The Relationship of Personality Traits and Cognitive Distortions with Job Burnout: Mediating Role of Emotional Regulation Difficulties and Cognitive Fusion

The concept of job burnout is described as a complex and long-term response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stress in the workplace, characterized by specific symptoms. It is noted that job burnout can have negative effects on individuals' emotional, mental, and physical health, as well as their work-related behaviors. The present study was conducted with the aim of Examining the relationship between job burnout, personality traits, and cognitive distortions with the mediating role of emotional regulation difficulties and cognitive fusion among nurses. )McCrae & Costa Jr, 1992(.

This study is a quantitative research using structural equation modeling and descriptive research of the correlational type. The population consists of all nurses with over two years of experience in government hospitals in Kurdistan province in 2022. The sample size was estimated using the Kline method and 234 participants were chosen. The Big Five Personality Traits Questionnaire (McCrae & Costa Jr, 1992), Emotion Regulation Difficulty Scale (Gratz & Roemer, 2004), Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire (Gillanders et al., 2010), Cognitive Distortions Scale (Abdullahzadeh, 2010) and Job Burnout Scale (Maslach & Jackson, 1981), were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling with Amos-22 software.

The findings of this study indicate that the model of examining job burnout based on personality traits and cognitive distortions with the mediating role of emotion regulation difficulties and cognitive fusion fits well in nurses. Cognitive distortions (p<0.01, t=8.23), Neuroticism (p<0.01, t=5.91), emotion regulation difficulties (p<0.01, t=2.85), and cognitive fusion (p<0.01, t=2.94) have a direct and significant positive effect, while openness (p<0.01, t=-3.14) and conscientiousness (p<0.01, t=-3.75) have a direct and significant negative effect on job burnout. The results of the Sobel test showed that the indirect effect of Neuroticism (p<0.05, β=0.11) and cognitive distortions (p<0.05, β=0.07) on job burnout through emotion regulation difficulties is positive and significant. Additionally, the indirect effect of cognitive distortions (p<0.05, β=0.16) on job burnout through cognitive fusion is positive, while the indirect effects of extraversion (p<0.01, β=-0.33) and conscientiousness (p<0.01, β=-0.13) on job burnout through cognitive fusion are negative and significant.

In this regard, selecting employees according with personality traits and cognitive abilities, along with reducing the difficulty of emotional regulation and cognitive fusion, creates a basis for reducing job burnout.