School Social Climate Perception and Symptoms of Burnout Syndrome in Secondary School Teachers

Abstract

The aim of this research was to analize if it does exist any relation between school social climate and Burnout syndrome in high school teachers. For this, the prevalence of indicators of the different Burnout dimensions ―emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduction of personal achievement― as well as the school social climate perceived by the teachers were explored. This study was of a quantitative, correlational, descriptive and cross-sectional type. A sample of 28 teachers who belong to two educational institutions of the city of Paraná, Argentina was studied. The instruments applied were the Maslach Burnout inventory, in its adaptation for teachers and the assessment of school social Climate scale for teachers. The school social climate perception was a good predictor of the three Burnout dimensions. Negative relations were found between the perceived climate and the dimention of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, while a positive relation was observed with the dimension of the reduction of personal achievement. The results obtained drive forward to continue studying these psychosocial variables in teachers, because it is observed that they are associated and they are an important link for the well-being of the teachers in their working enviroment.