Researchers found an unexpected link between self-esteem and burnout: the role of negative thoughts
Kyiv • UNN
Scientists from Bielefeld University and Communications Psychology have established that low self-esteem is associated with repetitive negative thoughts that contribute to burnout. These findings will form the basis of new psychotherapeutic methods.
"Fixation" on the past and future intensifies the burnout process, contributing to the development of stress and its consequences. New findings will form the foundation for further development of more effective psychotherapeutic interventions. This is reported by UNN with reference to the research report by specialists from Bielefeld University and the journal Communications Psychology.
Details
Scientists representing the university in the German city of Bielefeld have shared a number of findings from ongoing research into the psychological factors that contribute to burnout. This concerns the interrelationship between burnout, self-esteem, and repetitive negative thoughts. The research results were published in the journal Communications Psychology.
Reference
When people are under severe stress for a long time, they can sometimes experience a state known as burnout. This state is characterized by pronounced emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion. The stress factors leading to burnout can vary.
Burnout is a fairly common phenomenon. People suffering from burnout usually have difficulty concentrating on daily tasks. For some, burnout can be very debilitating.
The starting point for the new study is the emergence of more evidence for the following thesis:
"Associations found in interpersonal analyses do not always reflect processes occurring within individuals."
Based on this, the scientists conducted a four-week ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study involving N = 96 students during the exam period.
Note: Several previous studies have examined the relationship between burnout or other forms of psychological stress and self-esteem.
Most of them focused on differences between different people or groups. As a result, they are sometimes unable to reflect changes that may occur in the same person over time.
However, the new research method revealed more - additional statistical analyses of the relationship between self-esteem and burnout were conducted. Among the key findings:
- when students felt better and had more self-respect, they seemed to be less prone to burnout;
- a significant part of the connections between self-esteem and the feeling of burnout was mediated by repetitive negative thoughts at both the intrapersonal and interpersonal levels.
- a higher level of burnout was accompanied by an increase in repetitive negative thoughts, which led to a decrease in self-esteem.
Instability of self-esteem partially mitigated the links between self-esteem and subsequent pre-sleep anxiety and burnout at the intrapersonal, but not interpersonal, level
Summary and hopes for new inventions
The results collected by this research group indicate the following:
- low self-esteem is associated with more repetitive negative thoughts;
- high self-esteem is associated with fewer repetitive negative thoughts.
Rumination (i.e., dwelling on past problems) and worry about future events, which are repetitive negative thinking patterns, in turn contribute to burnout by prolonging mental and emotional stress.
In future research, the research team hopes to further explore the dynamics and gain a deeper understanding of the psychological factors contributing to burnout.
The work of scientists may eventually inspire the development of more effective counseling or psychotherapeutic interventions.
Recall
An acute stress reaction occurs in response to external stimuli, while panic attacks usually have a psychological basis and can recur even without an obvious stimulus.