). Thus, energy? To clarify the reason for this, we need to pay attention to the
in the school context, students who experience exhaustion would feel emotional characteristics of cynicism, even though it is a cognitive
physically and emotionally used up and drained by the academic attitude. According to a previous study, the affective component of
demands for their successful academic achievement. For example, cynicism is considered as the arousal of powerful negative emotions
exhausted students would say, ‘I feel emotionally drained by my study’ such as contempt, anger, distress, and shame (Abraham, 2000). These
or ‘I feel used up at the end of a day at school’ (Schaufeli et al., 2002). emotions rooted in suspicion and disillusionment, consequently, lead
Whereas exhaustion is the emotional domain, cynicism represents the people to be discontent or emotionally detached from their work.
cognitive dimension (Friedman, 1996; Schaufeli, 2003). Cynicism refers to Given cynicism comes from perceiving injustice and unfairness, it sug-
students' indifferent, distant, and negative attitudes towards their work as gests that negatively activated emotional experiences can intervene in
an ineffective coping strategy. It is defined as a specific attitude character- the process of emotionally exhausted students taking a cynical atti-
ized by frustration and disillusionment, negative feelings towards the task, tude. However, few studies provided empirical evidence for paths
as well as a pessimistic outlook for future success (Mokotedi, 2010; between emotional exhaustion and cynicism. This study proposes aca-
Wanous, Reichers, & Austin, 2000). In addition, cynicism is a response to demic hatred as a mediator between these two components. Aca-
perceived organizational injustice in terms of the outcomes received for demic hatred is an emotion negatively activated in arduous and
work (Michael, 2002). Therefore, given that the school is a kind of social competitive academic contexts. Furthermore, as academic hatred has
organization in which students face pervasive pressure and persistent been identified recently as a new dimension of academic burnout, it is
whipping to produce successful academic performance, students would necessary to closely examine the process how burnout develops.
have a detached attitude towards their studies because of the unreason- Recently Lee, Cho, and Lee (2019) first introduced academic hatred,
able consequences or rewards that do not correspond to their academic using it synonymous to hatred for academic work, as a negative compo-
efforts. For instance, students who experience cynicism would say, ‘I have nent of academic emotion (i.e. antipathy and hate; Pekrun, Goetz, Titz, &
become less enthusiastic about my studies’ or ‘I have become more cynical Perry, 2002). Students experience certain emotions in academic contexts
about the potential usefulness of my studies’ (Schaufeli, Martinez, such as the learning process or being evaluated by standardized criteria.
et al., 2002). Emotion is broad phenomena related to comprehensive psychological
Several researchers have proposed models for the development pro- processes encompassing affective, cognitive, and behavioural factors
cess for burnout dimensions. In particular, the results of Kim et al. (2014) (Scherer, 1984). Thus, hate, which is an original interpersonal emotion,
are noteworthy because they proved the longitudinal causal relationships can be applied between students and academic works (Lee et al., 2019).
among components of academic burnout and their growth trajectories in According to previous studies, antipathy which is one of the characteris-
Korean middle-school students. They suggested that emotional exhaus- tics of hatred is aroused on the competition between groups for the
tion leads to increased cynicism and inefficacy. This indicates that emo- same resources (Laursen et al., 2010). It is also caused by conflicts or
tional exhaustion is the beginning stage of academic burnout in Korean worsening of relationships with close and significant objects (Abecassis,
students. Similarly, in a study on work stress, the best-known burnout 2003). Thus, students who regard their friends as academic competitors
process model (Leiter & Maslach, 1988) proves that emotional exhaus- for entering top-tier universities could experience antipathy towards not
tion is the initial developmental stage of service workers' burnout which only peers but also their academic tasks or activities. In addition, students
378 LEE ET AL.

