Burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish oceangoing seafarers

Background: Seafaring includes a great variety of stressors that may let seafarers suffer from burnout syndrome. Job satisfaction is one of the most important factors affecting burnout. This study aims to determine the factors that affect job satisfaction and burnout levels of Turkish oceangoing seafarers who work actively on Turkish flagged ships. Materials and methods: The questionnaire was applied to participants in a face-to-face mode or by e-mail. The first part of the questionnaire consisted of 12-item which included socio-demographic and health-related information. Thus, according to their health status and socio-demographics, seafarers were classified and their impact on job satisfaction and burnout were examined by nonparametric comparison of multivariate samples analysis. Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI; 22 items) and Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ; 20 items) were used. Spearman’s rho correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between the sub-factors of the scales. 203 seafarers, 133 of them deck/engine cadets and 186 of them working on deck, aged 18–60 years participated in the study. Results: Negative correlation between job satisfaction and burnout was found by correlation analysis. Department and happiness while working on board were found as common important factors that vary according to both job satisfaction and burnout. According to these parameters, job satisfaction increased while burnout decreased or vice versa in both deck and engine and total. Conclusions: According to the results, it was determined that deck officers are more prone to high burnout levels and low job satisfaction levels than the engine department. In addition, the results show that as happiness increases, job satisfaction increases and burnout decreases.