Self-Efficacy in Eliciting Social Support and Burnout

Among Secondary-SchoolTeachers

ANDREBROUWERS,I WILL J. G. EVERS,AND WELKO TOMIC

Faculty of Social Sciences
Ketherlands Open University
Heerlen. The Neiherlands

A nonrecursive model with relationships between perceived lack of social support, per-
ceived self-efficacy in eliciting support at the workplace. and the 3 successive burnout
dimensions-emotional exhaustion. depersonalization, and personal accomplishment-
was tested ,; a sample of 277 secondary-school teachers in The Netherlands. Results
showed that teachers’ perceived lack o f support from colleagues and principals had a sig-
nificant effect on their self-efficacy beliefs in eliciting support from them, while these
self-efficacy beliefs were shown to predict their level of burnout. The hypothesized feed-
back loop was also confirmed: Teachers’ level of burnout predicted the extent to which
they feel lack of support. An additional effect of the personal-accomplishment dimension
of burnout on perceived self-efficacy was suggested. It was concluded that perceived self-
efficacy in eliciting support at the workplace is a usable construct in the prediction of
teacher burnout. Future directions in research are suggested.

Burnout is described as

a psychological syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonaliza-

tion, and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among
individuals who work with other people in some capacity.
Emotional exhaustion refers to feelings of being emotionally over-
extended and depleted of one’s emotional resources. Depersonal-
ization refers to a negative, callous, or excessively detached
response to other people, who are usually the recipients of one’s
services or care. (Maslach, 1993, pp. 20-21)

Reduced personal accomplishment is described as “a person’s negative self-

evaluation in relation to his or her job performance” (Schaufeli, Maslach, &
Marek, 1993, p. 17).

’Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Andre Brouwers, Faculty of

Social Sciences, Netherlands Open Universib, PO Box 2960. NL-6401 DL Heerlen, The Nether-
lands e-mail andre brouwers@ou nl

1474

Journal ofApplied Social Psychology, 2001, 31, 7 , pp. 1474-1491.

Copyright 0 2001 by V. H. Winston & Son,Inc. All rights reserved.
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TEACHER BURNOUT 1475

A number of studies have shown that a perceived lack of support from col-
leagues, offering friendship and help, may be an important element in teacher
burnout (Brownell & Pajares, 1997; Burke, Greenglass, & Schwarzer, 1996;
Burke, Shearer, & Deszca, 1984; Dignam & West, 1988; Punch & Tuettemann,
1990; Ross, Altmaier, & Russell, 1989; Schwab, Jackson, & Schuler, 1984).
Studies also have suggested that teachers who feel that they have supportive prin-
cipals appear to be less vulnerable to burnout than are their counterparts who feel
that they lack these supportive relationships (Bacharach, Bainberger, & Mitchell,
1990; Brissie, Hoover-Dempsey, & Bassler, 1988; Burke & Greenglass, 1989,
1993; Jackson, Schwab, & Schuler, 1986; Kuzsman & Schnall, 1987; Russell,
Altmaier, & Van Velzen, 1987; Travers & Cooper, 1993; Zabel & Zabel, 1982).
The present study focuses on the relationship between the emotional support
offered by fellow teachers and principals, and teacher burnout. Pines and Aronson
(1 98 I ) found that professional workers rated emotional support as one of the
most important social-support functions. Emotional support refers to the degree
to which a person’s basic emotional need to solve problems at work is gratified
through interaction with others (cf. Thoits, 1982). Basic emotional needs include
affection, good advice, reassurance, and encouragement. Emotional support is
brought about by interactions with others that meet the needs of the receiver. The
level of perceived support can be assessed by measuring the discrepancy between
a person’s need for emotional support and the amount and intensity of the sup-
portive interactions that he or she actually experiences (Van Sonderen, 1991).
The present study hypothesized that teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs in eliciting
support from colleagues and principals mediate the effect of perceived lack of
support on the level of burnout. Perceived self-eficacy refers to “beliefs in one’s
capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce
given attainments” (Bandura, 1997, p. 3).
Interpersonal aspects of the work of teachers, such as maintaining classroom
order and functioning on the school team, appear to be important predictors of
burnout (Brouwers & Tomic, 1998; Byrne, 1991, 1994; Friedman & Farber,
1992; Greenglass, Burke, & Konarski, 1997). When studying teacher burnout, it
is therefore highly important to focus on interpersonal domains of functioning in
teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs.
In this study, teachers’ perceived self-efficacy is linked to the domain of elicit-
ing support from colleagues and principals. To assess teachers’ perceived self-
efficacy in different interpersonal domains of functioning, Brouwers and Tomic
(2001) developed the Teacher Interpersonal Self-Efficacy scale. This scale consists
of three subscales: Perceived Self-Efficacy in Classroom Management, Perceived
Self-Efficacy in Eliciting Support From Colleagues, and Perceived Self-Efficacy
in Eliciting Support From Principals. As predicted, based on Bandura’s (1986,
1997) assertion that self-eficacy beliefs are linked to specific activities, confirma-
tory factor analysis showed that the measurement model, in which the items of the
 15591816, 2001, 7, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2001.tb02683.x by Universität Bonn Universitäts-und Landesbibliothek, Wiley Online Library on [08/05/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
1476 BROUWERS ET AL

