Submitted Successfully!
To reward your contribution, here is a gift for you: A free trial for our video production service.
Thank you for your contribution! You can also upload a video entry or images related to this topic.
Version Summary Created by Modification Content Size Created at Operation
1
Elisabeth Lorraine Waroux
 + 1289 word(s) 1289 2021-12-17 09:53:01 |
2 The format is correct.
Yvaine Wei
 Meta information modification 1289 2022-01-06 02:32:01 |

Video Upload Options

Do you have a full video?
Send video materials Upload full video

Confirm

Are you sure to Delete?
Yes No
Cite
If you have any further questions, please contact Encyclopedia Editorial Office.
Waroux, E.; Genoud, P. The Impact of Negative Affectivity on Teacher Burnout. Encyclopedia. Available online: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/17765 (accessed on 03 July 2024).
Waroux E, Genoud P. The Impact of Negative Affectivity on Teacher Burnout. Encyclopedia. Available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/17765. Accessed July 03, 2024.
Waroux, Elisabeth, Philippe Genoud. "The Impact of Negative Affectivity on Teacher Burnout" Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/17765 (accessed July 03, 2024).
Waroux, E., & Genoud, P. (2022, January 05). The Impact of Negative Affectivity on Teacher Burnout. In Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/17765
Waroux, Elisabeth and Philippe Genoud. "The Impact of Negative Affectivity on Teacher Burnout." Encyclopedia. Web. 05 January, 2022.
The Impact of Negative Affectivity on Teacher Burnout
Edit
This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/ijerph182413124

Teachers’ well-being, including burnout, impacts the stress and well-being of students. Negative affectivity (tendency to feel depression, anxiety, or stress) plays a role in the development of burnout. However, while teachers with a more anxious profile experience greater emotional exhaustion, those with a depressive profile have more difficulty developing a strong sense of personal accomplishment.

negative affectivity personality burnout teachers

1. Introduction

Burnout is defined as the response to chronic interpersonal stressors and is generally structured with three main components: emotional exhaustion, feelings of cynicism and detachment (depersonalization), and a lack of personal accomplishment [1] and is often assessed through the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) [2][3]. Professional burnout concerns all types of activities, but in particular the ‘caring’ professions (e.g., nursing) and, overall, professions characterized by demanding interactions with service recipients such as teaching [4]. Indeed, teachers are under a lot of stress in their classrooms, but the pressure also comes from outside as, for example, increased administrative workload or conflictual relations with pupils’ parents [5].
Burnout’s three dimensions are linked to different processes. Schaufeli and Dierendonck [6] call emotional exhaustion the affective component. It is characterized by feeling that one’s emotional resources are depleted and that one has no energy left. Regarding depersonalization, they speak of the attitudinal component. Depersonalization is characterized by being less social and sometimes even cynical. In the school setting, this detachment can be towards students or colleagues alike [7]. Diminished personal accomplishment is the cognitive component of the model. Here, it is a self-representation as someone who cannot face work pressures, which is accompanied by guilt.
How the different parts of burnout interact with each other is controversial [8][9]. Regarding teacher burnout, Friedman [10] highlights two distinct causal patterns leading the development of this syndrome in his Multiple Pathway to Burnout (MPB): (a) a cognitive track resulting from a strong sense of professional non-accomplishment and that is found in particular in very idealistic teachers; and (b) an emotional track related with a feeling of overload facing too many stressors. Thus, the etiology of burnout is not the same in every teacher, since personality, but also personal background, can explain individual differences [11].
Teacher burnout has an impact on students’ well-being. In their study on stress contagion, Oberle and Shonert-Reichl [12] show that students in burnt-out teachers’ classrooms had significantly higher cortisol levels than their peers in classes with non-burnt-out teachers. Furthermore, more negative school environments have a negative impact on children’s mental health [13]. Therefore, understanding what impacts teachers’ mental health is important in order to preserve children as much as possible. Unlike in other professions with high burnout rates, teachers have a prolonged contact with students which makes their well-being of paramount importance as they interact with children and adolescents who are still building their identity.
However, all of these contextual clues do not explain the onset of burnout. Individual characteristics (gender, self-esteem, emotional competence or personality traits) partially explain individual differences [14]. For example, Schaufeli and Enzmann [15] found over one hundred publications examining personalities’ (or linked variables) influence on burnout. Indeed, when faced with similar pressures, not all teachers will end up in burnout. Professionals in similar contexts do not react in the same way to stress factors [16] and personality can be the catalyst in the links between stress and burnout.
Neuroticism is a normal personality trait (non-pathological) that impacts some people more than others when it comes to feeling negative affects and refers to aspects such as anger, anxiety, depression, self-consciousness, impulsiveness and irritability [17][18]. This personality trait underscores emotional instability, perhaps even a vulnerability, which can affect ones’ behavior as emotions can interfere with adaptative capabilities in different daily situations. In comparing different contextual factors and neuroticism, Bianchi [19] underscores the weight of personality in comparison with professional pressure or job support. Whilst a lot of the research on burnout aims to better understand the impact of different stressors and to develop adaptive coping strategies in workers [5][11], these results underline the importance of personality traits and that these should not be minimized. Depending on one’s personal way of dealing with work and personal pressures, one will feel emotionally depleted more or less quickly.

