An analysis of relations among locus of control, burnout and job satisfaction in Turkish high school teachers.

The aim of this study was to see how teachers' burnout is related to different aspects of locus of control, job satisfaction and demographic characteristics such as age and gender. The Job Satisfaction Scale was used to measure the subjects' job satisfaction level. In addition, the Maslach Burnout Inventory which was used to measure dimensions of teachers' burnout consisted of three subscales: emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment and depersonalisation. The Internal-External Locus of Control Scale was used to measure the extent to which teachers had an internal or external locus of control. The findings showed that all burnout dimensions were either positively or negatively related to independent variables. All variables were statistically significant in predictive effect on depersonalisation. External locus of control and age (predictor variables) were positively and directly related to emotional exhaustion dimension of burnout. Only one variable--age (predictor variable)--was significantly predictive of personal accomplishment.

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Literature

In recent years, educators have become increasingly interested in the problem of teachers' job burnout (Byrne, 1998; Guglielmi & Tatrow, 1998). Burnout directly affects teachers' professional lives in their work, particularly through its effect on their emotional well-being. Burnout is defined as a negative psychological experience that is the reaction to job-related stress (Deutsch, 1984; Ratlif, 1988). As a general term, burnout refers to a cluster of physical, emotional, and interactional symptoms including emotional exhaustion, a sense of lacking personal accomplishment, and depersonalisation of clients (Maslach, 1982). Burnout in an individual is inferred to result from job strains, which may lead to maladaptive coping responses and poor work performance (Tang & Yeung, 1999). Other burnout symptoms may include high absenteeism, lack of commitment, abnormal desire for vacations, low satisfaction, self-esteem, and an inability to take work seriously (Adams, 1999; Leung, Siu, & Spector, 2000).

Maslach and Jackson's (1981) burnout model has three factors: (a) 'emotional exhaustion' which describes feelings of being emotionally over-extended and exhausted, (b) reduced 'personal accomplishment' which is experienced as decreased feelings of competence and achievement and a tendency to evaluate oneself negatively with respect to work, (c) 'depersonalisation' which is the development of negative and cynical feelings and attitudes about one's profession. Literature (Adams, 1999; Wong & Cheuk, 1998) offers a complex etiological model of burnout, and emphasises the interaction of individual, organisational, and societal factors. Certain demographic variables, including age, marital status, and gender were also found to be related to burnout (Maslach, 1982; Poulin & Walter, 1993). In addition, lack of power, isolation from peers, lack of common purpose among staff members, and lack of collegial support are related to teachers' burnout in the literature (Brouwers & Tomic, 2000; Otwell & Mullis, 1997). In other words, those factors make up teachers' burnout (Formanuik, 1995). Davis and Wilson (2000), in a review of teachers' burnout and satisfaction, described the importance of quality of work life programs as a means for reducing or eliminating teachers' burnout. Hart (1994) examined the positive and negative experiences of teachers and found that psychological distress and morale contributed equally to teachers' overall quality of work life. Lewin's (1951) theory provides an important basis for studying teachers' job behaviours and attitudes. It assumes that a person's behaviour is determined by the interaction between his or her personal characteristics and environmental factors which can influence teachers' satisfaction, thus leading to burnout.

Job satisfaction is defined as a positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one's job situation and is linked with the characteristics and demands of one's work (Evans, 2001). People's work-related satisfaction consists of achieving change and improvement, and promoting their growth, which have important implications on teachers' behaviours at work and affect their desire to continue their work and their involvement in the job, and relationship with other staff (Dinham & Scott, 2000; Ratlif, 1988).