threatened by the violation of self-values and identity due to extreme the Maslach Burnout Scale-Student Survey (MBI-SS; Schaufeli, Martinez,
comparative evaluations can feel emotion of hate about academic/social et al., 2002) for Korean middle and high school students. MBI-SS has
context. However, it has been controversial to define the ‘hate’ among been validated in many countries including Germany, Spain, Portugal, the
researchers. While some describe hate as an anger-related emotion Netherlands, and China (Gumz, Erices, Brahler, & Zenger, 2013; Hu &
(Shaver, Schwartz, Kirson, & O'Connor, 1987), others consider it a Schaufeli, 2009; Schaufeli, Martinez, et al., 2002; Zhang, Gan, & Zhang,
disgust-related emotion which is differentiated by avoiding disliked or 2005). It has three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and inef-
abhorrent objects (Oatley & Jenkins, 1996). Consequently, in the previ- ficacy. In Lee et al.'s (2009) validation study, two components of aca-
ous study (Lee et al., 2019), academic hatred was defined as disliking aca- demic hatred and academic anxiety are added to capture academic
demic work or avoiding it. burnout among Korean students. The 25 items of KABI are rated on a
The primary purpose of this study was to examine whether five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly
academic hatred, as an additional dimension of Korean academic agree). Higher scores indicate a greater degree of burnout. Among the
burnout, represents a meaningful explanatory mechanism in the develop- five subscales, emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and academic hatred
mental process of academic burnout, especially between the core were used in the present study. The reliability of each subscale was as
dimensions of burnout (i.e. emotional exhaustion and cynicism). Using a follows: emotional exhaustion (e.g. ‘I feel emotionally drained by my stud-
cross-lagged study design with three waves, we examined the association ies’, ‘I feel burnout by my studies’, ‘When I wake up in the morning it is hard
between the three variables of emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and for me to go to school and study again’, ‘I felt emotionally exhausted because
academic hatred. Study participants were senior high school students of my studies’, and ‘I am stressed because of studying or taking classes’
whose academic stress was expected to be the highest (Kim & Yu, 2016). αT1 = .86, αT2 = .89, αT3 = .88), cynicism (e.g. ‘I am skeptical about studying
would be helpful in my future’, ‘I doubt whether my study is important’, ‘I
Research Question What are the relationships among emotional have become less enthusiastic about my school work’, ‘My study is not signif-
exhaustion, cynicism, and academic hatred? icant’, and ‘I have become less interested in studying since I entered school’
αT1 = .87, αT2 = .90, αT3 = .86) and academic hatred (e.g. ‘I hate to study’,
Research Question Does academic hatred mediate emotional exhaus- ‘I am irritated with studying’, ‘I hate a world that focuses only on studying’, ‘I
tion and cynicism in Korean students? want to live in the world without studying’, and ‘I hate a world that only pri-
oritizes studying priority’, αT1 = .92, αT2 = .93, αT3 = .91).

2 | METHODS
2.3 | Data analysis
2.1 | Participants and procedures
Autoregressive cross-lagged model (ACLM) was used to examine the
Participants were 653 students, male (n = 290, 44%) and female changes in academic burnout across the Soo-Neung event for under-
(n = 363, 56%) at Time 1 and Time 2. Number of participants at Time standing the relationship among research variables. The main feature
3 were 238 male (n = 105, 44%) and female (n = 133, 56%). The partici- of ACLM is to test whether the variation of a variable at a certain
pants were senior high school students from eight schools in South time point are sufficiently explained by the variation of the same vari-
Korea, who were all on academic track and selected considering demo- able at previous time point in the autoregressive model (i.e. stability
graphic characteristics (i.e. socioeconomic status, regional area, grade over time) and to test the structural relationship among variables in
point average, gender). A survey was conducted in July (i.e. Time the cross-lagged model (i.e. causality over time; Curran & Bollen,
1 = 3 months before Soo-Neung, which is the South Korean College 2001). Thus, ACLM is suitable for examining the longitudinal causality.
Scholastic Ability Test), November (i.e. Time 2 = right after Soo-Neung), Preliminary analyses including descriptive statistics and correlation
and February of the next year (i.e. Time 3 = shortly before graduating were conducted using SPSS 21.0 and then analysis for ACLM adopting
from high school). All students were provided with a consent form and vol- a complex sampling design was performed with Mplus 7.4. The com-
untarily completed the paper questionnaires with their teacher's instruction plex sample design is a model-based aggregated approach used to take
at Times 1 and 2, and then participated in the online survey via a URL at the nested data structure into estimation process (Muthén & Satorra,
Time 3. Concerning ethical issues, the institutional review board at one uni- 1995). Because the data of current study consisted of students nested
versity in South Korea approved the current research. within classes and schools, it is needed to consider the nested structure
of data. Ignoring the nested data structure in the model leads to
increased possibilities of committing type 1 errors (Thomas & Heck,
2.2 | Measures 2001), so we conducted the analysis for ACLM by using Mplus syntax
of type = complex. For handling missing data, the full information maxi-
2.2.1 | Academic burnout mum likelihood (FIML) method was adopted because listwise deletion
(LD) and pairwise deletion (PD) may yield biased parameter estimates
The Korean Academic Burnout Inventory (KABI; Lee et al., 2009) was through non-random attrition (Arbuckle, 1996). Several model fit indi-
employed to measure academic burnout. It is a modified version of ces were considered to evaluate the model: the root mean square error
LEE ET AL. 379