Negative Affectivity as Predictor of Burnout

Depression has similar physical and psychological effects as burnout and the overlap is substantial [20]. It is characterized by sleeping difficulties, loss of energy, low self-esteem, and diminished social interactions. Although an important overlap Bianchi, Schonfeld, and Verkuilen [21] point out that each disorder also has specific characteristics. Indeed, some researchers see burnout and depression as two distinct issues [15]. Maslach, Schaufeli, and Leiter [22] distinguish them by the fact that burnout is linked to one’s professional activities whereas depression does not have a specific focus and can happen in different settings. Tavella and Parker [23] have specifically highlighted differences in the experiences for participants having had both pathologies. These recent results, highlighted by a qualitative methodology this time, suggest that although burnout and depression are similar in several aspects, they belong in two separate processes.

Anxiety is also linked to burnout. However, research has focused more on the corresponding personality trait than on the disorder. Turnipseed [24] shows significant correlations between burnout and the anxiety-trait measure of Spielberger’s inventory [25]. It may be that this emotional vulnerability makes some people more prone to developing burnout, starting a vicious cycle as anxiety is also a by-product of burnout. In fact, cognitive appraisal (and more specifically threat perception) has a moderating effect on the link between the anxiety trait and burnout [26].

2. The Importance of Solving Job Burnout

Knowing that teachers’ well-being impacts that of students [12][27], it becomes even more critical to address burnout in order to preserve teachers from exhaustion and their students from related stress. Furthermore, as personality is also related to emotional competencies [28], taking into account how teachers use such competencies (to manage not only their own emotions but also those of their students) would not only allow for more comprehensive profiles to be drawn up but also for concrete avenues to be explored in order to decrease the risk of burnout and to promote a more serene classroom climate for better emotional outcomes for students. Indeed, since personality factors are considered relatively stable over time [29], acting on emotional competencies could be an approach capable of reducing the impact of stress in the classroom (also among students) and avoiding the development of burnout, particularly among novice teachers facing many uncertainties leading to negative affects [30]. Certain emotional competencies reduce the risk of burnout [31], in particular by improving the social climate and the functioning of the classroom in general [32]. By profiling teachers’ personalities, particularly with regard to negative affectivity, it would be possible to determine which emotional competencies should be developed as a priority in order to deal with the development of burnout in a targeted manner. However, ethically speaking, it would be difficult to systematically evaluate all teachers’ personalities. In practice, assessments are made and solutions offered once a person shows their first symptoms and/or is being taken into care. 