Locus of control is a personality variable that concerns people's generalised expectancies that they can or cannot control reinforcements in their lives (Janssen & Carton, 1999). People who hold expectancies that they control reinforcements are considered to be internals, and people who hold expectancies that outside forces or luck control reinforcements are considered to be externals. Locus of control personality refers to the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events affecting them (Rotter, 1966). Individuals who have an internal locus of control (internalisers or internals) believe that the events in their lives are generally the result of their own behaviour and actions. Individuals who have an external locus of control (externalisers or externals), on the other hand, believe that events in their lives are generally determined by chance, fate or other people. Cummins (1988) and Kobasa and Puccetti (1983) supported the hypothesis that the relationship between stress and strain is moderated by locus of control personality.

Even though some studies have explored the relationship between locus of control, burnout, and job satisfaction, they are lacking in how locus of control is related to different aspects of job attitudes for teachers in particular (Anderson, Levinson, Barker, & Kiewra, 1999; Marso & Pigge, 1997). Ma and MacMillan (1999) believe that teachers' job attitudes consist of multiple aspects, such as social satisfaction, intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction, role clarity, feeling of job challenge and internal work motivation. Some literature (Adams, 1999; Smith, 1997) indicates that locus of control is a critical psychological attribute affecting teachers' perceptions of their environment and job attitudes (Somech & Drach-Zahavy, 2000). For example, Volansky and Habinski (1998) found that internal-external locus of control is an important personal attribute related to an individual's organisational commitment.

The researcher in this study investigated how high school teachers' burnout is related to different aspects of locus of control, job satisfaction, and demographic characteristics such as age and gender. The researcher hoped that the findings of this study would contribute to an understanding of the role of burnout, locus of control, job satisfaction, and demographic characteristics and the relationship between them; and that the findings would be helpful for other researchers in policy discussions and efforts to improve teachers' quality of work life and performance in developing countries such as Turkey.

Research method

Research approach

In this research, the researcher used a quantitative method because there were some advantages for using this method. For example, quantitative instruments such as scales used in this research took less time to administer. In addition, it was the best method to be used to be able to complete the study because the researcher had limited time. Bailey (1996) and Sari (2000a, 2002a) reported that this is the best approach when the researcher has limited time and limited financial resources. A quantitative approach also allowed the researcher to reach a large number of subjects as recommended in Cooligan (1996) and Creswell (1994). Moreover the quantitative data allowed the researcher to see whether there are significant associations between independent variables (gender, age, locus of control and job satisfaction) and dependent variables (burnout and its dimensions) when using a statistical technique such as multiple regressions because more than one independent variable was being used. Although the quantitative approach has wider use among researchers all over the world on this issue, many researchers use the qualitative approach in Turkey. Therefore the researcher preferred to use this approach because he wanted to generate quantitative data with which associations and relationships among variables can be described directly. However, if the researcher used qualitative techniques in this study, he would not reach those subjects. Another reason for choosing the quantitative approach to collect the data was that there was a need for the study to reach generalisable conclusions through the research findings as explained in Sari (1993, 2000a).

Sample

Participants in this study who were randomly selected from 23 high schools were 297 teachers from all branches at high schools in Konya city in Turkey. Each subject was sent a letter and instructions describing the study, directions for completing the questionnaire, and a postage-paid envelope (which was provided for returning questionnaires directly to the researchers' addresses). The subjects were assured of the anonymity and confidentiality of their responses. A total of 297 subjects responded to the survey and returned the questionnaire by post which led to the distortion of the responding sample. The questionnaires were posted to the respondents on the 1 June 2000 and the final questionnaire was received from the respondents at the end of October 2000. Of the respondents, seven subjects had more than 10 per cent missing or incomplete answers on their questionnaires. Those subjects were excluded from the study because it was felt that subjects who did not answer more than 10 per cent of the questionnaire items could not evaluate teachers' job satisfaction, locus of control and their burnout levels accurately. Thus seven subjects were excluded from the sample leaving a final sample size of 290 subjects. Of the 290 subjects, 164 (56.6%) were males and 126 (43.4%) were females. The age range of the sample was 21 to 56 years old with a mean age of 39.76 years. In total, 210 subjects (72.41%) were reported to have teaching responsibilities and 80 subjects (27.59%) were reported to have teaching responsibilities as well as performing administrative duties.

