Emotional Steadiness Explained: A Deep Dive Into a Big Five Personality Domain

Emotional Steadiness is a key component of the Big Five model and one of the strongest predictors of happiness, well-being, and satisfaction – both in life and at work. This article explores the science behind emotional steadiness, exploring what it is, how it functions, why it matters for both individuals and organizations, and what can be done to improve it.

At PCI, we prefer the term Emotional Steadiness over the more commonly used terms of Emotional Stability or Neuroticism, as Neurotic and Emotionally Unstable have more negative connotations and stigma associated with them.

Background on Personality

Personality is our typical way of thinking, feeling, and acting. It is a critical part of what makes us who we are as individuals and has a significant impact on how we live our lives. In fact, it’s so powerful it has been shown to predict what most people would consider to be some of the most important outcomes imaginable in life: health, happiness, and longevity.

Personality also affects how we show up to work each day. Perhaps not surprisingly, then, it also predicts a countless number of outcomes that are of critical importance to organizations and individuals, including job performance, employee engagement, burnout, turnover, and leadership effectiveness, just to name a few.

Problems With Common Personality Measures

An important caveat to personality’s predictive power, however, concerns how it is measured. Unfortunately, the most common methods used in the workplace gets it all wrong. The MBTI, DiSC, True Colors, and Enneagram err in two key ways.

First, they incorrectly treat personality as a categorical variable when it is actually a continuous one. Second, their conceptualization of personality is based on anecdotal rather than scientific evidence. For example, the MBTI (Myers-Briggs) was created by a mother and daughter who spent two decades “type watching.”

The Five-Factor Model of Personality

On the other hand, the most widely researched model of personality, known as “The Big Five” or the Five-Factor Model (FFM), was not discovered anecdotally, but through empirical methods using a statistical procedure called factor analysis. This technique identified five broad and continuous domains: Openness/Intellect, Agreeableness, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Steadiness.

Moreover, each of these domains is hierarchically structured and multi-faceted, consisting of two more specific aspects directly beneath the broader domain, and an even larger number of highly specific facets beneath those.

Background on Emotional Steadiness

Self-doubt, nervousness, frustration, and sadness – these are just some of the negative feelings that almost everyone experiences in response to certain situations. However, the frequency, duration, and intensity of these reactions vary greatly from person to person. The same exact situation may elicit panic in one individual, while another remains unflappable. This is because the extent to which you or someone else experiences negative emotions is influenced not only by the situation itself, but also by what lies within. This dispositional component, our general pattern of responding to situations over time, is what makes up the personality domain of Emotional Steadiness.

Of course, just like the rest of the Big Five, it’s more complex than that. The Emotional Steadiness domain of personality is comprised of two aspects immediately below the domain level: Volatility and Withdrawal. Volatility consists of feelings of anger and impulsive behavior that cause disinhibition and, as such, are displayed outwardly. On the other hand, Withdrawal consists of feelings such as anxiety, discouragement, and self-consciousness that are directed inward, which in turn leads to inhibition.

Both aspects, as well as the broader domain, serve a very important purpose. They are part of our natural defense systems that help us direct our behavior toward removing or avoiding things that are punishing or threatening. In other words, any stimuli that interferes with our progress toward a goal.

In the case of Volatility, this is part of our Fight-Flight-Freeze System (FFFS) and is activated by stimuli that are aversive. If the threat is close and cannot be avoided, it can trigger a fight response, which is facilitated by feelings of anger or frustration. The purpose of this response is to remove the aversive stimulus through reactive aggression.

Withdrawal, on the other hand, is part of our Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS). It can be activated when a threat, or the possibility of punishment, is introduced during the pursuit of a goal. This leads to conflicted motivation – you want the goal, but you do not want the possible punishment – and induces passive avoidance through worry and apprehension. This is because when people feel anxious, it leads to increased attention to input from the senses and to information stored in memory. This heightened arousal helps us scan our environment more carefully, so we can better assess the threat and determine what steps to take. If we come to the conclusion that the goal is unattainable, this triggers sadness, which serves to extinguish the pursuit so we can conserve energy and redirect our resources toward other goals. In the case of depression, however, this response becomes overgeneralized and affects all goals.

The FFFS and BIS developed through evolution and were crucial for our ancestors’ survival. Even today, they remain critical for helping us navigate the world effectively. However, in individuals who are low on Emotional Steadiness, these systems tend to be overly sensitive and overactive. For those who experience volatility, too many stimuli are perceived as aversive, leading to unpleasant arousal – such as irritability. For those who experience withdrawal, too many situations are viewed as threatening, and too many goals are seen as unattainable.

More broadly, those low on emotional steadiness are constantly perceiving that things are not going well in pursuit of their goals. It is this perception that causes and exacerbates negative feelings. And it’s not just feelings. People who are low in emotional steadiness also tend to rely on ineffective coping mechanisms to deal with their feelings and problems. As a result, they are more likely to experience conflict with others. Over time, this can create a vicious cycle of stress that is difficult to break.

