Instability of personality traits of teachers in risk conditions due to work-related stress

Abstract

The following study aims to verify whether psychosocial risk conditions determine a variation in personality traits. The sample consisted of 301 teachers, comprising 84 men (27.1%) and 217 women (72.9%). The Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ) was used to measure personality traits, while the Organizational and Psychosocial Risk Assessment (OPRA) questionnaire was used to measure psychosocial risk. The ANOVA results notice the change of BFQ traits. These are significant (Extraversion = 0.000; Agreeableness = 0.001; Neuroticism = 0.000; Openness = 0.017), with the exception of the Conscientiousness trait (Conscientiousness = 0.213). The research supports the approach of seeing personality as the result of the interaction between the individual and the environment; this position is also recognized by work-related stress literature. Stress conditions can lead to a change in the state of health and possibly determine the onset of work-related stress diseases. In the future, it would be useful to start a series of longitudinal studies to understand in greater detail the variability of personality traits due to changes in the Risk Index.