Research instruments

The Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS), which was developed by Hackman and Oldham (1974), was used as the instrument to measure the subjects' job satisfaction level. This instrument consists of 14 items and is designed to measure one dimension of job satisfaction. The frequency scale ranges from 1 (never satisfied) to 5 (strongly satisfied); high score = high satisfaction. The JSS has a reported internal consistency that ranges from 0.61 to 0.75.

The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) which was developed by Maslach and Jackson (1981) was used to measure the dimensions of teachers' burnout. It consists of 22 items forming three subscales: Emotional Exhaustion, Personal Accomplishment, and Depersonalisation. The frequency scale ranges from 1 (very mild, barely noticeable) to 7 (major, very strong).

The Emotional Exhaustion subscale consists of nine items which describe feelings of being emotionally over-extended and exhausted by one's work. The five items on the Depersonalisation subscale describe unfeeling and impersonal responses to co-workers or recipients of services. The Personal Accomplishment subscale consists of eight items describing feeling of competence and success about one's achievements. The higher mean scores of Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonalisation subscales correspond to greater degrees of experienced burnout, whereas lower scores on Personal Accomplishment correspond to greater degrees of burnout.

Internal consistency of the MBI was estimated by Cronbach's alpha (Cronbach, 1951) for two samples (n = 1316 for frequency) and (n = 1789 for intensity). The reliability coefficients for the subscales were: .90 for Emotional Exhaustion; .79 for Depersonalisation; .71 for Personal Accomplishment (Maslach & Jackson, 1981). Data on test-retest reliability (n = 53) ranged from .53 to .89 for the six dimensions of the MBI and were significant beyond the .001 level (Maslach & Jackson,1981).

The Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, which was developed by Rotter (1966) and which is called the 'Social Reaction Survey' for purposes of this study, was used to measure the extent to which teachers had an internal or external locus of control. It consists of 29 forced-choice items of which 23 are keyed and 6 are fillers. Respondents chose one statement out of each pair of 29 statements. It is scored in the direction of externality such that a higher score indicates external orientation. A total score of 12 or less out of 23 assesses an individual as internally controlled and a score of 13 or more assesses one as externally controlled (high score = high external locus of control). Test-retest reliability estimates reported by Rotter (1966) range from .70 to .80, and test-retest reliability coefficients of.43 to .84 have been reported by Dag (1991). Internal consistency of the scale ranged from .65 to .79 (Rotter, 1966).

Analysis

To be able to answer the research questions, Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used because it helped to describe the linear relationships between two variables and Stepwise Multiple Regression Statistical Procedures were used because the researcher wanted to understand high school teachers' burnout when using some predictors such as age, locus of control, and job satisfaction. For the analysis, the data were entered into the computer and the data were analysed using the Statistics Package for Social Scientists Program (SPSS 10.0).

Results

To determine whether there is significant predictive effect of gender, age, locus of control, and job satisfaction as independent variables on the dimensions of teachers' burnout as dependent variable, a Stepwise Multiple Regression Analysis technique was used. Pearson Product-Moment Coefficients were computed to determine which independent and dependent variables had the highest degree of relationship with each other (see Table 1). All burnout dimensions were either positively or negatively related to the independent variables. For burnout dimension, the highest relationship was a positive correlation of.366 (p<0.01) between depersonalisation and age. Depersonalisation also showed a significant relationship with locus of control .278 (p<0.01) and gender .263 (p<0.01). Contrary to the findings, the burnout dimension was a negative significant correlation of .269 (p<0.01) with job satisfaction. Emotional Exhaustion was positively related to independent variables except locus of control. The highest relationship was a positive correlation of.289 (p<0.01) with locus of control. Emotional Exhaustion also showed a significant negative relationship with gender .200 (p<0.01). The burnout dimension was not a significant correlation with age and job satisfaction. Of burnout dimensions, personal accomplishment was positively and significantly related to age. There was a positive correlation of .238 (p<0.01) between personal accomplishment and age.