When it comes to intervention (more so than prevention) it is necessary to factor in individual needs. Although some emotional competencies reduce the risk of burnout [31], in particular by improving the social climate and the functioning of the classroom in general [32], some emotional competencies (e.g., an acute perception of internal bodily affect indicators [33]) can also accentuate stressors’ negative impact. Better knowledge of teachers’ ways of working on a personal and interpersonal level when facing stress should allow for a more efficient way of helping them. The work that can be conducted by individuals, on emotional openness for example, can bring about better efficiency of targeted interventions since individual characteristics play an important role in a therapeutic setting [34]. Understanding an individual’s functioning is therefore an important step in his or her care.

References

  1. Maslach, C.; Leiter, M.P. Understanding the burnout experience: Recent research and its implications for psychiatry. World Psychiatry 2016, 15, 103–111.
  2. Maslach, C.; Jackson, S.E. Maslach Burnout Inventory; Consulting Psychologists Press: Palo Alto, CA, USA, 1981.
  3. Maslach, C.; Jackson, S.E. Maslach Burnout Inventory Manual, 2nd ed.; Consulting Press: Palo Alto, CA, USA, 1986.
  4. De Heus, P.; Diekstra, R.F.W. Do teachers burn out more easily? A comparison of teachers with other social professions on work stress and burnout symptoms. In Understanding and Preventing Teacher Burnout: A Sourcebook of International Research and Practice; Vandenberghe, R., Huberman, A.M., Eds.; Cambridge University Press: New York, NY, USA, 1999; pp. 269–284.
  5. Genoud, P.; Brodard, F.; Reicherts, M. Facteurs de stress et burnout chez les enseignants de l’école primaire. Rev. Eur. Psychol. Appl. 2009, 59, 37–45.
  6. Schaufeli, W.B.; Van Dierendonck, D. The construct validity of two burnout measures. J. Organ. Behav. 1993, 14, 631–647.
  7. Schaufeli, W.B.; Enzmann, D.; Girault, N. Measurement of burnout: A review. In Professional Burnout: Recent Developments in Theory and Research; Schaufeli, W.B., Maslach, C., Marek, T., Eds.; Taylor & Francis: Washington, DC, USA, 1993; pp. 199–215.
  8. Golembiewski, R.T.; Muzenrider, R.F. Phases of Burnout: Developments in Concepts and Applications; Praeger: New York, NY, USA, 1988.
  9. Leiter, M.P.; Maslach, C. The impact of interpersonal environment on burnout and organizational commitment. J. Organ. Behav. 1988, 9, 297–308.
  10. Friedman, I.A. Multiple pathways to burnout: Cognitive and emotional scenarios in teacher burnout. Anxiety Stress Coping 1996, 9, 245–259.
  11. Mearns, J.; Cain, J.E. Relationships between Teachers’ Occupational Stress and Their Burnout and Distress: Roles of Coping and Negative Mood Regulation Expectancies. Anxiety Stress Coping 2003, 16, 71–82.
  12. Oberle, E.; Schonert-Reichl, K.A. Stress contagion in the classroom? The link between classroom teacher burnout and morning cortisol in elementary school students. Soc. Sci. Med. 2016, 159, 30–37.
  13. Milkie, M.A.; Warner, C.H. Classroom Learning Environments and the Mental Health of First Grade Children. J. Health Soc. Behav. 2011, 52, 4–22.
  14. Gay, P.; Genoud, P.A. Quelles compétences émotionnelles protègent des différentes dimensions du burnout chez les enseignants du primaire? Rech. Educ. 2020, 41, 74–91.
  15. Schaufeli, W.B.; Enzmann, D. The Burnout Companion to Study and Practice: A Critical Analysis; Taylor & Francis: London, UK, 1998.
  16. Cordes, C.L.; Dougherty, T.W. A Review and an Integration of Research on Job Burnout. Acad. Manag. Rev. 1993, 18, 621.
