The burnout experience among teachers: a profile analysis

Abstract

The burnout syndrome is a public health problem and is considered a subjective experience, which depends on the interpretation and evaluation individuals make of their work. In the educational context, the causes and consequences of burnout in teachers are multiple. The aim of this study is to explore the profiles of teachers with burnout and teachers without burnout in terms of (i) cognitive appraisal, (ii) perceived organizational justice, (iii) perception of administrative tasks, (iv) perception of students' misbehavior, and (v) perceived impact of parents' role on teachers' well-being. A total of 1878 Portuguese teachers from primary to secondary education, 81% women and 19% men, aged between 23 and 66 years (M = 48; SD = 7.67) participated in this study. The results indicate statistically significant differences between teachers with and without burnout, although the two groups show an identical response pattern (i.e., parallel). The results also suggest that administrative tasks, distributive justice of rewards, students' misbehavior, and parents, negatively impact the teachers' well-being, regardless of whether they are burned out or not. The threat and challenge perceptions are the variables with the most accentuated average differences between teachers of the two groups.