Personality as a predictor of job stress among teachers' college lecturers in Zimbabwe.
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Date
2021
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Abstract
This quantitative-dominant mixed methods sequential explanatory study sought to investigate
how personality predicts job stress in a sample of Zimbabwean teachers’ college lecturers from
an agrarian collectivistic culture. Key concepts were illustrated using the five-factor model of
personality, the Cultural Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping, and the Job-Demands-
Resources model. 211 lecturers were surveyed using four self-report measures; Occupational
Stress Survey, Oldenburg Burnout Inventory; Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced, and
the Big Five Personality Test. Thirty (30) participants were purposefully selected using maximal
variation sampling for the in-depth interview. Multiple linear regressions identified dominant
personality traits that predicted job stress, burnout and coping. Correlation analyses determined
the shared associations between personality traits and dominant job stress, burnout, and coping
dimensions. Extraversion was a weak predictor of demands and control. Extraversion,
neuroticism, and conscientiousness showed a low correlation with exhaustion. Coping was
related to conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. Lecturers reported an
immense workload, which was made more stressful by under-staffing and large classes. They
disengaged from their jobs because these were mechanical and routine. Lecturers reported
exhaustion caused by the pressure of deadlines, which caused imbalance in work-life. They also
used a range of coping strategies to mitigate the negative impact of job stress and burnout. This
study adds to the existing literature on the stress of lecturers, and provides some evidence to
support the universality of traits. Implications of stress, burnout and coping are highlighted.
Description
Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.