A Correlational Study of Hardiness, Health, and Burnout among Teachers in the Sullivan County School System

• Main Author: Morelock, Deborah F.
• Format: Others
• Published: Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University 1994
• Subjects: Education; Health and environmental sciences; Occupational psychology; Occupational safety; Psychology; School administration; Tennessee; Educational Administration and Supervision; Other Psychology
• Online Access: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2753; https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4144&context=etd

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among hardiness, health and burnout and to investigate the relationships of the subscales of hardiness to health and to the subscales of burnout among teachers in the Sullivan County School System. The Hardiness Test was used to measure hardiness and the Maslach Burnout Inventory Form Ed to measure burnout. Results of the Health Evaluation and Risk Test was reported on the Educators Demographic Data Survey. The study sample consisted of 501 teachers. A statistically significant relationship was revealed between hardiness and health; among the hardiness subscales, commitment accounted for the largest amount of variance in health. Multiple regression was used to analyze the relationships among the subscales of hardiness and the subscales of burnout. Of the hardiness subscales, commitment and control equally accounted for the greatest amount of variance in depersonalization and personal accomplishment. To determine the extent to which the subjects' demographic variables were related to any study variables, correlation coefficients were computed between demographic variables and each of the study variables. While age, years teaching experience, and level taught were significantly related to the study variables, the extremely low correlations indicate that only 1% of the variance in these three variables were explained by the study variables, preventing meaningful interpretation. Kobasa's health and hardiness theory is supported by the results of this study. These results also support previous research findings which suggest that hardiness buffers against burnout.