As college students, we are at the point in our lives where we are getting ready to move on into adulthood and out into the “real world”. A big piece, arguably the biggest piece, about this next phase of life is starting our careers in the workforce. We get to pick and choose what we want to do for the next 40 plus years of our lives. There is a lot of time, thinking, and preparation that goes into starting our careers with the hopes of being successful. Yet despite this, a problem that often arises in people's work careers is burnout. Burnout is when people have no motivation, energy, or desire to do their jobs (Vîrgă, 2019). It is a hard problem to face, however, there are some ways that we can limit the amount of burnout one might experience.
Suprisingingly, our attachment styles can have a significant impact on whether we experience burnout and/or the severity of it. A study done by Vîrgă et al. (2019) found strong correlations between attachment styles and workplace burnout. Virga and colleagues found that those with secure attachment styles had low rates of burnout as they were more capable of trusting others, and were happier to take on challenges and extra tasks. Individuals with insecure attachments struggled with higher rates of burnout due to letting anxiety about “unmet attachment needs” affect workplace concentration, disruptive job performance, and heightened the need to seek coworkes’ approval. More specifically, those with anxious attachment had an overall less energy, liveliness and physical strength when it came to handling stressful work situations, causing higher levels of burnout and lower workplace performance. Avoidant attachment is very similar to anxious, as they seem to struggle in the work setting but they wrestled with slow turnover and lower levels of organizational commitment.
Since my friends and I have yet to enter the workforce, I decided to ask my dad what his thoughts were, specifically focusing on his years right after he graduated. My dad and mom were engaged prior to my dads graduation from medical school, so he already had an established attachment style when starting his job. My parents both have a secure attachment style with one another and have since they first started dating.
“I think that since your mom and I had this secure sense to our relationship, it made the transition from school to work a lot easier. It was a godsend to be able to go home from working my 12 hour hospital shifts to someone that I knew loved me and cared about me. Being freshly out of school, I think if there were any issues with our relationship I would have not been able to handle both that and work. Which isn't to say that we didn't struggle from time to time, however our ability to smoothly handle any conflict made every aspect of my life a little easier.”
I asked my dad if he was ever worried about burnout in school or work and how he was able to cope with it.
“There are forsure times when I don't want to go to work, or I just feel like life has me down. I mean even when I was still in school, undergrad even, I would go through what I’m assuming was burnout. It was hard and sucky and it made me question if I even wanted to go on and get my PhD. However, during those times I turned to your mom to help get me going again. We both have this understanding of each other and know the best ways to get us out of those funks. I think it is important to have people like that in your lives, and not just after college but during it too, that are going to be willing to help you out.”
Although Vîrgă and colleagues highlighted how our attachment styles can manifest at work and influence our burnout, interviewing my dad helps shed light on how a secure attachment to a romantic partner can make life a little easier. It can help soothe work stress, and decrease any additional stress at home. These secure attachment styles may help to keep work self cool and collected, but having a secure partner at home is the magic behind the scenes as they reduce burnout at work, and likely school as well!
Reference
Vîrgă, D., Schaufeli, W. B., Taris, T. W., van Beek, I., & Sulea, C. (2019). Attachment styles and employee performance: The mediating role of burnout. The Journal of Psychology, 153(4), 383–401. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2018.1542375
This is very interesting to me as someone in a long-term relationship, especially since I have never stopped to look at my own attachment style with my significant other. We have been together for almost three and a half years and I want to automatically assume that we have a secure relationship style. After looking at it, I do agree that it is what we have, and I think it shows in my work life. While I am still at school, I am a healthcare worker, and have experienced many older adults at my workplace experience this burnout and job fatigue. Meanwhile, I find myself not experiencing this after working there for a while. I find myself wanting to do this work forever, and I plan on continuing my education to do more and more over the years. However, I do wonder if I only feel this way because I am young and haven't been in this field for very long. I look at my mother, who has a secure attachment with my father, and while she was meant for healthcare, she experienced burnout as well. So she went back to school to try and do something different, it was still in health care but it was completely different to what she was doing before. Therefore, I wonder how many other factors contribute to this concept.
