Love, Compassion, and Personality as Predictors of Burnout in Nurses: A Path Analysis Study

Background/Objectives: This study examined how personality traits, compassion, and love are associated with the three dimensions of burnout among nurses, while accounting for demographic factors such as gender, age, and work shift. Methods: A total of 403 nurses participated in this cross-sectional study and completed validated self-report measures of personality, compassionate love, and burnout, as well as an in-house, exploratory Love Instrument. Path analysis was used to examine patterns of direct and indirect associations among the study variables while controlling demographic covariates. Results: Men reported higher psychoticism and depersonalization, whereas women scored higher in compassion. Neuroticism was associated with greater emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and with lower personal accomplishment. Compassion showed indirect association patterns linking extraversion and the Lie scale with personal accomplishment and linking psychoticism with depersonalization. Extraversion was positively associated with accomplishment both directly and indirectly, while psychoticism was associated with higher depersonalization. Love-related variables showed mixed findings. Specifically, love experience was not associated with burnout, whereas love intensity was positively associated with both depersonalization and accomplishment. Older nurses reported more exhaustion but also greater accomplishment; male gender and rotating shifts were associated with higher depersonalization and exhaustion. Conclusions: The findings support neuroticism as a key dispositional vulnerability correlated with burnout and suggest that compassion and extraversion are linked to more favorable burnout-related profiles, particularly higher accomplishment and lower depersonalization. Love-related emotion intensity showed small, mixed associations and should be interpreted cautiously given the exploratory measurement approach. These results highlight the emotional complexity of nursing and may inform future research and workplace initiatives aimed at supporting occupational well-being.