Personal Characteristics
In addition to task and organizational influences, research has demonstrated strong relationships between personal characteristics and the experience of stress and burnout.
Demographics: Empirical evidence is mixed concerning the relationship between gender and burnout. Numerous studies have reported differences on all three constructs of the model; however, there is little evidence of a clear understanding of the pattern or complexity of those relationships. Younger individuals have consistently been found to report higher levels of burnout and this may serve as an indication of the previously discussed effect of tenure on employees.
Social Support: Social support as a moderator of burnout has received extensive attention in the literature. Social support appears to affect workers in two different ways: as a buffer between work stress and physical consequences and a direct effect on stress experienced. As a buffer, social support functions in two ways: first, to redefine the threat or stressor, and second, to promote the use of adaptive coping behaviors.
Outside the realm of stress, empirical research has found positive correlations for social support and physical health.
Hardiness: It has been suggested that individuals who possess hardiness have a buffer to the negative impact of life changes, or stress. Individuals who posses hardiness exhibit an internal locus of control, an extremely commitment to activities in their lives, and they view changes in life as challenges.
Unrealistic Expectations: Burnout is often associated with the gap between an individual’s perceptions of expectations for successful professional performance and the realistic observed performance. Researchers have suggested that the greater the discrepancy an individual experiences, the greater the effect felt by the organization and the employee’s reaction to their job.
Shifts in employee expectations have also been studied, revealing a correlation with all three constructs of the burnout scale (e.g. high burnout was correlated with negative expectations shifts). This relationship was related to employee tenure as less experienced employees tended to shift their expectations more negatively causing higher levels of burnout, whereas experienced employees reported decreased levels of burnout by positively shifting their expectations.Career Progress: Employees who experience greater upward career movement will be less likely to suffer from burnout. This hypothesis is grounded in three thoughts, one for each component of burnout: first, promotion accompanies a reduction in client contact; second, promotion may provide rare feedback concerning personal accomplishment; and third, the experience of career progress is likely to be coupled with an individual’s belief in organizational policies, procedures and environment. However, it must be noted that these hypotheses have yet to be validated empirically.