7 Stress Personality Types: Is Your Personality Stressing You Out?

Personality Types 2

You will meet many people who will stress you out and make you feel crazy. But, sometimes stress personality is the reason for your down fall. Read more to find out how your own personality is stressing you out.




Itโ€™s no secret that many of us feel stressed out at work.

This stress results from the collision between the stressful life events that we drag into the workplace from our private lives and the job-related stressors that afflict us on a daily basis at work. Work overload, job insecurity, and poor interpersonal relationships with bosses and coworkers do not operate in a vacuum; they amplify whatever else is going on in the rest of our lives.



One of the things that we rarely consider is the possibility that our own personalities are a major contributor to our frazzled state-of-being. We may be aware that having a โ€œType Aโ€ personality or that being a pessimist may make us more susceptible to work-related stress, but personality traits and stress can interact in even more subtle ways.

Related: This 10 Question Test Reveals If Youโ€™re Type A Or Type B Personality

The late Mary Dempcy, along with Rene Tihista, wrote a book titled Stress Personalities: A Look Inside Ourselves. The book was based on Dempcyโ€™s many years of conducting stress management workshops, and she identified seven different ways in which our personality can stress us out. Dempcyโ€™s system is not a scientific theory per se, but it offers a handy and intuitively appealing way to think about the relationship between personality and stress.




7 Stress Personality Types

Stress Personality Types Infograph

1. Pleasers

โ€œPleasersโ€ want everybody to be happy. They go the extra mile, cover for their coworkers as needed, and tackle whatever needs to be done for the group to succeed. They graciously accept decisions that are agreeable to the greatest number of people, often sacrificing their own interests in the process.

For example, they may work the most undesirable hours or take on the most unpleasant tasks because they know that other employees will not want to do so. Over time, pleasers may begin to feel resentful and unappreciated because they have taken on too much and get little thanks for it.

2. Internal Timekeepers

โ€œInternal Timekeepersโ€ like responsibility. They are energetic and they like being in charge of things. However, these proclivities often lead them to take on too many duties, causing them to feel overwhelmed and anxious. Because their attention is divided among so many tasks, they become inefficient and stressed out. 

Unlike pleasers, internal timekeepers are not driven by the need to make others happy, but rather by the need to feel competent and useful.

Related: The 12 Personality Archetypes: Which One Dominates You?

3. Strivers

โ€œStriversโ€ are ambitious and competitive. They always have an eye on what their coworkers are up to and push themselves to be the best worker in the cohort. The need to always be #1, places unreasonable demands on them, and can lead to burnout in short order.




Strivers may also become envious over the success of others.

4. Inner Con Artists

โ€œInner Con Artistsโ€ do not work very hard, and they may be unaware of just how hard their coworkers are working. They regularly underestimate how quickly they can get things done and how much effort it will take to be successful. Consequently, inner con artists may procrastinate and fall behind.

Because they also wish to avoid conflict, they donโ€™t communicate with the boss or with their colleagues until it is too late to dig out of the hole they find themselves in.

5. Critical Judges

โ€œCritical Judgesโ€ are their own worst enemies. They set high personal standards and are very hard on themselves when they make mistakes. They tend to ruminate on their shortcomings and on past failures in a completely unproductive way, leading to a downward spiral and a crisis of confidence.

6. Worriers

โ€œWorriersโ€ obsess over future events that may or may not occur. They hate unpredictability and they are constantly devising Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C for dealing with problems that may never materialize. This preoccupation with the future generates stress and interferes with the ability to deal with actual problems in the here-and-now.

7. Sabertooths

โ€œSabertoothsโ€ respond to stress with anger. They can become caustic and insulting to their coworkers, creating a negative vibe in the workplace that is highly contagious. One or two sabertooths at the office can create a toxic environment that ruins things for everyone.

Related: Toxic Coworkers: Dealing With 7 Most Dangerous Work Personalities




Do you recognize yourself in any of these descriptions?

While Dempcyโ€™s seven stress personalities were designed to help us understand stress at work, they also readily lend themselves to understanding stress in college students, families, and social groups. Each of us can think of pleasers, worriers, and sabertooths who have prowled the different domains of our worldโ€”and sometimes, they just might have been you.


Written By Frank T. McAndrew
Originally Appeared In Psychology Today

Most of the time you might end up holding other people responsible for your difficulties, but the truth is, there will be times when your own personality will end up stressing you out a lot. Introspection can prove to be a challenge sometimes, but the moment you realize that it is your own personality which is stressing you out, then stop, take a deep breath, and try to deal with the problem patiently.