Additionally, when the stepwise multiple regression was computed, gender, locus of control, and job satisfaction variables were statistically significant in predictor effect on emotional exhaustion. Gender accounted for 3.6% of the adjusted variance in depersonalisation with a multiple R of .20 (F=11.90; p<0.01). There were differences on gender in relation to emotional exhaustion. That is, female teachers had more emotional exhaustion than their male counterparts (see Table 5a). A second variable, age, entered the equation and accounted for 0.3% of the adjusted variance in the burnout dimension (F=0.038; p>0.05). Age did not have significant effect (see Table 2). A third variable, locus of control, entered the equation and accounted for 8.4% of the adjusted variance in the burnout dimension (F=25.67; p<0.01). Job satisfaction entered the equation and accounted for 1.1% of the adjusted variance in the burnout dimension (F=3.91; p<0.049). All these independent variables had a combined predictor effect on emotional exhaustion (F=10.17; p<0.01). In the burnout dimension, locus of control and gender had the highest effect. Teachers with external locus of control had more emotional exhaustion than teachers with internal locus of control (see Table 5b).

In addition to regression analysis, all variables were statistically significant in predictive effect on depersonalisation (see Table 3). Gender showed for 5.6% of the adjusted variance in the dimension with a multiple R of 0.243 (F=18.55; p<0.01). A second variable, age, entered the equation and accounted for 12.1% of the adjusted variance in the burnout dimension with a multiple R of .352 (F=43.33; p<0.01). In the three steps, locus of control entered the equation and accounted for 0.10% of the adjusted variance in the burnout dimension (F=35.66; p<0.01). In the four steps, job satisfaction entered the equation and accounted for 0.09% of the adjusted variance in the burnout dimension (F=29.78; p<0.01). Thus all these variables had combined predictor effects of 29.8% (adjusted variance) on depersonalisation (F=29.31; p<0.01). In the burnout dimension, female teachers with gender and external teachers with locus of control had high depersonalisation (see Tables 5a and 5b).

To determine whether there is a significant predictive effect of independent variables on personal accomplishment, a stepwise multiple regression was applied (see Table 4). Only one variable--age (a predictor variable)--was revealed to be significantly predictive of the dimension through the regression analysis which revealed that age had a predictive effect on personal accomplishment. The variable accounted for 4.9% of the adjusted variance in personal accomplishment with a multiple R of .238 (F=15.05; p<0.01). Other independent variables (such as gender, LC and JS) were not revealed to be significantly predictive effects of the dimension through the regression analysis. Teachers' gender and locus of control differences did not indicate different levels on personal accomplishment (see Tables 5a and 5b).

Discussion

The primary aim of this study was to determine those factors which are associated with teachers' burnout. The major strengths of the present study are as follows: (a) data were collected from high school teachers; (b) variables were measured with psychometrically sound instruments; (c) correlation analyses for the teachers were useful in comparing the variables--emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and personal accomplishment of burnout dimensions were either positively or negatively related to independent variables; (d) step-by-step regression analyses were computed to test the moderating effects of locus of control, job satisfaction, age, and gender on burnout dimensions. Independent variables of the present study were found to be negatively or positively and significant predictors of dimensions of burnout.

Teachers, in general, may be strongly motivated to strive and achieve a sense of competence and psychological success in their work. However their efforts may become frustrated in a work setting characterised by unpredictability and lack of personal control. It seems that there are individuals who thrive in stressful environments or are not affected by stress. This study found correlations between stress and locus of control as indicated in Evans and Coman (1993) and Brouwers and Tomic (2000). Externality is negatively related to Personal Accomplishment as indicated by Luaenburg and Cadavid (1992). In contrast to the strong correlations among external locus of control, distress, and stressor frequency for teachers (Grannis, 1992), internal locus of control has been shown to be positively associated with low perceived stress and correspondingly high job satisfaction (Garson & Stanwyck, 1997; Schafer & McKenna, 1991). According to the study findings, internals may be more satisfied, and perceived as having less emotional exhaustion because the researcher assumes that they have some control over their environmental supports. Whitebook, Howes, Darrah, and Friedman's (1982) findings indicated that if these findings are robust, then internally locus of controlled individuals should experience less stress than externally locus of controlled individuals. Unwillingness to work may be a major cause of despair and dissatisfaction which may lead to burnout as indicated in Woolfolk and Hoy's (1990) and Gaziel and Sabbatical's (1995) studies.