of approximation (RMSEA) with the comparative fit index (CFI) and The interclass correlations (ICCs) were calculated to inspect
Tucker—Lewis index (TLI). The chi-squared test was not used in the whether different variances in the research variables showed out at
present study due to its sensitivity to the sample size. CFI and TLI the level 2 (class, n = 43). As the number of schools (n = 8) were insuf-
values above 0.90 and RMSEA values below 0.06 are considered as ficient to be considered as the level 3, it was excluded. The highest
indicators of good fit (Browne & Cudeck, 1992). For comparing ICC was 7% of exhaustion at Time 3 followed by 6% of hatred at Time
models, ΔCFI values were used. When the difference in CFIs is 1. Hatred at Time 2 and 3 and cynicism at Time 2 and 3 were not
greater than 0.01, it indicates the significant difference between affected by the nested data (ICC = 0%). Repeated-measures of
models (Cheung & Rensvold, 2002). We controlled gender by analysis of variance was performed to investigate the effect of
including paths from gender to the latent constructs into the model. sociodemographic variable (i.e. gender) on the variables of cynicism,
A bootstrapping test based on 20,000 samples was performed to academic hatred, and exhaustion at each time. A Huynh–Feldt cor-
estimate the indirect effect and its significance. When the 95% CI rection was employed because the assumption of sphericity was
for an indirect effect does not include zero, it indicates the signifi- not satisfactory and estimated epsilon (ε) was greater than 0.75
cant indirect effect at p < .05. (Abdi & Williams, 2010). It was found out that the interaction
effects of gender and time on the variables were not significant
(Cynicism: Huynh–Feldt F(1.92, 453.1)= 1.26, p = .28, Academic
3 | RESULTS hatred: Huynh–Feldt F(1.95, 460.59)= 0.33, p = .71, Exhaustion;
Huynh–Feldt F(1.96, 463.17)=0.27, p = .76), indicating that the
3.1 | Descriptive statistics and preliminary sociodemographic factors had no significant effect on the variables.
analyses To examine stability and viability over time among the three vari-
ables, latent growth curve modelling was conducted (Duncan, Duncan,
Descriptive statistics and intercorrelations among research vari- Strycker, Li, & Alpert, 1999). By adopting latent growth curve model-
ables at the three measurement waves are presented in Table 1. ling, it was possible to examine changes in all three variables across
The absolute values of skewness and kurtosis supported the nor- the three time points. The intercept and slope were set for each vari-
mality assumptions for the FIML estimation based on suggestion by able, where the intercept indicates the level of variables at measure-
West, Finch, and Curran (1995). Means of the variables cynicism, ment time and the slope represents the change rate across times
academic hatred, and exhaustion showed a range of 2.30–2.81. (Duncan et al., 1999). The linear slope pattern coefficients for the
Academic hatred at Time 1 was 2.81 (SD = 1.17) which scored the measures were fixed at 0, 4, and 7 for Time 1, Time 2, and Time
highest, and exhaustion at Time 2 was 2.30 (SD = 0.91) which 3, respectively. It was found out that the slope mean of hatred was
scored the lowest score among the variables. Correlation between significant (β= − .03, p < .05), whilst the slope means of cynicism and
academic hatred and cynicism at Time 2 was the highest (α = .82, exhaustion were not significant. This indicates that only academic
p < .01). The correlational relationship among variables were hatred had a mean change to decrease and there was no mean change
showed ranging from .21(p < .01) to .82 (p < .01). in cynicism and exhaustion.