ReplyDeleteHey there,
ReplyDeleteYour blog post really resonates with me, especially as I'm also gearing up to enter the workforce soon. It's true—starting our careers is a big step, and the potential for burnout is something I've been thinking about.
I found it fascinating how you connected attachment styles to workplace burnout. Your insights about secure attachment styles and their role in managing stress at work make a lot of sense. It's reassuring to hear your dad's perspective too, especially how having a secure relationship with your mom helped him navigate tough times during his career.
I agree that having supportive relationships, like your parents', can really make a difference in managing stress and preventing burnout. It's a reminder of how important it is to have people who understand and support us, not just at work but throughout life.
Thanks for sharing these insights—it's given me a lot to think about as I prepare to embark on my career journey.
Hi, thank you for sharing such a relatable post. I agree with you starting a career in the workplace is such a big step into your life. I often think about burnout a lot because I currently work at a daycare and get burnout, but I do not want my career to be the same. I really enjoyed how you mentioned how attachment styles are related to workplace burnout and for example how secure attachment styles can participate in managing stress. This is so important because managing stress is such a vital part of your everyday workplace and just life in general, I think it is also very important to have supportive relationships like you mentioned as well because this can help contribute to preventing burnout and help with managing stress as well to have those people there to support you. Thank you so much for sharing such important information and I look forward to reflecting on this more in depth.
ReplyDeleteAllie M
Hi I loved reading this post because as a fourth year the burnout is hard. especially when taking summer classes it feels like you are crawling to the end. I just want to get my degree already but at the same time I am so sad to let go of the life that I have been living in college. Burning out is such a normal and abnormal feeling and I really enjoyed reading your post. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAloha! I really like that you used attachment theory to frame and explain burnout. I think the correlation between attachment style and potential for burnout says a lot, not just about the impact that different types of attachment can have through all aspects of life, but how knowing yourself and your needs and being aware of your attachment style can potentially mitigate negative effects of insecure attachment styles. The quotes from your dad are really lovely, thank you for sharing! I’m currently shopping for masters and PhD programs, and your dad sharing how much of a positive impact his healthy relationship had on the school/work/life things is reassuring, and something I’ll think about when I feel overwhelmed with options and potential workloads in my future.
ReplyDeleteYour blog post resonates with me. As a college student, I have felt burnout in school and that feeling carries over into your daily life. That being said, the insights on how attachment styles can impact burnout are fascinating. In the past year or so I find myself genuinely concerned about burnout traveling from my school life into my future career. The transition to the workforce is exciting and also extremely scary. I am hopeful that my understanding of attachment and knowing that our attachment styles can play a role in how we handle stress and burnout will help ease my mind. My roommate who has wanted to go into vet med her whole life in the past year has experienced significant burnout. She had come to realize that her anxious attachment style contributed to her constant need for approval which has been draining her energy these past years. This aligns with some of the points made in this post, which are that secure attachment can buffer against burnout.
ReplyDeleteI hadn’t known much about burnout until this year, but I heavily relate to the descriptions I’ve been given thus far. I’m starting to analyze my own burnout throughout the years and what I was going through during those times of burnout regarding work, school, and home life. I had no idea that my attachment style had anything to do with burnout, but it makes complete sense. Upon reflecting on myself, I know I tend to have a low level of trust and I also feel forced to take on challenges and extra tasks when they are presented even if they are optional. Reflecting on the relationships I’ve had in college thus far, most left me feeling a constant wave of stress from start to finish for a variety of reasons and I remember poorly managing relationships, work, school, and home life. I’ve made the choice to be single for now and I’ve already proven a world of difference in my academic performance. I see how having a secure attachment could reduce burnout and it sounds like a dream!