three subscales were allowed to load on the factors concerned, fit the data signifi-
cantly better than did models in which items of the subscales were allowed to load
on one more general perceived self-efficacy factor (Brouwers & Tomic, 2001).
Given the important role that relationships with colleagues and principals
play, it is valuable to specify teachers’ beliefs about their own efficacy in elicit-
ing support from them (colleagues and principals; Cohen, 1988). In a research
review of the negative effect of weak perceived self-efficacy on depression,
Kavanagh (1992) emphasized the importance of perceived self-efficacy in elic-
iting support when he stated that

self-efficacy about mobilizing assistance . . . would appear to be a

useful area to begin looking at. . . . Skills in effectively eliciting
support and in preserving the sources of support for future crises
may turn out to be an important focus for assessment and interven-
tion. (p. 188)

Guglielmi and Tatrow (1998) identified the ability to establish and maintain
supportive social networks as one of the individual characteristics in mediating
the relationship between stress and illness. The present study examines the indi-
rect route of a perceived lack of collegial and principal support to burnout via
teacher perceived self-efficacy in eliciting support, an aspect that has never been
studied before. It was conducted among a sample of secondary (vocational)
school teachers using questionnaires.

Hypotheses

Figure 1 shows the hypothetical model that was tested in the present study.
First, it is expected that teachers’ perceived lack of emotional support from the
school team (i.e., principals and colleagues) will have a negative effect on teach-
ers’ perceived self-efficacy in eliciting support from them (colleagues and princi-
pals). Studies have found that the experienced levels of support from colleagues
and principals predicted teachers’ beliefs about their own efficacy (Louis, 1998;
Raudenbush, Rowan, & Cheong, 1992; Rosenholtz, 1989). Other studies on social
support and self-efficacy beliefs give evidence in favor of this hypothesis as well
(Cutrona & Troutman, 1986; Duncan & McAuley, 1993; Major et al., 1990).
Second, it is expected that teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs in eliciting support
from principals and colleagues will have a negative effect on teachers’ level of
emotional exhaustion. When teachers feel unable to elicit the support needed to
cope with the stressors in their work environment, they may get the feeling that
they have little or no influence on these stressors (Bandura, 1997).
Third, following the process model of burnout proposed by Leiter and
Maslach (l988), it is expected that emotional exhaustion will arise first. Once
 15591816, 2001, 7, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2001.tb02683.x by Universität Bonn Universitäts-und Landesbibliothek, Wiley Online Library on [08/05/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
TEACHER BURNOUT 1477

Emotional
Depersonalization
Exhaustion

Figure I . Hypothetical model.

emotional exhaustion occurs, teachers may attempt to cope with it by detaching

themselves from the others with whom they work and by developing a cynical,
cold, and distant attitude toward them (depersonalization). In turn, depersonaliza-
tion induces a negative self-evaluation of their own job performance (reduced
personal accomplishment). The Leiter and Maslach process model of burnout has
been confirmed in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies (Byrne, 1994;
Lee & Ashforth, 1993; Van Dierendonck, Schaufeli, & Sixma, 1994).
Fourth, it was expected that level of teachers’ negative attitudes toward the
people with whom they work on the one hand and toward their own job perfor-
mance on the other hand would have an effect on the extent to which teachers
experience a lack of support from principals and colleagues. These hypotheses
were tested among a sample of secondary (vocational) school teachers in the
Netherlands.

