Cross-sectional studies suggest that Type D personality is a risk factor for work-related exhaustion and engagement, but longitudinal evidence is lacking. The present 3-wave study examined its longitudinal effects, taking into account existing job demands and resources, exhaustion, engagement, and neuroticism. Data were extracted from the LISS-panel, based on a random sample of the Dutch population. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted among respondents (N = 2273) who were employed during the 7-month study. Respondents worked in sectors varying from healthcare to industry. In the longitudinal analyses Type D personality was not a significant predictor for exhaustion/engagement over and above existing exhaustion/ engagement, neuroticism, job demands and resources, in contrast to cross-sectional analyses. Job demands and resources explained a trivial proportion of variance of exhaustion and engagement in longitudinal analyses. Using the two elements of Type D personality (negative affectivity and social inhibition) did not change main findings. Existing exhaustion and engagement were significant and dominant predictors. We found no evidence to prove that Type D personality is relevant in the development of emotional exhaustion and engagement. Findings stress the necessity of longitudinal studies controlling for corresponding variables assessed earlier to prevent overestimations of effects.

Introduction

The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007) is the most popular framework in occupational health psychology to investigate the relationships between these job characteristics and employee well-being (Lesener, Gusy, & Wolter, 2019). It distinguishes two broad categories of antecedent factors, namely job demands and job resources. The model represents an all-encompassing theoretical framework that may be applied to all occupational environments and is used to explain both positive and negative work outcomes. The most important of these work outcomes are burnout and work engagement, which are investigated most often by the JD-R approach (Schaufeli & Taris, 2014). The present research will focus on emotional exhaustion and work engagement. Emotional exhaustion is characterized by the feeling of being emotionally overextended and worn out by one’s work. It can be considered as the core component of burnout since the other dimensions (i.e., cynicism and reduced personal accomplishment) develop as a consequence from this state of exhaustion (Taris, Le Blanc, Schaufeli, & Schreurs, 2005). Work engagement is defined as “a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigour dedication, and absorption” (Schaufeli, Salanova, GonzálezRomá, & Bakker, 2002, p.74).