ReplyDeleteThe connection between attachment styles and workplace burnout is similar to my own experience with my close friend Joanna. When she was a biology major she constantly struggled with anxiety, especially during her internship. She was bright and capable but her insecure attachment style left her doubting herself regularly and sought reassurance from her classmates. She often felt overwhelmed by her duties which then became a decline in her performance and, along with it, an intense fear of failing. However, she found comfort in her supportive boyfriend, who reassured her and encouraged open communication about that stress and did what he could do to help her in other areas of her life. This relationship, rooted in secure attachment, helped her with the ability to overcome her burnout. I learned from Joanna’s journey that fostering healthy attachments can be beneficial in guiding through the challenges of adulthood and limiting the impact of burnout as we transitioned into the workforce.
ReplyDeleteIt's super interesting to see how attachment styles can affect burnout at work. The study you mentioned by Vîrgă et al. (2019) makes a lot of sense—people with secure attachment styles seem to handle work stress better because they’re more comfortable trusting others and taking on challenges. On the flip side, people with insecure attachments can feel extra anxious and might worry about gaining approval from coworkers, which can really speed up burnout. Your dad's perspective is also a great example of how having supportive relationships outside of work makes a huge difference. Knowing there’s someone to turn to after a rough day is definitely a big help, especially when transitioning from school to work life. It’s a good reminder that building strong connections with friends, family, or a partner can make all the difference when dealing with stress in work or school.
ReplyDeleteHi Madi, thank you for writing about this topic! I can agree with you that entering college feels like entering the “real world”. To me, this felt fun and exciting for a bit, until all the implications of the real world started to set in. I started to stress about money, living, and of course, my career. It does not surprise me that attachment styles affect burnout. Although I have never formally thought about it, reading it in your blog post did not surprise me much. Our attachment styles are so integral to who we are, and burnout happens to everyone.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this as a senior that is graduating in the spring. I didn’t know about the connection with attachment styles and burnout. and it was insightful to learn about. Regarding your dad’s experience, it shows as an example that having healthy relationships and attachment styles can help you overcome challenges. For me, I already have been experiencing burnout in college, and it can be really hard to keep up with grades when you have burnout. Having strong support systems like strong relationships with friends and families can help you stay on track. Reading this post showed me how I need to work on having a secure attachment style.
ReplyDeleteThis is a super interesting point to consider especially now that college is getting increasingly stressful. As someone who has been struggling with burnout lately, I think that it is very important to focus on my attachment style and be mindful of how my attachment style could be contributing to burnout. I think I need to make sure to remain present and secure in my relationship as it is a very healthy relationship and have to make sure that my anxious thoughts don't get the best of me. Remembering that I have someone there for me who will support me is so important to acknowledge and prioritize.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this post, especially because I think burnout is something a lot of us experience and sometimes it’s something that’s not talked about enough. I found it very informative and interesting how it was discussed in the post that attachment styles can have an influence on burnout because it’s not something you normally think about. For example, I can vouch as somone who has experienced burnout, I guess I never really considered my attachment style, but I think it can definitely be very beneficial to know areas I can work on to minimize burnout, especially because it is something that is very common both in school and work.
ReplyDeleteThis post made me laugh because I’ve had very similar debates with my friends and roommates over rom-coms. She sometimes calls them her mental comfort food, while I find them sometimes unrealistic. I remember watching The Notebook and rolling my eyes while she was crying by the end. I agree with your friend that love at first sight was a stretch. Because real relationships take compromise, time, and understanding, and aren’t just an airport reunion. I also understand how romcom can be an appeal to some people by the fantasy of perfect love that people want to believe in. I didn’t expect that partner. Individuals would be more satisfied after watching them, but it makes sense.
