Workplace bullying among teachers: a job demands-resources perspective

Abstract

Teachers within South African schools are subject to toxic working conditions, characterised by excessive job demands, limited job resources and widespread social relations (Jacobs & De Wet, 2013; Sowetan, 2014). Workplace bullying flourishes within such stressful environments leading to burnout and subsequent deleterious effects on the quality of education provided by teachers. The South African education system is dependent of the efficacy of its teachers. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the factors contributing to this phenomenon and the implications for the bullied individual and the organisation. The present study examined the context-specificity of workplace bullying among South African teachers and the bullying outcome of burnout comprising emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and lack of personal accomplishment from a Job Demands-Resources Perspective. This study made use of secondary self-report survey data completed by teachers in 14 Gauteng schools (N = 158). The survey contained a demographic questionnaire, the Negative Social Acts Questionnaire-Revised, the Job Demands Resources Scale, and the Maslach’s Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey. Results indicated that a significant relationship exists between job characteristics and workplace bullying and that workplace bullying was significantly related to burnout. No demographic differences were found based on age, ethnicity, home language, marital status, number of dependents and level of education. However, findings for school quintiles revealed that teachers in poorer resourced schools experienced significantly higher levels of workplace bullying, job demands, emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation as well as significantly lower levels of job resources and personal accomplishment compared to those in better resourced schools. Moderated multiple regression analyses determined that in the presence of job characteristics workplace bullying among teachers led to higher levels of depersonalisation. Additionally, job demands moderated (boosted) this relationship. While job resources predicted emotional exhaustion, job resources did not moderate the relationship between workplace bullying and the three burnout subcomponents. The results of this study can be used inform South African labour legislation and to create context specific interventions to address workplace v bullying within South African schools. In addition, the theoretical and practical implications of the study were explored together with its limitations and recommendations for future workplace bullying research.