Do you want me to be perfect? Two longitudinal studies on socially prescribed perfectionism, stress and burnout in the workplace

Abstract

Stress and burnout in the workplace have a negative impact not only on individuals but also on organizations, clients and customers and are estimated to be of high cost to a country's economy. To help identify employees at high risk, it is important to know what individual differences contribute to stress and burnout. Two longitudinal studies were conducted to examine whether individual differences in socially prescribed perfectionism (individuals' perceptions that others have perfectionistic expectations of them) contribute to employees' role stress and predict increases in burnout symptoms (exhaustion, cynicism and inefficacy). Study 1 investigated 69 healthcare service provision employees in the UK over a six-month interval, and Study 2 investigated 195 school teachers in the UK over a three-month interval. In both studies, socially prescribed perfectionism predicted increases in role stress and inefficacy over time. Moreover, in Study 2, socially prescribed perfectionism also predicted increases in exhaustion and cynicism over time. The findings indicate that individual differences in socially prescribed perfectionism may be a contributing factor to stress and burnout in the workplace.

Relationship between Emotional Exhaustion and Deviant Behaviors: Moderating Role of Big Five Personality Traits

“…Among approaches to personality traits, the big five personality traits, including neuroticism (N), extraversion (E), openness to experience (O), agreeableness (A), and conscientiousness (C) have provided considerable research and explanatory opportunities for researchers interested in workplace personality characteristics (Bakker et al, 2002;Basim et al, 2013). The association of personality traits with emotional exhaustion and deviant behaviors has been confirmed in many studies conducted in different regions and cultures (Brewer and Shapard, 2004;Tasa et al, 2011;Salami, 2011;Shahzad and Mahmood, 2012;Childs and Stoeber, 2012;Gholami Dargah and Pakdel Estalkhbijari, 2012;Hsieh and Wang, 2012;Golparvar et al, 2013b;Sudha and Khan, 2013). The meta-analysis by Berry et al (2007) showed that there is a significant relationship between the big five personality traits and emotional exhaustion and organization-based and colleague-based deviant behaviors.…”

“…The noteworthy point about role of personality in relation to emotional exhaustion and deviant behaviors is the focus on basic characteristics in each of the five traits and cognitive and behavioral roles and functions of these five traits (Ilies et al, 2011;Unaldi et al, 2013). Each trait in the big five personality traits involves influential features that can prepare the grounds for their moderation in relation to emotional exhaustion and deviant behaviors (Brewer and Shapard, 2004;Tasa et al, 2011;Salami, 2011;Shahzad and Mahmood, 2012;Childs and Stoeber, 2012).…”

Understanding emotionally relevant situations in primary care dental practice: 1. Clinical situations and emotional responses

“…46 This study revealed two sides of perfectionism; as a powerful intrinsic motivator for high clinical standards and a significant stressor when personal and professional standards of performance are not met. This dichotomy is related to coping style.…”

A Convergence Study on the Relationship between Perfectionism, Stress, and Burnout among College Golf Athletes

“…According to a number of previous studies, perfectionists are likely to experience more stress than less perfectionistic people [22,23,47]. Perfectionism has been defined as setting excessively ambitious goals and showing compulsive and obsessive behavior in striving toward those goals [22].…”

“…Specifically, perfectionists were found to be more vulnerable to distress, but not eustress [18,23].…”