Role of Psychological and Structural Empowerment in the Relationship between Teachers’ Psychological Capital and Their Levels of Burnout

Abstract

The role of psychological and structural empowerment in the relationship between psychological capital and burnout is examined in this study. Designed as a correlational survey research, the sample of the study comprises 374 teachers working in the city of Muğla, Turkey, during the 2015-2016 school year. Data of the study is collected with four data collection tools: “Positive Psychological Capital Instrument”, “Psychological Empowerment Instrument”, “Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-II (CWEQ-II)” and “Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)”. The correlations between latent variables were determined according to Pearson Correlation Coefficients. According to the results of the study, psychological and structural empowerment has full mediated effects on the relationships between psychological capital and emotional exhaustion, psychological capital and depersonalization. The mediators have only partial mediated effects on the relationship between psychological capital and personal accomplishment-reverse. The model suggested in the study shows that psychological capital with psychological and structural empowerment might be effective in reducing teacher burnout. Psychological capital needs especially psychological empowerment in addition to structural empowerment. In conclusion, to prevent or reduce indications of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and the feeling of personal failure of teachers, enhancing psychological capital of teachers with the help of psychological and structural empowerment is required.