Revisiting the interplay between burnout and work engagement: An Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) approach

•We investigate the interplay between burnout and work engagement using ESEM.•Results offer little support for the energy and identification continuums.•The multi-dimensional nature of burnout is supported but engagement appears uni-dimensional.•ESEM alters the links underlying the health-impairment and motivational processes.

This study aimed to investigate the interplay between burnout and work engagement. More specifically, we examined the energy and identification continua theorized to underlie the relationship between burnout and work engagement by simultaneously evaluating the factorial structure of the Maslach Burnout Inventory–General Survey (MBI–GS) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). Results from Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) offered little support for these continua, suggesting that burnout and work engagement are not diametrical counterparts. Moreover, ESEM significantly altered the relationships burnout and work engagement hold with job demands and resources (i.e., work overload, job autonomy, and recognition), as well as health-related (i.e., psychological distress) and motivational (i.e., turnover intention) outcomes. These findings shed new light on the health-impairment and motivational processes theorized by the JD-R model.