Teachers’ Burnout – The Role of Social Support, Gratitude, Hope, Entitlement and Loneliness

Abstract

Psychological burnout is strongly associated with negative effects on people’s life, including their emotional well-being and physical health. Due to prolonged periods of stress, heavy workloads, limited resources and time constraints, teachers are prone to burnout, leading to aversive, prolonged consequences. While previous studies have investigated various factors associated with their burnout, we explored the association between teachers’ relational and personal variables, applying a cross-sectional method. The sample consisted of 248 Israeli teachers (85.1% worked in educational settings for typically developing children, 52.4% were employed in high schools), who completed the following questionnaires: Teachers’ burnout, Perceived social support, Gratitude, Hope, Active entitlement and Loneliness. Results demonstrated negative links between burnout and social support, gratitude and hope as well as a positive link with loneliness. A serial multiple mediation revealed that, whereas social support and hope were associated with lower levels of burnout, feelings of loneliness and a sense of entitlement were related to higher levels of it. Furthermore, gratitude, hope, a sense of entitlement, and loneliness linked social support with burnout. We concluded with a discussion of the implications for future research, theory, and interventions.