Type A behaviour has been discussed a lot. It is a personality type whose behaviour consists of high energy, go-getting, frenetic, hostility and time-urgency. These are the people who get things done; they’re driven and want to succeed.

There has been a long-standing association between Type A behaviour and stress, which poses a risk of burnout. Those with a Type A personality may be more prone to stress, not only from their composition of behavioural traits, but from their choice of profession too. They may actively choose professions that are known to be high stress jobs because these roles offer the challenges they need based on their personality type. Those with Type A personality often report higher levels of stress and are not as satisfied in their role, but because of their composition of traits, they may be better at certain professions than those with Type B personality (more laid-back, easy-going, less prone to stress, and more open to a relaxed profession). Different working conditions may also actively change a person’s personality, showing the transaction between work and individual is a fluid one. How an individual appraises their circumstances is also linked to whether they are Type A or Type B.

Along with Type A personality, locus of control, has also shown enhanced risk of stress. Locus of control attests to where an individual attributes control (externally or internally). Those with an external locus of control, known as external attribution error, will perceive their situation as being outside their control. Those with internal locus of control realise they are in control of their situation. Employees that have Type A behavioural traits and external locus of control are at risk of higher levels of stress and is linked to perceived levels of quantitative overload, which impact on their personal wellbeing and job satisfaction. External locus of control alone has been shown to have the greatest risk of perceived stress.

In one study on Type A personality and burnout, no association between Type A and exhaustion was found, but the authors acknowledged that this may be due to the fact that Type A personality has separate dimensions: the achievement striving type and the irritability/anger type that are associated with different responses. However, the association between Type A Personality and exhaustion has been found in multiple other studies ) linking this to their strong inner drive and they created more stress through increasing the amount of work they do. Type A behaviour also increases the impact of work overload and role conflict , meaning greater risk of burnout and has been linked to a number of health compromises, such as tension, more illness, coronary heart disease and other physical and emotional issues.

Type D Personality and Burnout

Another personality type associated with burnout is the Type D personality. Those with Type D are prone to worry, irritability and have a negative and gloomy outlook. They also tend to hold themselves back, through their reticent, reserved nature. They are known to have negative affectivity and social inhibition. Due to their worrying nature and negative outlook, they are prone to illness, with many studies showing an association to burnout that can be mediated through exercise.

In a study on health care professionals, Karadag et al (2016) found an association between Type D personality and the burnout components: emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. Although, given the nature of working in healthcare, it is difficult to know whether personality pre-determined the risk of burnout, or whether the personality had changed due to the nature of the work. Those with Type D personality were found to have passive and maladaptive coping that places them at greater risk. Type D personality has been found to be a vulnerable personality, five times more susceptible to burnout, in a study on nurses.

Overall, personality types and the behavioural traits that can encompass them, have a direct association to stress and possibly burnout, meaning moderating the behavioural traits is important.