In burnout dimensions, the highest relationship in this research was a positive correlation between depersonalisation and age. Depersonalisation also showed a significant relationship with external locus of control and gender. Contrary to the results of Lunenberg and Cadavid's (1992) research findings, the burnout dimension was a negative significant correlation with job satisfaction.

On the basis of the results presented in this study, it can be concluded that there was a significant relationship between age, external locus of control, gender and depersonalisation of burnout dimensions. Job satisfaction was also found to be a negative significant predictor of the depersonalisation dimension of burnout. High school teachers with job satisfaction had low depersonalisation with their work. The research findings support Hui and Chan's (1996) arguments that satisfied teachers perceived low stress with their work. According to Smith (1997), depersonalisation showed a significant relationship with external locus of control and gender. The results of this study supported Capel's (1992) study which described how individuals with an external locus of control may have few coping strategies or high burnout. These individuals may be experiencing burnout and not making appropriate adjustments to their situational problems. They may be perceiving these events as being outside their control (external control). The present study results show parallels with Claxton and Catalan's (1998) study which indicated depersonalisation is associated with gender and that females had lower depersonalisation scores than males.

As mentioned in the study of Claxton and Catalan (1998), which shows that burnout is related to age, younger workers tended to obtain higher burnout scores than older workers and also higher scores on anxiety. However Friedman (1995) explained that experienced and older teachers showed high burnout mean scores particularly of depersonalisation. The present research findings indicated that emotional exhaustion was positively related to external locus of control. Emotional exhaustion also showed a significant negative relationship with gender and job satisfaction. However burnout dimension was not a significant correlation with age. Only three of the variables have statistically significant predictive effect on gender, external locus of control, and job satisfaction with regression analysis. The research results show that external locus of control is positively related to burnout dimensions--in particular, emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. In other words, high school teachers who have an external locus of control in the present study perceive more burnout in emotional and depersonalisation dimensions than the teachers with internal locus of control. These results corroborated with previous studies of Leung et al. (2000).

The findings of this study indicated an association between external locus of control and emotional exhaustion. In other words, teachers in Turkey are more likely to have emotional burnout than the headteachers have. That is, the teachers perceive themselves as being bored, as being helpless and hopeless compared with others in their profession, as indicated in Adams (1999). When viewing the results of the profile of a burned out teacher, the study results indicated that such teachers exhibited a tendency to be more externally controlled, which indicates that those teachers would be less likely to choose long-term teaching than their non-burned-out counterparts. As mentioned by Swearingen (1990), emotional exhaustion involves feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. The results of this study suggested that the teachers in Turkey do not see themselves as being comfortable because of having high level emotional exhaustion. Since there was also a correlation between burned out teachers and their external control scores, this indicated that Turkish teachers who had burnout also view themselves more negatively than their non-burned-out colleagues.

Internal locus of control is negatively associated with emotional exhaustion as indicated in Rahim (1996). It may be possible that job stress and emotional exhaustion are not a major problem for internalisers. This study provides support for the literature (Sari, 2000b) on emotional exhaustion related to locus of control, which is one of the important factors in burnout. The internally controlled teachers are more likely to perceive themselves in a more positive manner; that is, they see and feel themselves as being trustworthy and responsible as indicated in Sari (1993).

