Where is the line between growth and burnout? My peer-reviewed study, published in a Nature Portfolio journal, introduces the Equation of Enough [read here](https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-07916-3)
Where is the line between growth and burnout? My peer-reviewed study, published in a Nature Portfolio journal, introduces the Equation of Enough read here
After a few years of working on this alongside everything else, my first paper is now out, open access, in Humanities & Social Sciences Communications (Nature Portfolio).
It proposes a structural model of psychological "sustainability": whether someone can continue functioning under their current demands, as distinct from whether they currently meet criteria for a diagnosable condition.
The model combines five conditions—effective stress, effective success, pacing, person-context fit, and the capacity to imagine a future—into a single continuum from actualization to collapse. Across two studies (N = 44 and N = 250 across multiple countries), these conditions explained most of the variance in that continuum, while a standard measure of meaning in life did not.
More than congratulations, I'd value criticism. If you work in psychology, psychometrics, mental health, or theory development, I'd genuinely appreciate your thoughts on the construct, measures, analyses, framing, or anything else that doesn't hold up.
After a few years of working on this without a lab, a grant, or a supervisor, my first paper is out, open access, in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (Nature Portfolio). I am posting partly because I am quietly happy about it, but mostly because I would like people who know this area to tell me where it is weak. I would rather find the holes now than pretend they are not there.
The short version: the paper introduces a model that tries to measure psychological "sustainability," meaning whether a person can keep going under their current load, as something separate from whether they are currently in a diagnosable state. It pairs a five-part "Equation of Enough" (effective stress, effective success, pacing, person-context fit, and the capacity to imagine a future) with a single continuum from actualization to collapse. Across two studies (N = 44, then N = 250 from several countries) the five conditions accounted for most of the variance in where people fell on that continuum, and, more interestingly to me, a standard measure of meaning in life did not track with it.
One things I already know are vulnerable, and where I would most value pushback:.
Beyond that, I would genuinely welcome any critique of the construct itself, the item design, the analytic choices, or the framing. And since I am also trying to write about this work for non-specialists, any reaction to how clearly (or not) the above lands is useful too.