Relationship between temperament and character dimensions of personality and burnout and management in healthcare organization workers

ABSTRACT Objective: Although most burnout research has focused on environmental job-related correlates, it is possible that personality factors also play an important role in the development of burnout. The aim of present study is to examine the relationship between personality and burnout in healthcare workers by using Cloninger’s psychobiological model and Maslach’s three-dimensional burnout model in a healthcare worker sample in Turkey.

Methods: Our samples consisted of 66 male, 14 female and totally 80 healthcare organization workers. Sociodemographic form for all the participants was completed during the interviews. The Maslach Burnout Inventory and Turkish TCI were completed by the participants. Multiple hierarchical regression analyses that determine best predictor of independent variables were performed to examine the association between the independent and dependent variables.

Results: The hierarchical regression analysis has indicated that Self-Directedness was a significant predictor of depersonalization (β = −.347, R2 = .233, F = 1.878, p = .013) and SelfTranscendence and Self-Directedness were significant predictors of Personal Accomplishment (β = −.317, R2 = .176, F = 1.319, p = .029; β = −.328, R2 = .176, F = 1.319, p = .022; respectively), and Empathy and Self-Forgetfulness subscales were significant predictors of Personal Accomplishment (β = −.426, R2 = .106, F = 1.323, p = .013; β = −.400, R2 = .106, F = 1.323, p = .030; respectively).

Conclusions: Our findings have shown that Self-Directedness, Empathy subscale of Cooperativeness and Self-Transcendence with its Self-Forgetfulness subscale were significant predictors of personal accomplishment dimension of burnout. Our results suggested a strong association between temperament and character dimensions of personality and burnout in healthcare workers.