INTRODUCTION
Burnout Syndrome is considered the physical and psychological exhaustion that a worker suffers as a
consequence of his or her work activity, which is characterized by the presence of emotional
exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment (Üngüren, E. (2024).
Emotional exhaustion is characterized by the presence of lack of energy, fatigue, and lack of work
motivation, which are associated with personal problems and workload. Likewise, depersonalization
triggers behaviors of anxiety, irritability, egocentrism, and demotivation, generally resulting from
emotional detachment, while lack of personal accomplishment leads the worker to self-evaluate
negatively and not feel satisfied with his or her performance at work (Salvagioni et al, 2021).
This syndrome generates an increase in the levels of stress, physical fatigue, insomnia, and family
problems, which undoubtedly have a direct impact on the worker and the companies where they work,
since the quality of the service provided to clients can deteriorate due to these factors (Üngüren, E.
(2024).
In this sense, Burnout Syndrome associated with work is considered a health problem that can affect
any worker, but particularly those whose activity is related to the care of human beings (De Hert, S,
2020). Authors such as González et al. (2015) indicate that this syndrome is very prevalent among
university educators due to permanent contact with people, work conditions, personal problems, among
other occupational stress factors, which trigger a negative impact on the physical, mental, and social
well-being of the worker.
Shanafelt et al. (2021) indicate that educators are professionals exposed to intense and diverse
occupational stressors, which in many cases lead them to develop Burnout Syndrome. In fact, the
disease has become a phenomenon of epidemic dimensions and character within this professional
category.
Authors such as González et al. (2015) indicate that university educators present wear and exhaustion
as a result of their work, showing a very high emotional exhaustion compared to other components,
such as the progressive loss of energy, emotional instability, fatigue and work exhaustion, demands
from students with many needs, which in turn are interrelated with the problems affecting society.
For its part, the World Health Organization defines quality of life as the way in which the individual
perceives the position he or she occupies in the cultural environment and in the value system in which
he or she lives, as well as in relation to his or her objectives, expectations, criteria, and concerns. All of
this is influenced, of course, by physical health, psychological state, degree of independence, social
relationships, environmental factors, and personal beliefs.
In this sense, work-related quality of life is a variable strongly related to the quality of work performance.
Workers with a better quality of life make more effort, show greater commitment to their work, and tend
to perceive greater managerial support. On the other hand, workers with low quality of life show less
effort and low reward. In this domain, perceiving insufficient reward was a determining factor in the low
quality of life perceived by the worker, which is manifested in dissatisfaction with the support received
from friends and with personal relationships in general (Salgado-Roa & Leria, 2018).
Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify the presence of Burnout Syndrome and its influence
on the quality of life of university educators in Colombia.
LATAM Revista Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, Asunción, Paraguay.
ISSN en línea: 2789-3855, abril, 2026, Volumen VII, Número 2 p 2035.
