Examining the regulatory role of self-consciousness in the relationship between negative affectiveness and effortful control temperament traits and burnout of psychotherapists

This study aims to examine the relationship between therapists' temperament traits and burnout, and whether self-consciousness plays a moderating role in this relationship. The sample of the study consists of 127 therapists (115 women and 12 men) living in Turkey. Participants were provided with a demographic information form, Adult Temperament Questionnaire, Maslach Burnout Inventory, and Self-Consciousness Scale through an online platform. It is expected that self-consciousness would act as a moderator in the relationship between temperament and burnout; specifically, it is anticipated that the relationship between temperament traits and burnout would be significant at low levels of self-consciousness, but insignificant at high levels of self-consciousness. Correlation analyses, as expected, revealed that burnout was significantly negatively correlated with effortful control and years of experience, and positively correlated with negative affect and self-consciousness. The moderation model analyses indicated that self-consciousness did not play a moderating role in the relationship between negative affect and burnout, nor in the relationship between effortful control and burnout. These results suggest that investigating different variables related to therapists' burnout is important for the development of interventions aimed at preventing and reducing burnout.