New information from positive psychology research provides insights into job burnout syndrome which derails many professional careers. This new information identifies a likely cause of workplace stress leading to burnout as a personal competency termed learned behavior.
What is Job Burnout Syndrome?
According to psychologists Maslach, Schaufeli, and Leiter in the "Annual Review of Psychology," job burnout is a prolonged response to workplace stress, characterized by exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy.
According to the Mayo Clinic online, the helping professions, such as health care, counseling, teaching or law enforcement are at high-risk for burnout. Other conditions that contribute to burnout include very strong identification with the job, little control over the work, and highly monotonous work conditions. In addition, workplace stress is often noted as a cause of job burnout syndrome.
Another Possible Cause of Job Burnout
In a 2010 publication titled The Strengths Book, by positive psychology researcher and entrepreneur Alex Linley, details his research on personal strengths – those unique competencies which people utilize in performing their best work. Linley identified factors that hold the potential to lead to job burnout syndrome.
Linley identifies four characteristics of human performance:
- Realized Strengths;
- Unrealized Strengths;
- Learned Behaviors; and
- Weaknesses.
According to Linley, learned behaviors can have insidious damaging implications to one's career. Linley defines learned behaviors as activities that a person performs well, but which are de-energizing. Since application of a learned behavior results in good performance, a person may tend to depend upon it for further career development, utilizing it with increasing frequency and depending on it to further career growth.
Though yielding good results, continued utilization of a learned behavior is exhausting and may result in increased workplace stress. This is where a learned behavior differs from a true strength, which is an energizing behavior. It's clear that a professional career development plan which is built upon and depends on use of a learned behavior is a recipe for personal and professional disaster.
Identifying Learned Behaviors
A learned behavior has two characteristics: its use yields good performance and using it is exhausting. The latter characteristic is the component that can trigger burnout.
Using a learned behavior may yield good results, but it's hard work and exhausting, so the more it's used the more it wears on a person.
Why do Learned Behaviors Become Habitual?
Over time, the combination of good performance using a competency and the praise that comes from delivering good performance accumulates, reinforces, and teaches that continued use is not only beneficial, it is also crucial to continued professional success.
Given the predominant belief that a strength is something a person excels at, it's no wonder that one continues to depend on an ability, even though doing so is exhausting rather than exhilarating.
Preventing Burnout from Learned Behaviors
It may not be practical to abandon use of a learned behavior. After all, it has likely helped career advancement in the past and may have become a trait which others depend on. However, once a career professional identifies learned behaviors and differentiates them from true strengths, she can work to moderate usage and dependence on the energy draining behavior.
Identifying Learned Behaviors
Self-reflection on the behaviors one uses regularly, with particular attention to those that both yield good results and are de-energizing will point out likely learned behavior activities and help to differentiate them from useful personal strengths. As an alternative or additional method, Alex Linley's Centre for Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP) provides a self-assessment termed Realise2, which can be purchased and completed online in less than thirty minutes.
Realise2 identifies learned behaviors, realized strengths, unrealized strengths, and weaknesses after completing the online questionnaire.
Prevent Job Burnout and Enhance Career Growth
Awareness of the competencies heavily utilized in one's career can help the career professional avoid over-use of learned behaviors. Learned behaviors can lead to job burnout, but can be identified through the methods outlined in this article.
Those dedicated to personal growth will also find relevant information in Sample Personal Development Program and The Complete Process for Finding Career Success.
Other potential causes of job burnout are addressed in a related article, Professional Career Development Planning.
Jerry Lopper - IPPA member, business and engineering degrees. Jerry's passion for personal development shows in 5 books, hundreds of articles & ...
Join the Conversation