Job Satisfaction and Burnout in Teachers: The Importance of Perceived Support from Principal and Work Motivation

Abstract

The starting point of this study was the assumption that work in a supportive working environment increases work motivation and thus contributes to job satisfaction and in preventing burnout. The main objective of the study was to examine the role of perceived support from the principal and work motivation (work engagement and self-efficacy) in explaining job satisfaction and burnout in Croatian primary school teachers. The study included a total of 1,892 primary school teachers, working in lower (class-teachers, N = 856) and higher grades (subject-teachers, N = 1036), employed in 101 primary schools in the Republic of Croatia. Male teachers comprised 12% of the total sample. The average age of participants was 41.7 years (SD = 10.2), and length of service was 15.7 years (SD = 10.7). The results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that the perceived support from principals and used measures of work motivation significantly contributed to the explanation of job satisfaction and two measures of burnout (emotional exhaustion and alienation), while the demographic variables used explained the small percentage of criterion measures' variance. In conclusion, support from the principal, as well as self-efficiency and work engagement of teachers, has an important role in the prevention of job dissatisfaction and burnout in teachers.