A Comparison of Occupational Burnout among Athletic and Non Athletic Military Personnel

According to the role of exercise on the rate of occupational burnout, the purpose of this research was to compare occupational burnout among athletic and non-athletic military personnel in a military training center in order to evaluate the role of exercise on occupational burnout. In this descriptive - comparative research, 250 staff from an army training center in the Isfahan province, were selected as an available sample. In order to determine the level of occupational burnout and the rate of physical activity, the Jackson Maslach and Beck questionnaires were used. In the end, data were collected, and were analyzed using t-test as well as Pearson correlation and SPSS 17 software. The most important finding in this study was that all the three dimensions of occupational burnout including emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and decreased personal achievements were lower in athletic military staff compared to the non-athletic staff. As a conclusion, findings reveal that sport and physical activities can increase human being capacity to cope with psychological pressures in the workplace.