We know that burnout is the exhaustion of our body and mind due to a long period of high work pressure or stressful (work) conditions.
However, apart from external factors and the work environment, individual factors, such as personality traits, can also play a VERY important role in the development of burnout.
Next, we will discuss six personality traits that 'predict' burnout.
Basic self-assessment:
Self-assessment is about fundamental belief in one's own abilities and belief in self-esteem. It consists of four characteristics:
- Self-confidence
- General belief in one's own abilities
- Emotional stability
- The belief that you are in control
People who view themselves positively see a difficult task as an opportunity to succeed because of their strong self-confidence.
People who view themselves negatively tend to see challenging tasks as threatening and stressful. They prefer routine work, for example.
The more negative the self-assessment, the greater the risk of burnout.
Positive affection and negative affection:
Positive affect is the tendency to experience positive emotions such as happiness, enthusiasm, and joy. Negative affect refers to the tendency to experience negative emotions such as sadness, fear, and hostility.
People with high positive affect are more likely to view their work as enjoyable, while employees with high negative affect often experience their work environment as unpleasant and stressful.
Negative affect increases the risk of developing burnout, while positive affect can actually decrease the risk of developing it.
Optimism:
Optimism is the tendency to believe that good things will happen in the future. Optimists see their work stress as temporary. Pessimists, on the other hand, see work stressors as permanent. Therefore, pessimistic people are more likely to burn out.
Proactive personality:
If you are proactive, you seek out opportunities. You take action, show initiative, and persevere until change happens. Therefore, a proactive personality can reduce the likelihood of burnout.
You are more likely to choose an environment that is open to change than someone with a reactive personality.
Resilience:
Resilience is the extent to which a person can handle stressors without psychological or physical strain.
If you are resilient, you believe—or know—that you can control the things that happen to you. That is why resilient workers see difficult work situations as challenges rather than threats. Resilient employees, therefore, are less likely to develop burnout.
Type A personality:
A Type A personality describes the degree to which a person is hostile, aggressive, and impatient.
If you have a Type A personality, you often view the work environment as negative and tend to see small things as unfair. It's more of a negative response, such as complaining or getting upset, than feeling stimulated and motivated.
This often provokes a negative reaction from colleagues and could lead them to avoid this attitude.
In addition, people with type A personalities are more likely to choose stressful jobs and are more likely to provoke stressors. Therefore, they are generally more prone to developing burnout.
By knowing which personality traits are harmful to us, we learn which ones we need to correct and which ones we need to nurture. Being a person who, through their way of being, can avoid burnout has the best tool for preventing it at their disposal.
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