TABLE 1 Descriptive statistics and correlations among research variables

Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Time 1
1. Cynicism —
2. Academic hatred .71** —
3. Emotional exhaustion .49** .43** —
Time 2
4. Cynicism .48** .46** .34** —
5. Academic hatred .41** .52** .33** .82** —
6. Emotional exhaustion .22** .21** .40** .57** .52** —
Time 3
7. Cynicism .57** .57** .39** .66** .71** .41** —
8. Academic hatred .51** .64** .39** .57** .66** .38** .75** —
9. Emotional exhaustion .29** .22** .47** .42** .39** .60** .51** .46** —
Mean 2.36 2.82 2.48 2.38 2.56 2.30 2.50 2.73 2.43
(SD) (1.02) (1.17) (0.92) (1.00) (1.10) (0.91) (0.99) (1.12) (1.02)

*p < .05.; **p < .01.

380 LEE ET AL.

3.2 | Autoregressive cross-lagged model exhaustion were β = .54, p < .001 from Time 1 to Time 2, and β = .55,
p < .001 from Time 2 to Time 3. The autoregressive paths for cynicism
ACLM was used to examine the longitudinal relationship among were β = .29, p < .001 from Time 1 to Time 2, and β = .31, p < .001
exhaustion, cynicism, and academic hatred. Thus, configural invariance, from Time 2 to Time 3. Lastly, the academic hatred also showed the
path invariance, and error covariance were examined (Steenkamp & stability (β = .49, p < .001 from Time 1 to Time 2, and β = .47, p < .001
Baumgartner, 1998). Configural invariance was investigated to test from Time 2 to Time 3).
whether the concepts of measured variables were equivalently perceived Further inspection found out the significant cross-lagged paths from
at each time. The test of path invariance was used to examine whether exhaustion to academic hatred and cynicism at the same time. The
the paths were identical across the times. Lastly, by constraining covari- cross-lagged path from academic hatred to cynicism also showed signifi-
ances between errors, we confirmed whether the relationship between cant. In detail, hatred at time 1 predicted cynicism at Time 2 (β = .26,
variables happened by chance or not. Configural invariance is satisfied p < .001) and hatred at Time 2 predicted cynicism at Time 3 (β = .26,
when compared to the baseline model, factor-loaded models have no p < .001). The inversed paths from cynicism to academic hatred, how-
significant differences. To prove this, the baseline model and factor- ever, were not significant. It denotes that only hatred at previous time
loaded models were compared, and the result showed configural invari- could predict cynicism over time but not vice versa. The exhaustion at
ance was met (ΔCFI = −0.001). Thus, the equality constraints were Time 1 was related to hatred at Time 2 (β = .09, p < .01) and the exhaus-
confirmed, and the latent variables were identically measured across the tion at Time 2 was related to hatred at Time 3 (β = .09, p < .01).
waves. The path invariance was justified because there was no signifi- The inversed paths, however, from hatred to exhaustion did not reach its
cant change in model fit index (ΔCFI = 0.002) when the factor-loaded significance. The cross-lagged path from exhaustion at Time 1 to cyni-
constrained model was compared with the model which autoregressive cism at Time 2 was significant (β = .08, p < .05) and the exhaustion at
and cross-lagged path coefficients were constrained. Lastly, the coeffi- Time 2 could explain the cynicism at Time 3 (β = .09, p < .05). The
cients constrained model and error covariance constrained model were inversed paths from cynicism to exhaustion showed not significant, dem-
not significantly different from each other (ΔCFI = 0.003). This result onstrating only exhaustion could explain cynicism but not vice versa.
indicates invariance in the error covariance over times. Thus, the model To investigate whether the indirect path from exhaustion to cyni-
has determined in which factor loadings, coefficients, and error covari- cism mediated by academic hatred is significant, bootstrapping analy-
ance were constrained. Moreover, no effect of gender on all research sis was carried out. The unstandardized direct effect of exhaustion
variables showed significant. (Time 1) to hatred (Time 2) was 0.15 (p < .01) and that of hatred
Figure 1 shows that exhaustion, cynicism, and academic hatred at (Time 2) to cynicism (Time 3) was 0.25 (p < .001). Finally, the stan-
time t − 1 (i.e. Time 1 and Time 2) significantly explained the varia- dardized indirect effect from exhaustion at Time 1 to cynicism at Time
tions of them at time t (i.e. Time 2 and Time 3), indicating stability 3 through hatred at Time 2 was significant (β = .04, 95% CI = [0.0082,
over time of each variable. For instance, the autoregressive paths for 0.0745]).

