Negative emotionality, activity, and sociability temperaments predicting long-term job strain and effort–reward imbalance: A 15-year prospective follow-up study

Objective tudy examined a longitudinal association between innate temperament and perceptions of long-term work stressors. s mple consisted of 276 men and 345 women (aged 30–45 years in 2007) participating in the prospective population-based Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study. In 1992, temperament was self-assessed with the EAS questionnaire that assesses three temperamental traits: negative emotionality, activity, and sociability. Perceived work stressors were measured in 2001 and in 2007 using two models: Karasekʹs demand/control-model in which a combination of high demands and low control results in job strain, and Siegristʹs Effort–reward imbalance (ERI) model. s sults showed that higher negative emotionality and lower sociability systematically predicted higher perceived job strain and ERI (P < .001). Activity predicted higher perceived ERI (P < .05). Activity did not predict perceived job strain, as it was related to both higher perceived demands and higher control. sions sults suggest that temperament may be a predisposing factor to the experiences of work stressors in adulthood. Although self-reported job strain and ERI are measures of job characteristics, they are affected by individual temperament.