If Anything Can Go Wrong It Will: Occupational Stress Among Inexperienced Teachers

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The study examined the sources of stress encountered by inexperienced compared to experienced teachers. Sixty-nine female teachers in elementary schools and kindergartens in Israel participated in the study. A questionnaire was administered measuring job-related stress factors, emotional involvement in the job and active coping with stress factors. The results show that inexperienced compared to experienced teachers stated that they experience an overall higher level of stress. The major sources of stress for inexperienced teachers are interaction with pupils' parents and workload. Inexperienced teachers are less involved emotionally in their work, especially in regard to incidents of unsatisfactory performance. However, they are similar to experienced teachers in both their emotional reactions to successful performance and in their actions in stressful situations. Since the research design was quasi-experimental, the differences between experienced and inexperienced teachers might be due to other confounded factors such as general life experience. The results are discussed in regard to the adaptive functions of selective emotional involvement.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)179-188
Number of pages10
JournalInternational Journal of Stress Management
Volume5
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 1998

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The study was supported by a research grant of the Gordon Teachers' College, Haifa, Israel.

Keywords

  • Experience
  • Occupational stress
  • Teachers

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • General Business, Management and Accounting
  • Applied Psychology
  • General Psychology

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