F I G U R E 1 Final model. Cross-lagged analyses testing the mediating model. Ovals represent latent variables. Standardized coefficients are
presented. Grey paths indicate non-significant (p > .05) and black paths indicate significant (p < .05). The double-headed arrow indicates a latent
correlation.. For clarity, manifest variables and error terms are not presented. *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001
LEE ET AL. 381

4 | DISCUSSION likely to display a cynical attitude towards their studies when emo-
tional exhaustion develops onto academic hatred.
Emotional exhaustion and cynicism have been considered the main Cynicism, as one of the main components of burnout of the variables
components of burnout (Schaufeli, Salanova, et al., 2002). Existing in the present study, is featured with an indifferent attitude towards their
research has investigated the causality between the two components academic work and a loss of interest in it, which may lead students to
to understand the developmental process of burnout (Kim et al., regard attending school as not meaningful. The meaninglessness in aca-
2014; Leiter & Maslach, 1988; Parker & Salmela-Aro, 2011; Taris, Le demic work leads to dropping out of school. The suffering from burnout
Blanc, Schaufeli, & Schreurs, 2005). Parker and Salmela-Aro (2011) in school contexts can spill over to one's personal life (Bask & Salmela-
suggested no causal relationship between emotional exhaustion and Aro, 2013; Salmela-Aro, 2017). Burned-out students may suffer from
cynicism using a longitudinal sample. However, Kim et al. (2014) diminished cognitive and academic performance as well as depressive
inferred the causality from emotional exhaustion to cynicism based on symptoms (Salmel-Aro, Savolainen, Holopainen, 2009). Students with a
a longitudinal relation among the growth factors of the components higher level of academic burnout showed decreased attentional capacity
of burnout. These inconsistent results on the causal relationship and incorrect problem-solving (May, Bauer, & Fincham, 2015). In the case
between emotional exhaustion and cynicism as the components of of one student suffering from academic burnout, others interacting with
burnout have thus been reported, implying ambiguity in the develop- the student may also experience burnout. Namely, academic burnout is
mental process of burnout. Such uncertainty may undermine the contagious over time (Kiuru, Aunola, Nurmi, Leskinen, & Salmela-Aro,
establishment of strategies for formulating effective and customized 2008; Kiuru, Nurmi, Aunola, Salmela-Aro, 2009), which implies the neces-
interventions addressing clients' developmental stages of burnout. sity for early intervention for burnout.
Thus, this study aimed to identify the developmental process of In this regard, academic burnout among students plays a critical
academic burnout by investigating the causal relationship between role in promoting adolescent psychological well-being and must be
emotional exhaustion and cynicism as the main components of burn- responded to cautiously by people involved in school-contexts. For
out. Especially, the inconsistent results on the causal relationship building intervention strategies for burnout, school staff such as
between emotional exhaustion and cynicism indicate the possibility of teachers and school counsellors as well as their parents should iden-
other confounders (Shuttleworth, 2008). Moreover, burnout is a heu- tify which stage students are on for buffering burnout onto worsen-
ristic and contextual factor that is sensitive to its surroundings ing, leading to less or no motivation for their academic work
(Maslach et al., 2001; Schaufeli & Taris, 2014). In this regard, this (Schaufeli, Salanova, et al., 2002). Particular attention is required at
study attempted to uncover the relationship between emotional two stages: the path from emotional exhaustion to academic hatred
exhaustion and cynicism, with consideration for the academic emotion and the other from academic hatred to cynicism. When students fail