In this research, the findings indicated that burnout was not a significant correlation with age. The findings demonstrate that age is effective on depersonalisation. Compared with a large reference group consisting of a wide variety of teachers investigated by Gold (1992), the younger teachers did not report higher levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation than did older teachers. When female teachers entered and began their careers, a slow but steady increase in emotional exhaustion was reported by Frank and McKenzie (1993). This result was supported by the present research findings.

Of burnout dimensions, personal accomplishment is positively and significantly related to age. However there is not a significant relationship with other independent variables. Only one variable--age (predictor variable)--is revealed to be significantly predictive of the dimension through the regression analysis. As explained in Maslach and Jackson (1981), Maslach (1982) and Brunetti (2001), the results in this study indicate that male and female teachers are fairly similar in their experience of burnout and personal accomplishment. Further external teachers have personal accomplishment and psychological burnout as much as internal ones.

Personal accomplishment was found to be more strongly related to age in this study. Bellani and Furlani's (1996) findings indicated the importance of individual characteristics in developing burnout and personal accomplishment. Regarding other independent variables, age was the only one which is significantly related to burnout: the younger the subjects, the higher the burnout. Young age also emerges as a significant predictor for a low level of personal accomplishment. The findings showed that older teachers are the most personally accomplished and this may be interpreted as follows: younger teachers, because of lack of experience, are more prone than older ones to an excessive job involvement leading them to burnout. Some demographic factors (including gender and age), job satisfaction, and external locus of control are related to burnout dimensions.

As some researchers (Sari, 2002b; Starnaman & Miller, 1992) maintained, burnout can influence directly or indirectly the quality of work life within the school. According to these researchers, however, school administrators should be careful about teachers for factors not only related to teachers' burnout and job satisfaction, but also because of what can be done to improve the quality of work life in the school. The study results also suggest that school administrators should be concerned with teachers' job burnout, as increasing demands can adversely affect their well-being, and perhaps the well-being of their students.

Implications for practice

As mentioned before, the results of this study indicated that emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and personal accomplishment of burnout dimensions were either positively or negatively related to independent variables, which were found to be negatively or positively, and significant predictors of dimensions of burnout. The results indicated that high school teachers with job satisfaction had low depersonalisation with their work. In addition, high school teachers who have an external locus of control perceive more burnout in emotional and depersonalisation dimensions than the teachers with internal locus of control. These results corroborated with previous studies of Leung et al. (2000). In other words, the teachers perceive themselves as being bored, as being helpless and hopeless compared with others in their profession in Turkey. The results of this study raised the issues that the teachers in Turkey do not see themselves as being comfortable because of having high level emotional exhaustion. This may be linked to the current education system which is centralised which leads to more autocratic and antidemocratic feelings among teachers than the teachers who work in a decentralised education system like in England where teachers and headteachers feel themselves more comfortable because of having enough support from the administrators and from colleagues in the democratic atmosphere (Sari, 2000a).

The findings showed that younger teachers, because of lack of experience, are more prone than older ones to an excessive job involvement leading them to burnout. According to the research findings, school administrators should be careful about teachers for factors not only related to teachers' burnout and job satisfaction, but also because of what can be done to improve the quality of work life in the school. The study results suggest that school administrators should be concerned with teachers' job burnout, as increasing demands can adversely affect their well-being, and perhaps the well-being of their students as reported in Smith (1997). The results of this research have some implications for teachers in high schools. If an educational system will strive for excellence, the implications for the practice explained below should be taken into account:

1 Intervention programs can be prepared in co-operation with administrators and counsellors to prevent teachers' stress and burnout, as indicated in Sari (2002a).

2 In the light of educational journals and books which could be provided for the teachers and headteachers as a preventive strategy, they may widen their knowledge about burnout and broaden their perspectives to increase their self-confidence to cope with burnout.

3 Teachers should endeavour to attend stress-management interventions, not only for themselves but to understand others around them better.

4 Understanding the nature of a teacher profession may be the best approach to prevent burnout of teachers, particularly the amount of work they do, as reported in Adams (1999).

