The relationship between reinforcement sensitivity, rumination, depression, and decline in work performance: A study of local government employees

The deterioration of workers’ mental health and the resulting decline in their work performance have become significant contemporary problems. This study examined the relationship between reinforcement sensitivity (i.e., the behavioral inhibition/activation systems), rumination, depression, and the decline in work performance among local government employees. All the regular and non-regular employees in a local government aged 20 years or older, working over 29 hours per week, responded to a self-administered, anonymous questionnaire survey. We analyzed the responses of 2,223 employees. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that depression was positively associated with a decline in work performance. Also, the behavioral inhibition system was positively associated with depression, partially mediated by rumination. In contrast, the behavioral activation system was negatively associated with depression, which was not mediated by rumination. These results are meaningful for developing a psychological model of depression related to local government employees’ work performance decline.