Stress Personality Types Pin

Personality Type Pin
Personality Types Pin


— Share —

Published On:

Last updated on:

,

— About the Author —

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Up Next

Are You Making The Same Mistake Over And Over? Hereโ€™s How To Finally Stop!

Are You Making The Same Mistake Twice? Ways To Stop!

Weโ€™ve all been there. You swear you wonโ€™t do that again, whether itโ€™s sending a risky text, trusting the wrong person, overspending, or missing a deadline. And then, boom. You end up making the same mistake twice. 

The cycle repeats, frustration builds, and you wonder if youโ€™ll ever learn. But guess what? You can break free from the loop.

Habits, unconscious tendencies, and emotional biases cause us often to make the same mistakes. Even if seeking familiarity has unfavorable effects, our brains are programmed to do so.

We remain trapped in repetitive cycles due to a lack of self-awareness, a fear of change, and a failure to properly learn from prior experiences. Rather than addressing the underlying reasons of mistakes,

Up Next

5 Ways To Find Peace When You Are Taking The High Road

Taking The High Road? Ways To Let Go And Find Peace

Taking the high road can feel like a challenge, especially when things get messy. But letting go of attachments can help you a lot in doing that. Itโ€™s also one of the best ways to maintain your peace and stay true to who you are.

KEY POINTS

Taking the high road means behaving in line with our moral and ethical values even when others don’t.

Fear of being misunderstood, judged, or rejected by our peers can make it challenging to take the high road.

We can find a sense of peace if we recognize that our suffering on the high road stems from attachment.

Releasin

Up Next

Reclaim Focus: Overcome the Pitfalls of Shallow Learning

How To Replace Shallow Learning With Deep Learning ? Ways

Are you struggling to retain what you learn? Do distractions derail your progress? Discover how to replace shallow learning with deep learning and reclaim your focus!

Limit social media, engage deeply, and practice mindfulness to enhance focus.

Key points

Shallow learning reduces attention span and hampers deep learning that requires focus and critical thinking.

Deep learning is focused on problem-solving and connecting various sources of new and existing knowledge.

Counter shallow learning with mindful media use, engaging with long-form content, and promoting deep thinking.

Up Next

Boomerasking: The Silent Conversation Killer You Didn’t Know You Had

What Is Boomerasking? Signs You're Guilty Of This Bad Habit

We need to talk. And no, not about you, though thatโ€™s kind of the point. If youโ€™ve ever asked someone a question only to immediately shift the conversation back to yourself, you might be guilty of boomerasking.

What Is Boomerasking?

It is a conversational tactic identified by Harvard Business School’s professor Alison Wood Brooks, wherein a question that seems to show interest serves as a guise for the speaker to center the conversation about themself.

Up Next

Why Relationship FOMO Shouldn’t Define Your Love Life

Impacts Of Relationship FOMO To Your Love Life

Are you settling for love just because everyone else seems to have it? Is relationship FOMO driving your choices? Hereโ€™s why it shouldnโ€™t define your love life!

Lagging behind whose timeline? Here’s how anxiety can spoil relationship pacing.

Key points

Take time to understand the true motivations behind relationship pace.

It’s important to avoid perceived expectations and define success on one’s own terms.

โ€œExpected timelinesโ€ or โ€œgreener pasturesโ€ can create a sense of urgency and distress.

Up Next

5 Clear Signs You Possess The World’s Most Go Getter Personality

Amazing Go Getter Personality Traits: Do You Relate?

Not everyone wakes up ready to chase their dreams like their life depends on it, but you? Youโ€™re different. Having a go getter personality means that youโ€™ve got that spark, that unstoppable drive that makes people take notice. 

If youโ€™ve ever caught yourself wondering why youโ€™re the one always making moves while others are still talking about “someday”…

Here are five clear signs youโ€™re rocking the worldโ€™s most go-getter personality. Letโ€™s dive in and see if youโ€™ve got what it takes to claim the title.

Up Next

Learn To Honor Your Feelings: Your Hard Week Mattersโ€”Even If Others Have It Worse

Learn To Honor Your Feelings Great Ways To Do It

It’s okay to feel overwhelmed, even if others seem to have bigger struggles. Learn how to honor your feelings – they are valid, and you deserve acknowledgment!

How to honor your feelings without comparing them to othersโ€™ challenges.

Key points

Your emotions are valid no matter their scale or how they compare to othersโ€™ challenges.

Acknowledging your emotions builds your strength to support others with authenticity and genuine care.

Comparison of struggles creates a false hierarchy that undermines the importance of your own experience.

Research shows that acknowledging th