An adaptive modelling approach to employee burnout in the context of the big five personality traits

Abstract

Job burnout has been on the rise in the past decade, especially amongst the younger working generation. While work environmental aspects play an important role in predicting burnout, variations in personality traits are integral for understanding the syndrome's risk factors, processes, and outcomes. This paper studies the complex interaction of personality factors on the one hand and work environment aspects on the other through the relatively novel adaptive causal network modelling paradigm. Due to the adaptive nature of the model, it can investigate the effects of changes in particular job demands and resources on the symptoms of burnout and their dependence on different personality traits. The model can also demonstrate how an individual’s personality traits, environmental perception, and burnout symptoms can adaptively be altered by individual therapy, in this case, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Using the dedicated software environment in MATLAB to simulate the designed adaptive causal network model, two main scenarios were explored, focusing on the neuroticism personality trait.The results demonstrate that neuroticism increases due to interpersonal conflict, indicating that neuroticism can be treated as an adaptive trait. Furthermore, when mindfulness-based cognitive therapy was introduced into the simulation, the likelihood of developing burnout decreased because the perception of the work environment was positively changed due to the therapy. This model contributes to the field of burnout modelling by representing personality traits as adaptive factors that can be changed through individual interventions. More detailed research is needed to understand how organisational-level interventions can also impact burnout development through changes in environmental perception and personality.