  17. Costa, P.T.; McCrae, R.R. Normal personality assessment in clinical practice: The NEO Personality Inventory. Psychol. Assess. 1992, 4, 5–13.
  18. Widiger, T.A.; Oltmanns, J.R. Neuroticism is a fundamental domain of personality with enormous public health implications. World Psychiatry 2017, 16, 144–145.
  19. Bianchi, R. Burnout is more strongly linked to neuroticism than to work-contextualized factors. Psychiatry Res. 2018, 270, 901–905.
  20. Bianchi, R.; Verkuilen, J.; Brisson, R.; Schonfeld, I.S.; Laurent, E. Burnout and depression: Label-related stigma, help-seeking, and syndrome overlap. Psychiatry Res. 2016, 245, 91–98.
  21. Bianchi, R.; Schonfeld, I.S.; Verkuilen, J. A five-sample confirmatory factor analytic study of burnout-depression overlap. J. Clin. Psychol. 2019, 76, 801–821.
  22. Maslach, C.; Schaufeli, W.B.; Leiter, M.P. Job Burnout. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2001, 52, 397–422.
  23. Tavella, G.; Parker, G. Distinguishing burnout from depression: An exploratory qualitative study. Psychiatry Res. 2020, 291, 113212.
  24. Turnipseed, D.L. Anxiety and Burnout in the Health Care Work Environment. Psychol. Rep. 1998, 82, 627–642.
  25. Spielberger, C.D. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory: Manual; Consulting Psychologists Press: Palo Alto, CA, USA, 1983.
  26. Gomes, A.R.; Faria, S.; Vilela, C. Anxiety and burnout in young athletes: The mediating role of cognitive appraisal. Scand. J. Med. Sci. Sports 2017, 27, 2116–2126.
  27. Roffey, S. Pupil well-being–Teacher well-being: Two sides of the same coin? Educ. Child Psychol. 2012, 29, 8–17.
  28. Nizielski, S.; Rindermann, H.; Information, R. Self- and External-Rated Emotional Competence. J. Individ. Differ. 2016, 37, 88–95.
  29. Fornés-Vives, J.; García-Banda, G.; Frias-Navarro, D.; Pascual-Soler, M. Longitudinal study predicting burnout in Spanish nurses: The role of neuroticism and emotional coping. Personal. Individ. Differ. 2018, 138, 286–291.
  30. Jones, N.D.; Young, P. Attitudes and affect: Daily emotions and their association with the commitment and burnout of beginning teachers. Teach. Coll. Rec. 2012, 114, 1–36.
  31. Chang, M.-L. An Appraisal Perspective of Teacher Burnout: Examining the Emotional Work of Teachers. Educ. Psychol. Rev. 2009, 21, 193–218.
  32. Jennings, P.A.; Greenberg, M.T. The Prosocial Classroom: Teacher Social and Emotional Competence in Relation to Student and Classroom Outcomes. Rev. Educ. Res. 2009, 79, 491–525.
  33. Genoud, P.A.; Reicherts, M. Emotional openness as a protective factor against burnout. In Psychology of Burnout: Predictors and Coping Mechanisms; Schwartzhoffer, R.V., Ed.; Nova Science Publishers: New York, NY, USA, 2009; pp. 167–181.
  34. Brintzinger, M.; Tschacher, W.; Endtner, K.; Bachmann, K.; Reicherts, M.; Znoj, H.; Pfammatter, M. Patients’ style of emotional processing moderates the impact of common factors in psychotherapy. Psychotherapy 2021, 58, 472–484.
More
© Text is available under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
Upload a video for this entry
Information
Subjects: Education & Educational Research; Psychology
Contributors MDPI registered users' name will be linked to their SciProfiles pages. To register with us, please refer to https://encyclopedia.pub/register :
Elisabeth Waroux
,
Philippe Genoud
View Times: 476
Revisions: 2 times (View History)
Update Date: 19 Apr 2022
Table of Contents
    1000/1000
    Hot Most Recent
    Video Production Service
    Feedback