Method

Participants

Participants in the study were 277 (203 male, 73%; 74 female, 27%) teachers
working in secondary (vocational) schools in the province of Limburg in the
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1478 BROUWERS ET AL.

Netherlands. Their average age was 45.87 years (SD = 8.82), with a range of 21
to 62 years. The average length of teaching experience was 2 1.28 years
(SD = 9.74), with a range of 0 to 39 years. In comparison with all teachers work-
ing in secondary (vocational) schools in the province of Limburg in 1997
(Agentschap, 1998), the sample of the present study was representative in
terms of gender, x2( 1. N = 277) = 1.38, p = .24, but not in terms of age, t(df=
276) = -2.96, p = .O 1.

Measures

Burnout. Burnout was measured using the Dutch version of the Maslach
Burnout Inventory for teachers (MBI-NL-Ed; Maslach & Jackson, 1981;
Schaufeli. Daamen, & Van Mierlo, 1994; Schaufeli & Van Horn, 1995). The
questionnaire included 20 items divided into three subscales: Emotional Exhaus-
tion (EE, 8 items), Depersonalization (D, 5 items), and Personal Accomplishment
(PA, 7 items). The items were measured on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from
0 (never) to 6 (every day). Scores on the scales were added separately. High
scores on the EE and D scales, and low scores on the PA scale are indicative of
burnout (Appendix A).
Perceived self-efficaq~in eliciting support. Perceived self-efficacy in elicit-
ing support was measured with two subscales of the Teacher Interpersonal Self-
Efficacy scale (Brouwers & Tomic, 2001). The Perceived Self-Efficacy in Elicit-
ing Support From Colleagues subscale was used to assess the extent to which
teachers feel confident about eliciting support from colleagues, while the Per-
ceived Self-Efficacy in Eliciting Support From Principals subscale was used to
assess teachers' self-efficacy belief in eliciting support from principals. Both
scales included five items measured on a 6-point Likert scale ranging from
5 (strongly agree) to 0 (strongly disagree; see Appendix B).
Perceived lack ofemotionalsupport. Perceived lack of emotional support
was measured using six items of the Emotional Support subscale of the Social
Support List-Discrepancies (SSL-D; Van Sonderen, 1991). This subscale was
used to measure the extent to which teachers feel a discrepancy between their
need for supportive interactions with colleagues and principals on the one hand
and the amount and intensity of supportive interactions actually offered by col-
leagues and principals on the other hand. Perceived lack of emotional support
was measured separately for colleagues and principals. The items were measured
on a 4-point Likert scale with the following response format: 0 = I miss i f , I
should like to experience morefreqtrently; 1 = f don 'r rear& miss it, hut it would
be nice if it happened a few more times; 2 = I wouldn 'r like it to happen more or
fewer times, l think it is exactly sufficient this way; 3 = It happens too ofien, it
would be nice i f i t happened fewer times (Appendix C ) . Since none of the partici-
pants in the present study scored the category .'It happens too often, it would be
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TEACHER BURNOUT 1479

nice if it happened fewer times” on one or more items of this scale, it was not
necessary to test curvilinear relationships with other measured variables.

Procedure

Principals of randomly selected schools in the province of Limburg in The

Netherlands were asked to cooperate in the study. They were mailed question-
naires and asked to hand them out to every teacher in their schools along with a
letter explaining the nature and general aim of the study. Follow-up letters were
mailed to them about 3 weeks later.

Analysis

Before the fit of the hypothesized structural model could be tested, it was first
necessary to determine whether the proposed two-factor measurement models of
emotional support and perceived self-efficacy in eliciting support were specified
adequately. The two-factor models were tested with confirmatory factor analyses
(CFAs) and compared with one-factor models. In the one-factor models, items
related to both principals and colleagues were specified to load on one general
factor, whereas in the two-factor models, the items related to principals were
allowed to load on one factor and the items related to colleagues were allowed to
load on the other factor.
The decision-tree framework for sequential chi-square difference tests pro-
posed by Anderson and Gerbing (1988) was followed to determine whether the
hypothesized structural model fit the data best. In this framework, a saturated
submodel was formulated to determine whether the fit of the hypothetical model
could be improved significantly. A saturated submodel is a model in which all
parameters relating the constructs to one another are estimated. The best fitting
model is the one that (a) does not significantly differ from the saturated sub-
model, and (b) is the most parsimonious.
The CFAs and the sequential chi-square-difference tests were carried out with
the AMOS 3.6 computer program (Arbuckle, 1997) using the maximum likeli-
hood estimation procedure. Evaluations of the models were based on the chi-
square likelihood ratio, the root mean square residual (RMR), the Tucker-Lewis
Index (TLI; McDonald & March, 1990), and the normed comparative fit index
(CFI; Bentler, 1990). To assess TLI and CFI, null models were specified (i.e.,
models in which the variables are mutually independent). The fit of a model is
acceptable when TLI and CFI exceed .90 (Bentler & Bonett, 1980).
Results

