Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI)

Introduction

The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) was developed by Evangelia Demerouti and Arnold Bakker as an alternative to the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). It measures burnout along two dimensions: exhaustion — the physical, cognitive, and emotional depletion that results from prolonged work demands — and disengagement — a cognitive and emotional distancing from work. Unlike the MBI, the OLBI is freely available for research and uses a balanced mix of positively- and negatively-worded items across both subscales.

What does the OLBI measure?

The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (Demerouti & Bakker) measures burnout as two dimensions. Exhaustion covers physical and emotional depletion. Disengagement covers the other classic face of burnout: distancing yourself from your work — cynicism about its meaning, avoiding it, doing the minimum. The OLBI is widely used in work psychology and is freely available, unlike some commercial inventories.

How the questionnaire works

You rate statements about your typical relationship with your work. Note that roughly half of the statements are worded positively — for example about tolerating pressure well or finding your work meaningful — so read each one carefully before answering. Answer for your usual state in recent weeks. The session takes a few minutes and yields two scores.

How to read your results

Exhaustion and disengagement are separate: you can be exhausted yet still engaged with your work (a common early pattern), or not especially tired but deeply disengaged (burnout's cynical face). Read your two scores as a profile, not a rank. As with all burnout questionnaires here, there is no clinical threshold — direction and change over time matter more than the absolute number.

What the OLBI cannot do

It is a self-report of your own perception of your work relationship; it cannot diagnose burnout or any illness, and it does not tell you which conditions are driving your scores. Reverse-worded statements are also easier to misread than plain ones, so an odd result is sometimes just a missed “not”. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.

References

• Demerouti, E., Bakker, A.B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W.B. (2001). The job demands-resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 499–512.
• Halbesleben, J.R.B., & Demerouti, E. (2005). The construct validity of an alternative measure of burnout: Investigating the English translation of the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory. Work & Stress, 19(3), 208–220.