Dynamics of personal resources and demands in the processes of accumulation and chronification

• Applicant: Privatdozentin Dr. Dorota Reis
• Subject Area: Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 536367600

Around six out of ten adults name work as their top stress factor, and just under one in four report burnout symptoms. Large-scale surveys show that people attribute the general increase in work stress observed in recent decades to increased work-related demands. This increase could be explained by the fact that demands and strain affect each other reciprocally, resource losses could initiate further losses, and the effects of stressors accumulate over time. Despite similar constellations of (objective) work characteristics, however, interindividual differences exist in the subjectively experienced strain. In addition to personal resources, the effects of stable and fluctuating personal demands may play a role by interfering unfavorably with work characteristics and strain. Therefore, this research project aims to investigate (1) the accumulation and chronification of work stress and the role of both (2) personal resources and demands for these effects in the context of dynamic processes in everyday work. To this end, we will manipulate two exemplary personality characteristics: Agreeableness as a personal resource and perfectionism as a personal demand. The interventions are embedded in a design that combines intensive longitudinal and longitudinal assessment phases (a so-called measurement-burst design). We will assess the core constructs with self and other reports and using objective measures (IATs and speech samples). This combination of methods allows integrative conclusions about how state-level variables and short-term processes, on the one hand, and stable trait-level variables, on the other hand, contribute to the accumulation and chronification of work stress. The results of this project have significant implications for understanding the development of chronic strain, such as burnout and preventive intervention approaches.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Switzerland
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Malte Friese
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Laurenz L. Meier