Emotional Steadiness and Work Outcomes

Since Emotional Steadiness is closely tied to the pursuit of goals, it naturally influences how people show up to work each day and predicts a number of important outcomes. This connection is strongly supported by research. Perhaps most notably, Emotional Steadiness predicts job satisfaction (r = .28) more effectively than any of the other Big Five personality domains. Job satisfaction is considered a critical variable because, among other things, it leads to increased job performance and increased organizational commitment.

Another important outcome related to job satisfaction is reduced turnover intentions. Not surprisingly, Emotional Steadiness is also a potent predictor of intention to quit (r = –.29), and once again, it predicts more strongly than any of the other Big Five personality domains. Intention to quit is a key variable of interest because it is the strongest predictor of actual turnover  (r = .45). And when it comes to directly predicting who is likely to leave an organization, Emotional Steadiness performs well all by itself (-.20).  

Burnout is another outcome that is of considerable interest to both individuals and organizations. While much of the focus is on how features of the job and the broader culture of the organization can lead to burnout, one study showed that individual differences are even more important. Emotional Steadiness was found to be a much stronger predictor of burnout (-.37) than any work-related factor (e.g., job strain, weekly working hours, etc.).

And it’s not just one study that has found Emotional Steadiness to be a strong predictor of burnout. A recent meta-analysis provided additional support for the idea that personality is a critical factor in understanding why people experience burnout. Emotional Steadiness showed strong relationships with two components of burnout: Emotional Exhaustion (r = –.36) and Reduced Personal Accomplishment (r = .31). It also demonstrated a moderate relationship with the Depersonalization facet (r = –.23). For two of the three components, Emotional Steadiness outperformed the other Big Five personality domains as a predictor.

Finally, although the effect size is somewhat smaller, Emotional Steadiness remains a meaningful predictor of job performance (r = .15). In fact, it predicts job performance more effectively than the other Big Five domains, with the exception of Conscientiousness (r = .20).

Emotional Steadiness and Life Outcomes

Emotional Steadiness isn’t just important in the workplace – it also predicts a number of meaningful life outcomes. It has a strong relationship with life satisfaction (r = .40) and, along with Extraversion, is the Big Five domain most strongly linked to happiness. Of the Big Five, it also shows the strongest relationship with divorce (r = –.18). Finally, although the relationship is quite small, Emotional Steadiness is related to mortality (r = –.05). Given that many people consider mortality to be the ultimate outcome, even a small relationship can be significant. In this case, it may quite literally mean the difference between life and death.

Can Emotional Steadiness be Increased?

Based on the research above, it’s clear that Emotional Steadiness plays a significant role in both work and life. The question then becomes: what, if anything, can be done if you – or someone you lead at work – is low in it? Fortunately, there are reasons to be hopeful.

First, Emotional Steadiness can naturally increase with age. Research shows that it increases considerably between ages 20 and 40. After that, the increase is more gradual, but it continues into a person’s 60s.

Second, among the Big Five personality domains, Emotional Steadiness has been found to be the most responsive to clinical intervention. In fact, research has shown large increases in Emotional Steadiness over the course of therapy, with the average treatment duration being about 6 months.

Therapeutic Strategies to Increase Emotional Steadiness

One of the most effective treatments for increasing Emotional Steadiness is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Fortunately, many of the techniques used in this approach can be practiced by individuals on their own, even without working directly with a therapist.

One such technique is cognitive reframing (also called cognitive restructuring). The logic behind it is straightforward: in many cases, it’s not the situation itself that determines how we feel, but how we interpret it. This is especially relevant to the Withdrawal aspect of Emotional Steadiness. As noted earlier, this aspect is driven by viewing too many situations as threatening and too many goals as unattainable.

Cognitive reframing helps individuals critically evaluate these interpretations – which are often irrational or unproductive – and replace them with thoughts that are more realistic and constructive. There are many excellent books that teach how to use this method, two of which can be found here and here. By changing the way you think, you also change how you feel and how you behave, since all three are interconnected and contribute to your overall personality.

In fact, how you interpret a situation can affect your physiological response, with meaningful health implications. Research shows that when you view a situation as a challenge (i.e., believing you have the resources to meet its demands), it leads to high cardiac activation and lower vascular resistance. This supports efficient physical functioning and prepares your body to respond effectively. However, viewing the same situation as a threat (i.e., believing the demands exceed your resources) results in lower cardiac activity and higher vascular resistance, making the heart work harder—potentially increasing the risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems.

While cognitive strategies focus on changing how we think to improve mood, behavioral interventions work by changing the actions we take. Research shows that regardless of the type of negative thoughts or emotions someone is experiencing, one of the most effective behaviors to engage in is exercise. Physical activity has consistently been shown to reduce negative emotions and improve overall mood.