of academic hatred as a cultural contextual factor of Korea. Conse- to achieve academic success or get exhausted by overloaded aca-
quently, this study identified the developmental process of academic demic work and then attribute it to one's domain, they may perceive
burnout from emotional exhaustion to cynicism by drawing on aca- it as a threat to themselves (i.e. hatred; Weiner, 1980). Hence, an
demic hatred. intervention for attributional type on their thought process can be
The detailed findings are as follows. Firstly, two significant cross- beneficial for buffering the path which perceives a certain event as
lagged paths were identified. Emotional exhaustion at Time 1 (Time 2) attributable to themselves, consequently leading to a specified emo-
directly predicted academic hatred at Time 2 (Time 3), whereas aca- tion. In addition, cognitive-behavioural treatment could diminish aca-
demic hatred at Time 1 (Time 2) directly predicted cynicism at Time demic burnout level, which has shown dominant effects on burnout
2 (Time 3). These results mean that emotionally exhausted students with exhaustion and cynicism respectively, regardless of intervention
may come to hate their academic work in the future, and students who type (i.e. individual or group intervention). This is noticeable consider-
hate studying are prone to become distant from their academic work as ing a distinctive effect on academic engagement, which motivates
a state of cynicism towards their study. Secondly, the mediating effects their academic attainment to invest effort and inspires academic
of academic hatred in the causal relationship from emotional exhaus- work; a type of group intervention showed effective in increasing the
tion to cynicism were significant. Once emotional exhaustion devel- level of academic engagement (Bresó, Schaufeli, & Salanova, 2011).
oped into academic hatred, it is more likely to develop into cynicism. By using longitudinal data, this current study tested the causality
Meanwhile, cynicism did not directly lead to emotional exhaustion, but between emotional exhaustion and cynicism by introducing aca-
emotional exhaustion partially developed to cynicism directly. This demic hatred. The present research design is significant in highlight-
result is consistent with previous studies suggesting the direct relation- ing and reconfirming the heuristic features of burnout. Another
ship from emotional exhaustion to cynicism (Cordes & Dougherty, significance of this study lies in providing replicative empirical data
1993; Kim et al., 2014; Leiter & Maslach, 1988). on the causal relationship between emotional exhaustion and cynical
The present findings, which show the mediating role of academic attitude (Breckler, 1993) and the role of academic hatred. Overall,
hatred on the path from emotional exhaustion to cynicism, imply that the present study contributes to the research in the field of aca-
some students with higher emotional exhaustion may not necessarily demic burnout by identifying the structural relations in the develop-
suffer from frustration, hopelessness, and contempt towards their ment of burnout and suggests the importance of academic hatred as
academic work denoting a state of cynicism. Instead, they are more an emotion in academic settings.
382 LEE ET AL.

Despite these significant implications, this study has several limita- Abecassis, M. (2003). I hate you just the way you are: Exploring the forma-
tions. Firstly, the findings are restricted in its extensive application to tion, maintenance, and need for enemies. New Directions for Child and
Adolescent Development, 2003(102), 5–22.
explain the developmental state of burnout, the generalizability of the
Abraham, B. (2000). Organizational cynicism: Bases and consequences.
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This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic
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