5 Increased dissatisfaction may lead to an erosion of overall teacher satisfaction, and therefore it needs to be considered closely by all responsible authorities and professionals.

Suggestions for future research

Future research can expand the findings of this research, which is necessary to determine the associations among locus of control, stress, and career intentions. The researchers should also investigate whether teachers' locus of control becomes more internal with promotion.

Keywords

age
burnout
job satisfaction
locus of control
secondary school teachers
stress management

Table 1 Relationships between burnout, locus of control and
job satisfaction of high school teachers

                EEB         DB         PA

Gender  -r-   -0.200 **   0.263 **   0.114
        -P-    0.001      0.000      0.059
Age     -r-   -0.012      0.366 **   0.238 **
        -P-    0.846      0.000      0.000
LC      -r-    0.289 **   0.278 **   0.000
        -P-    0.000      0.000      0.996
JS      -r-   -0.109     -0.269 **   0.041
        -P-    0.074      0.000      0.516

Notes: EE=Emotional Exhaustion; DP=Depersonalisation; PA=Personal
Accomplishment; LO=Locus of Control; JS=Job Satisfaction

** p = Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Table 2 Locus of control, job satisfaction and demographic
characteristics on emotional exhaustion of burnout dimensions
of the teachers

                            Adjusted  Std error of
Variables    R    R square  R square  the estimate    F         p

Gender     0.20    0.04      0.036        5.23      11.90 **  0.001
Age        0.012   0.0001    0.003        5.34       0.038    0.846
LO         0.289   0.084     0.080        5.07      25.67 **  0.000
JS         0.12    0.014     0.011        5.19       3.91 *   0.049
Total      0.37    0.13      0.124        4.85       10.17    0.001

* p < 0.05
** p < 0.01

Table 3 Locus of control, job satisfaction, and demographic
characteristics on depersonalisation of burnout dimensions in the
teachers
                            Adjusted  Std error of
Variables    R    R square  R square  the estimate     F        p

Gender     0.243    0.059     0.056        4.38     18.55 **  0.000
Age        0.352    0.124     0.121        4.24     43.33 **  0.000
LC         0.331    0.110     0.107        4.29     35.66 **  0.000
JS         0.313    0.098     0.095        4.41     29.78 **  0.000
Total      0.550    0.308     0.298        3.92     29.31 **  0.001

** p < 0.01

Table 4 Locus of control, job satisfaction and demographic
characteristics on personal accomplishment of burnout
dimensions in the teachers

                            Adjusted  Std error of
Variables    R    R square  R square  the estimate     F        p

Gender     0.106    0.011    0.008      3.390        3.135    0.078
Age        0.229    0.052    0.049      3.330       15.05 **  0.000
LO         0.002    0.000    0.004      3.370        0.01     0.980
JS         0.065    0.004    0.000      3.336        1.13     0.280
Total      0.246    0.061    0.055      3.210        3.95 **  0.004

* p < 0.05
** p <0.01

Table 5a Burnout levels according to gender

                         Female (n=164)  Male (n=126)

Burnout dimensions         M      SD       M       SD

Emotional Exhaustion     12.22  5.10      9.97    5.29
Depersonalisation         3.62  2.85      6.26    5.28
Personal Accomplishment  22.09  3.37     22.92    3.46

Table 5b Burnout levels of teachers with internal-external
locus of control

                         Internal (n=166)    External (n=124)

Burnout dimensions         M       SD          M      SD

Emotional Exhaustion     10,515  5,559       11,193  4,800
Depersonalisation         3,940  2,806        7,305  6,294
Personal Accomplishment  23,130  3,337       22,172  3,469

Acknowledgement

The researcher would like to present his special thanks to Assistant Professor Dr Hakan Sari for his great help and motivation to be able to complete this study.

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Author

Dr Ali Murat Sunbul works in the Education Faculty at Selcuk University, 42090-Konya, Turkey. E-mail: [e-mail]