A Comparative Study on Occupational Stress and Job Burnout in Government and Private Sectors

The firs purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between occupational stress and job burnout. Second aim was to explore differences between government and private school teachers’ occupational stress and job burnout. The sample consisted of 434 teachers from 40 schools in Mysore, India. The instruments used to measure the variables were: 1) The Occupational Stress Index by Srivastava and Singh (1984) and 2) Maslach Burnout Inventory by Maslach and Jackson (1981). The statistical techniques of descriptive statistics, Independent samples t test and Pearson’s coefficient were employed to analyze the data. The findings of the study indicated significant positive relationship between job burnout and occupational stress. Occupational stress was found to be significantly and positively related to Emotional exhaustion, Depersonalization, and Lack of personal accomplishment. Higher the stress among the teachers, higher was the job burnout. Teachers working in private schools had higher job burnout in emotional exhaustion and depersonalization than teachers working in government schools. School type did not influence the occupational stress of the primary school teachers working in government and private schools.

Keywords:

Occupational stress , job burnout , school teachers