Table I presents means, standard deviations, internal consistency measures

(Cronbach’s alphas), and intercorrelations of the scales. The reliability of the
 P
Qo
0

Table 1

Means, Standard Deviations, internal Consistency Measures (Cronbach 's a)*and lntercorrelations of [he Scales
rn
M SD ci 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 -I
D
I . Lack of emotional support from r
7.22 4.04 .95 -
principals
2. Lack of emotional support from
9.55 2.77 .89 .58 -
colleagues
3. Self-efficacy in eliciting support from
16.17 6.02 .94 -.63 -.49 -
principals
4. Self-efficacy in eliciting support from
18.61 4.24 .92 -.30 -.52 .56 -
colleagues
5. Emotional exhaustion 17.88 8.88 .90 .42 .37 -.38 -.30 -

6. Depersonalization 6.94 4.24 .71 .28 .33 -.30 -.33 .56 -

7. Personal accomplishment 26.09 6.23 -85 -.26 -.32 .36 .40 -.35 -.44 -

Note. N = 277. All intercorrelations, p < .01.

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TEACHER BURNOUT 1481

Table 2

Goodness-of-Fit Indexes of the Measurement Models

X2 df P RMR TLI CFI
Perceived lack of emotional support
Null model 2692.70 66 .OOO .24
One-factor model 713.76 54 .OOO .05 .69 .75
Two-factor model 238.16 53 .OOO .02 .91 .93
Self-efficacy in eliciting support
Null model 2519.33 45 .OOO .76
One-factor model 805.05 35 .OOO .I6 .60 .69
Two-factor model 147.66 34 ,000 .05 .94 .95
Note. N = 277; RMR = root mean square residual; TLI = Tucker-Lewis Index; CFI =
Normed Comparative Fit Index.

Table 3

Goodness-of-Fit Indexes of the Structural Models

X2 df P RMR TLI CFI
Null model 9167.20 861 .OOO .43 AW AX
Saturated submodel 1593.94 805 .OOO .09 .90 .91
Hypothetical model 1608.67 810 .OOO .09 .90 .90
Modified model 1602.07 809 .OOO .09 .90 .91
Note. N = 277; for abbreviations,see Table 2.

scales was .71 or higher, which is adequate according to the criterion of .70 sug-
gested by Nunnally ( 1 978).
Results of the CFAs show that the two-factor models of perceived lack of
emotional support as well as perceived self-efficacy in eliciting support were
specified adequately. The incremental fit indexes exceeded the criterion of ade-
quate fit of .90. The two-factor models fit the data significantly better than did
the one-factor models, Ax2( 1, N = 277) = 475.60, p < .OOl, and Ax2( 1, N = 277) =
657.39, p < .OO 1, respectively. This is in accordance with expectations (Table 2).
Table 3 presents the fit indexes of the models. The difference between the
hypothetical model and the saturated submodel was significant, Ax2(5, N =
277) = 14.73, p = .01, indicating that the hypothetical model could be improved
significantly. Inspection of modification indexes (MI) suggests that the greatest
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1482 BROUWERS ET AL.

