title: Effort-reward imbalance at work is predicted by temporal and energetic characteristics of behavior: a population-based study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Personality dispositions may influence perceptions of work stress. The paper examines the relationship between temperament in terms of Strelau’s Regulative Theory of Temperament and the effort-reward imbalance and its components.
  
  
  METHODS
  There were 890 participants (360 men) aged 37.9 years on average. Temperament traits of briskness and perseveration (temporal characteristics of behavior), sensory sensitivity, emotional reactivity, endurance and activity (energetic characteristics of behavior) were measured by Strelau & Zawadzki’s Formal Characteristics of Behavior- Temperament Inventory (FCB-TI) in 1997 and 2001. Effort and reward at work were assessed with the original effort- reward imbalance (ERI) questionnaire of 2007.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Higher ERI at work was predicted by higher emotional reactivity, higher perseveration, lower briskness, and lower endurance. Higher effort and lower rewards at work were predicted by higher perseveration and lower endurance. The FCB-TI temperament characteristics accounted for 5.2%, 4.8% and 6.5% of the variance in the ERI, effort and reward, respectively. Lower emotional reactivity, lower perseveration, higher brisk- ness and higher endurance predicted higher esteem at work, job promotion and job security.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Individual differences in arousability, reflected in temporal and energetic characteristics of behavior, may predispose to or to protect from an effort-reward imbalance at work. Individual differences should be acknowledged in work stress prevention and developing interventions.
authors: Taina
authors: T
authors: Hintsa
authors: Mirka
authors: M
authors: Hintsanen
authors: Markus
authors: M
authors: Jokela
authors: Laura
authors: L
authors: Pulkki-Råback
authors: Liisa
authors: L
authors: Keltikangas-Järvinen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal; D002605:Character; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D012456:Salaries and Fringe Benefits; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013694:Temperament; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology*