Teachers’ feelings of burnout: Does it matter for interpersonal teacher behavior and students’ affective-motivational outcomes?

Abstract

Teacher burnout is theoretically and empirically assumed to impair their professional behavior. This could manifest itself in their communion (i.e., teacher friendliness) and interpersonal agency (i.e., social influence), as the two central dimensions of interpersonal teacher behavior, which in turn could negatively affect student outcomes. This study is one of the first to test this entire assumed process chain of effects. We extend prior research by considering (1) all three burnout symptoms rather than only emotional exhaustion, (2) both student and observer ratings of interpersonal teacher behavior, and (3) student-rated emotions and engagement as important affective-motivational student outcomes that have been understudied compared to cognitive learning outcomes. Drawing on data from N = 80 secondary school teachers and their N = 1748 students, multilevel analyses revealed that especially emotional exhaustion and reduced personal accomplishment were associated with less teacher communion, which was in turn associated with adverse affective experiences among students. These findings advance a more profound theoretical understanding of teacher burnout for their interpersonal behavior in class and for their students by demonstrating the hypothesized relationship for student-perceived communion while emphasizing the importance to consider all three burnout symptoms. Implications to support stakeholders in the education system to evaluate the value of interventions for reducing teacher burnout can also be derived.