Figure 2. Modified model. standardized solution.

improvement of the model fit could be reached by adding a path to the model
from personal accomplishment to perceived self-efficacy. When this path was
freed, the model fit improved significantly, Ax2( I , N = 277) = 6.60, p = .O I . Since
the modified model did not differ significantly from the saturated submodel,
Ax2( 1, N = 277) = 8.13, p = .09, no improvements could be made. This means
that the model fit could not be improved significantly by addition of direct effects
of perceived lack of support on emotional exhaustion, perceived lack of support
on depersonalization, perceived self-efficacy on depersonalization, or emotional
exhaustion on personal accomplishment. The incremental fit indexes of the mod-
ified model exceeded the recommended criterion of -90 (TLI = .90, CFI = .91),
which means that the modified model fit the data well.
Figure 2 shows the so-called standardized solution of the modified model.
The path coefficients must be interpreted as standardized regression coefficients.
Perceived self-efficacy in eliciting support appears to have mediated the effect of
perceived lack of support by colleagues and principals on emotional exhaustion.
The three burnout dimensions influenced one another in the predicted way: Emo-
tional exhaustion had a strong effect on depersonalization, which in turn had a
moderate effect on personal accomplishment. Emotional exhaustion had no sig-
nificant direct effect on personal accomplishment. The effects of personal accom-
plishment on perceived lack of support and perceived self-efficacy in eliciting
support were moderate and low, respectively.
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TEACHER BURNOUT 1483

Discussion

This study tested the empirical fit of a nonrecursive model with relationships
between perceived lack of emotional support from colleagues and principals,
perceived self-efficacy in eliciting support from them, and the three burnout
dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accom-
plishment. Results show that the assumed effects were significant and that an
effect of personal accomplishment on perceived self-efficacy must be added to
the model.
Perceived lack of emotional support appears to have predicted teachers’ level
of perceived self-efficacy in eliciting support from the school team. This means
that teachers who feel that they lack support from colleagues and principals have
less confidence in their capability to elicit support from them than do their coun-
terparts who feel that they receive sufficient support from the school team.
Teachers who feel that colleagues and principals often do not give them the sup-
port that they need are going to doubt their ability to master the social environ-
ment.
Teachers’ level of perceived self-efficacy in eliciting support was predicted
not only by the extent to which they feel a lack of support, but also by their eval-
uation of their own job performance, conceptualized as personal accomplish-
ment. This means that teachers who are not satisfied with their job performance
may begin to doubt their ability to elicit the necessary support from the school
team. An interpretation of this finding is that self-confidence in a more general
sense is reduced when teachers’ attitude toward their own job performance is
negative. When teachers’ self-confidence in a more general sense is low, it is
conceivable that they will also have difficulty asking a colleague for advice. In a
study on perceived self-efficacy in classroom management, Brouwers and Tomic
(1998) also found a relationship between personal accomplishment and self-
efficacy beliefs. They interpreted this finding in light of self-efficacy theory,
which states that enactive mastery experiences are the most influential source of
efficacy information (Bandura, 1997). Teachers who, day in and day out, feel that
they are not performing well may begin to doubt their own capability to execute
the courses of action required to accomplish their job goals. In this view, teach-
ers’ accomplishments are a source of information from which they derive their
self-efficacy beliefs.
Teachers’ perceived self-efficacy in eliciting support from the school team
(i.e., colleagues and principals) appears to have predicted the level of teachers’
emotional exhaustion. This means that teachers who are in need of support from
the school team but who at the same time have little confidence in their ability to
elicit such support are more prone to burnout symptoms than are their counter-
parts who rate their capability as high in this regard. Although the concept of
self-efficacy specified for the activity of eliciting support has never been studied
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1484 BROUWERS ET AL.