How to Prevent Burnout in Individuals Low in Emotional Steadiness

People who are low in Emotional Steadiness are at higher risk for burnout, so it’s important that both they, and their leaders, take extra care to protect against the effects of work-related stress. In addition to the strategies discussed earlier, research suggests that the following techniques support recovery and help prevent long-term stress from leading to burnout.

Psychological Detachment

Mentally disengaging from work, such as avoiding job-related thoughts after hours, can moderate the relationship between stress and burnout. This means refraining from checking or sending work-related emails during evenings and weekends should become a consistent habit.

Relaxation-Oriented Strategies

Creating low-activation states and boosting positive emotions during non-work time helps promote recovery and guard against burnout. For many people, this involves limiting social or mentally demanding activities when away from work.

Mastery-Oriented Strategies

 Engaging in activities that allow you to experience competence – such as taking a language class, learning a new hobby, or doing volunteer work where you can apply your skills – also has protective effects. While these activities may place additional demands on your time at first, they help build internal resources like self-efficacy, which can boost mood and resilience in the long term.

Experiencing Control

Feeling a sense of control during your leisure time can increase self-efficacy and confidence. This, in turn, builds up internal resources that help you face future challenges and reduce burnout risk.

Research has shown that certain job stressors – such as time pressure, role ambiguity, situational constraints, and long hours of overtime – negatively impact three out of the four recovery strategies mentioned above (all except Mastery-Oriented Strategies). Because of this, it is critical that leaders managing individuals low in Emotional Steadiness make a concerted effort to reduce these stressors whenever possible.

In particular, a heavy workload often leads to significant time pressure, which makes it difficult for individuals to mentally “switch off” and recover. One personal characteristic that can significantly increase workload is perfectionism.

• First, perfectionism makes tasks more difficult than necessary, requiring extra time to complete them.
• Second, it interferes with effective priority setting, causing individuals to overcommit because they treat everything as critically important.
• Finally, it leads to under-delegation, as perfectionists often feel others cannot meet their high standards.

Because of these tendencies, it’s not surprising that Failure-Avoidant Perfectionism – the form most commonly found in those low in Emotional Steadiness – has been shown to have a very large relationship with Workaholism (r = .56) and a large relationship with Burnout (r = .34).

When managing employees with perfectionistic tendencies, it’s essential to help them address the all-or-nothing thinking that drives this behavior. Once again, cognitive reframing can be a powerful tool, and there are several helpful self-help books (like this one) they can use to support this process.

It’s also important for managers to avoid closely monitoring perfectionistic employees. Instead, they should take on a regulatory role, encouraging individuals not to overinvest in perfecting their work to the detriment of their well-being. In this context, it helps to clearly communicate performance expectations and express tolerance for occasional mistakes.

Other Factors to Consider

Emotional Steadiness is Usually Not Easily Observable

Because the core aspect of Emotional Steadiness is feelings, it is less observable to others than the other Big Five Domains like Extraversion. This is especially true for individuals who are high in Withdrawal but low in Volatility. These individuals may fly under the radar and suffer in silence. For this reason, self-report personality measures can be particularly helpful for identifying those who may benefit from additional support.

Low Emotional Steadiness is Not a Clinical Diagnosis

Emotional Steadiness is a domain of normal personality that exists in everyone to varying degrees. A low score on this trait does not indicate that a person has clinical depression or anxiety, nor does it mean they meet the diagnostic criteria for any other mental health disorder.

It is also important to consider how an individual scores on other personality domains, aspects, and facets, as certain tendencies can either buffer or amplify the effects of being low on Emotional Steadiness. And of course, there is much more to a person than just their personality. For this reason, personality scores should never be used in isolation to determine someone’s suitability for a role or to guide their development.

Key Takeaways

• Emotional Steadiness is a core Big Five personality trait that influences how people handle stress, pursue goals, and regulate emotions in both life and work.

• It consists of two aspects: Volatility (outward expressions like anger) and Withdrawal (inward feelings like anxiety and self-doubt). These evolved systems can become overactive in those low in Emotional Steadiness.

• Individuals low in Emotional Steadiness are more prone to negative emotions, ineffective coping, interpersonal conflict, and chronic stress.

• Emotional Steadiness predicts important workplace outcomes better than most other traits, including job satisfaction (.28), turnover intention (-.29), actual turnover (-.20), burnout (up to -.37), and job performance (.15).

• It also predicts major life outcomes, including life satisfaction (.40), divorce (-.18), and even mortality (-.05), showing its broad relevance to well-being.

• Emotional Steadiness tends to improve with age, especially between ages 20 and 40, and is highly responsive to therapy—particularly Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT).

• Cognitive strategies like reframing and behavioral strategies like exercise are practical, evidence-based ways to improve Emotional Steadiness and mood.