ReplyDeleteThis blog post resonated with me the most because I highlighted something I’ve been feeling increasingly, which is burnout, even before. The link between attachments doesn’t burn out is something I had never thought about before, but it makes a lot of sense. People with more secure attachments are more emotionally balanced and resilient, with a strong protective factor against stressful work environments. In contrast, people with insecure attachment might have emotional instability, which can amplify stress and fatigue. My experience echoes this: I’m a full-time student working part-time, and sometimes the hours are just super long, making me more emotional. I appreciate this because it helped me to recognize that building and maintaining supportive relationships might not just be good for my mental health, but also for my day-to-day future.
ReplyDeleteI resonated with the correlation between burnout and attachment style. I have an insecure attachment style but have been working to earn a secure status. The times when I didn’t feel a secure attachment with my partner, work stress was very challenging for me. I didn’t feel a safety net at home, so poured myself into work. Similar to those mentioned in the study, I stayed late and made sure my work was perfect to earn external validation from my boss and other employees. This led to me being sick all the time and experiencing severe burnout. Until now, I never considered it was my attachment style that was also contributing to the burnout. I am going into a helping profession, so will keep this in mind when I start to feel burnout.
ReplyDeleteI think that everyone experiences some form of burnout at some point in their life whether it is from school or work. After being in school for three years and having every class, job, and experience be something related to the field of early education, I started to get sick of it and was exhausted every day, not wanting to go to another class or work. It was so hard to push through because I started to get a lot of anxiety thinking about how teaching was going to be my future and how, if I was burnt out now, how would ten years from now look? My partner really helped me see how much I loved it, and was there as an escape from everyday being the same. Being able to call him after a long day or go do something fun during the weekend really broke me from the burnout cycle once I was able to understand that I was in it. I love that you connected these two topics to one another because I loved reflecting on my own experiences within it!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating topic! It’s really sweet how close your dad is with your mom! This theory definitely holds water, I have been putting a lot of work into healing my anxious attachment over the past few years. My anxious attachment is particularly strong in the workplace (and at school), I want to do well and make friends, but it’s definitely a distraction and tends to do more harm than good. As I’ve fallen into a more securely attached romantic relationship my need for others approval has dropped quite a bit. Inversely, my partner has an avoidant attachment style that they have been working on for a while. They tend to jump between jobs and get a little “claustrophobic” in an organization or job position, not wanting to lock themselves down. I’ll definitely keep my eyes open for how my attachment manifests in the workplace in the future!
ReplyDeleteReading about burnout and how attachment styles play a role in it really hit home for me. I’ve noticed how my friends and I get overwhelmed with school, and I can only imagine how much harder it will be when we enter the workforce. My mom, for example, has been working in a demanding job for years, and I’ve seen how much of a difference it makes for her to have a strong support system at home. Like your dad mentioned, when there’s someone who understands and supports you, it can make a huge difference in managing stress. It’s comforting to know that a secure attachment style might make it easier to handle burnout, especially when you have someone by your side to help. I’ll definitely keep that in mind as I enter this next phase of life!
ReplyDeleteThis piece is very eye-opening for me- I never put much thought into how my attachment style would impact my life in the work force, let alone how vulnerable I would be in burning out. As an avoidant attachment individual who tends to bottle up emotions and stress, and take on one too many tasks alone with the need to be self-reliant and independent, subconsciously believing If I don't do it myself it won't be done or done correctly, it is safe to say I end up burnt out rather quickly. I do see myself struggling quite a bit with organizational commitment, as well. This has been very insightful, thank you for your post.
ReplyDeleteI found your post really fascinating, especially since I haven’t entered the workforce yet and honestly haven’t given much thought to how attachment styles could influence burnout. I’m naturally more on the anxious and introverted side, so I can see how I might carry that into a job and will most likely struggle with some of the things you mentioned, like worrying too much about whether coworkers approve of me. Your dad’s reflection also made an impression on me, because it really showed how having a secure relationship can act like a safety net when life gets stressful. It really convinced me to stop being so stubborn about reaching out to my loved ones when I am struggling mentally. Even though I’m not in a relationship right now, it made me think about how important it is to have people, whether it be your friends, family, or a partner who you can count on to help pull you out of a rut.
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