before, the results found can be compared with studies in which self-efficacy in
other domains of functioning was found to predict burnout. In a study among a
sample of public school teachers, Chwalisz, Altmaier, and Russell (1992) linked
self-efficacy beliefs to the domain of dealing with the most stressful event that
teachers had experienced on the job during the academic year. They found that
teachers who doubted their ability to cope with stressful events reported a higher
level of burnout than did their counterparts who showed more self-confidence in
this sphere. Since seeking support is one of the coping strategies to handle job
stressors, the self-efficacy assessment of Chwalisz et al. encompasses eliciting
support from colleagues and principals. Another self-efficacy belief studied in
relationship with teacher burnout was linked to managing student behavior
(Brouwers & Tomic, 1998). Results of that particular study showed that teachers’
belief in their capability to maintain classroom order and discipline was a signifi-
cant predictor of burnout,
This study has a few limitations. First, it is known that research based on
questionnaires is sensitive to self-selection bias. I t is therefore possible that
teachers who suffer from burnout to some extent do not complete the question-
naires. Since the average scores of the study’s participants on the three burnout
dimensions (Table 1 ) were not significantly lower than the scores from the sam-
ple used to estimate norm numbers of the MBI for the Dutch teaching population
(Schaufeli & Van Horn, 1995; emotional exhaustion, M = 16.50, SD = 9.84; dep-
ersonalization, M = 6.00, SD = 5.2 I ; personal accomplishment, M = 29.87, SD =
7.46), it was unlikely that particularly the teachers who suffer from burnout
refused to complete the questionnaires distributed in this study.
Second, empirical evidence derived from cross-sectional research cannot give
any information about the direction of the relationships between the constructs.
The literature on the relationship between social support and self-efficacy beliefs
gives evidence in favor of the direction in which a perceived decline of social
support precedes a weakening of self-efficacy beliefs (Cutrona & Troutman,
1986; Duncan & McAuley, 1993; Louis, 1998; Major et al., 1990; Raudenbush
et al., 1992; Rosenholtz, 1989). The literature, however, also gives evidence in
+
favor of the reverse direction of this relationship; that is, self-efficacy beliefs
perceived social support (Holahan & Holahan, 1987). Longitudinal research is
necessary to explore the direction of the relationships between the constructs
studied here.
Third, although the hypothetical model was adapted by adding a path
between personal accomplishment and perceived self-efficacy, the sample was
not large enough to justify splitting it into two halves. It was therefore not possi-
ble to cross-validate the adapted model.
The findings of the present study show that the hypothetical nonrecursive
model, consisting of effects of perceived lack of emotional support from col-
leagues and principals on perceived self-efficacy in eliciting support from them
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TEACHER BURNOUT 1485

and subsequently on the three burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion,

depersonalization, and personal accomplishment), is empirically sound. The indi-
cation that the significant relationships reflected a self-reinforcing cycle shows
that the development of a training program to boost teachers’ confidence in their
ability to elicit support from the school team might be very important for them. It
would be desirable to continue the research necessary to reach this result.

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Appendix A

Maslach Burnout Inventory

Emotional Exhaustion

I feel emotionally drained from my work.

I feel used up at the end of the workday.
I feel fatigued when I get up in the morning and have to face another day on
the job.
Working with people all day is really a strain for me.
I feel burned out from my work.
I feel frustrated by my job.
I feel I’m working too hard on my job.
I feel like I’m at the end of my rope.

Personal Accomplishment

1 can easily understand how my students feel about things.

I deal very effectively with the problems of my students.
I feel I’m positively influencing other people’s lives through my work.
1 can easily create a relaxed atmosphere with my students.
I feel exhilarated after working closely with my students.
I have accomplished many worthwhile things in this job.
In my work, I deal with emotional problems very calmly.

Depersonalization

1 feel I treat some students as if they were impersonal “objects.”

I’ve become more callous toward people since 1 took this job.
I worry that this job is hardening me emotionally.
I don’t really care what happens to some students.
1 feel students blame me for some of their problems.
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1490 BROUWERS ET AL.

Appendix B

Perceived Sev- EfJlcacy in Eliciting Support From Colleagues Scale

When it is necessary, I am able to ask a colleague for assistance.

I am able to approach my colleagues if I want to talk about problems at work.
If I feel confronted by a problem with which my colleagues can help me, I am
able to approach them about this.
I can always find colleagues with whom I can talk about problems at work.
I am confident that, if necessary, I can ask my colleagues for advice.

Perceived SeK-EfJlcacy in Eliciting Support From Principals Scale

I am confident that, if necessary, I can ask a principal for advice.

When necessary, I am able to bring up problems with principals.
I am able to approach principals if I want to talk about problems at work.
When it is necessary, I am able to get principals to support me.
I am confident that, if necessary, 1 can get principals to help me.
 15591816, 2001, 7, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2001.tb02683.x by Universität Bonn Universitäts-und Landesbibliothek, Wiley Online Library on [08/05/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
TEACHER BURNOUT 1491

Appendix C

Emotional Support Subscale of the Social Support List-Discrepancies

(Colleagues)

that my colleagues back me up

that my colleagues cheer me up
that my colleagues gently push me in the proper direction
that my colleagues give me a good piece of advice
that my colleagues encourage me
that my colleagues help me to clarify my problems

Emotional Support Subscale of the Social Support List-Discrepancies

(Principals)

that my principal backs me up

that my principal cheers me up
that my principal gently pushes me in the proper direction
that my principal gives me a good piece of advice
that my principal encourages me
that my principal helps me to clarifjl my problems