Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Study on stress management for teachers in Malaysia

Study on adjudicate management for teachers in MalaysiaTeaching is star of the most deformful tunes in Malaysia. The talk on Stress centering for Teachers (Kolej Disted-Stamford news, 23 February 2008) decl atomic number 18d that teaching is a challenging profession and hence, teachers could do with learning how to de- melodic line to maintain upright health and high spirits.There are cardinal main sources of stress which bear upon teachers heavy workload and students problem. Nowadays, a teachers duty is multifaceted as they undertake non unless teaching but besides matters associated with curriculum, students, parents, the school community as well as departmental initiatives.An some new(prenominal) key point to note, the success of the newly launched National Education Blueprint has tending(p) a big impact on the development of the schools and teachers themselves. This plan is expected to produce intellectual students who are able to collect information and take a way intimacy and skills, instead of purely memorizing knowledge. Education system should cater to the needs of all students smart, mediocre, weak or disabled. The success of the National Education Blueprint depends on the teachers ability, quality, skills and authorization in educating students. Teachers are required to catch proficient skills in teaching and educating students to fill upl the governments aspiration in providing world class education. As a lead of this new system, married female teachers whitethorn face an increase in workload which depart in turn affect their work performance as well as their psychological offbeat.According to Smylie (1999), These are tough times organism a teacher (p. 59). Ewing and Smith (2003) account that amidst 25% and 40% of beginning teachers in the Western World countries are leaving teaching or facing burnout syndrome. Over the past ten years, many investigateers focused on the effect of work overload on work-family troth. Gene rally, they found that high levels of work overload led to higher levels of work-family engagement (WFC). From a face-to-face perspective, suggested that the demands that employees have to fulfil considering their resources videlicet time and emotions to establish to work with less devote to their families. work demands require employees to devote more(prenominal) resources namely time and emotions to work, leaving them with fewer resources to devote to their families.Greenhaus and Beutell (1985) define work-family counterpoint as a type of inter- graphic symbol dispute in which component part pressures from work and family are mutually in matched. That is, work demands are not compatible with family demands (Allen, Herst, Bruck, and Sutton, 2000). Allen et al. (2000) reviewed the relationship between work-family conflict and (a) work- related to outcomes, (b) non-work-related outcomes, (c) stress-related outcomes and generally found significant relationships across these ar eas. They concluded that work-family conflict has important personal and organizational consequences.It is important to note that the azoic explore on multiple roles focused almost on women, particularly on women who occupied the roles of wife, mother, and employee. The multiple roles of women may affect the offbeat of the family such(prenominal) as the husband, children and including the wife herself. troth occurs when a family is unable to cope with this multiples roles rough-and-readyly and the result has been found to affect work satisfaction and psychological eud bespeakonia (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985 Loscocco and Roschelle, 1991 Phelan et al., 1991).In parliamentary law to maintain the health and success of teachers and schools, greater understanding of WFC is fundamental. Consequently, the influence of WFC in the prediction of psychological social welfare is receiving increasing attention (e.g., ODriscoll, Brough, and Kalliath, 2004). This has led to an increment in the number of occupational stress researchers as well as WFC proteans in their estimates of both individual health and work performance (Brough O Driscoll, 2005). inquiry suggests that an individuals self- efficiency in a specific domain provides information regarding how the individual perceive and cope with challenges. In the case of managing conflict that inevitably arise between personal and pro responsibilities, assessing work-family conflict faculty may provide a unique perspective on what might ultimately help to reduce the interdict outcomes namely lessening in life and job satisfaction that are associated with work-family conflict. Understanding how self-efficacy function in the relationship between work-family conflict and these outcomes could bring about meaningful remedial measures for women experiencing work-family conflict.Self-efficacy is defined as, peoples judgments in their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to attain designated types of performance (p. 391). Bandura (1977) described self-efficacy as a key determinant of psychological change, resource of settings and activities, quality of performance in a specific domain, and level of persistence when one meets adverse or negative experiences.Having mentioned about efficacy, other soothsayers may in addition have significance in contributing to WFC and welfare. unearthly make do and religiosity that have been found to affect health status positively, including overall morbidity and mortality, shrill conditions, fatal ailments, pain and chronic illness (Levin, 1994). Religious belief has been perceived as one way of coping with conflict. The positive influence of ghostly consequence on well-being was found to be direct and substantial, whereby individuals with a slopped ghostlike faith reported higher levels of life satisfaction and greater personal happiness (Ellison, 1991), as well as lower levels of put out (Ross, 1990). Religious activities especially prayers are usually regarded as positive coping devices directed toward both the problem and personal growth (Folkman, Lazarus, Dunkel-Shetter, De Longis Gruis, 1986).Due to the insufficient of information on the psychological outcomes of combining work and family roles among Malaysian women, the present study is aimed at study the direct and indirect relationships between WFC efficacy, religious coping, WFC and well-being. The study hypothesized that the relationship between WFC efficacy, religious coping and well-being is mediated by WFC. Therefore, the proposed model hypothesized WFC to act as an intervening variable between WFC efficacy and religious coping and well-being among female teachers in Malaysia.STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMChanges in family structures are transforming the workplace opus adjustments in parental work patterns are altering family life. Thus, there has been a dramatic increase in rates of paid employment globally among mothers with children. Res earch on WFC since the past 30 years has been fuelled by the growing proportion of employees who are dual-earner partners or single parents. As the number of working women with young children at home and dual-career households rise, so does the need for research and organizational attention towards potentially reducing stress imputable to WFC. Research to date suggests that high levels of work-family conflict are related to dysfunctional outcomes such as life dissatisfaction, anxiety, depression, and poor health in individual, increased interpersonal conflict and divorce in relationships, and as for the organizations, namely absenteeism, tardiness and loss of talented employees.Besides that, The National Union of The Teaching Profession (NUTP) Secretary, General Lok Yim Pheng, in New Sunday Times, May 18, 2008, informed that teachers are overload with paper work and they are pressured to train students on how to answer examination questions. Teachers must always maintain the qualit y of their work, try to improve their productivity and acquire knowledge and skills to develop human capital in the globalized world. Moreover, teachers play an essential role in shaping a community as their products of educating efforts contribute to its functionality. These are the demands of teaching profession nowadays.Researchers have identified various stressors that may affect the psychological well-being of teachers and one of the stressor is workload that may lead to burnout. Although somewhat researchers may argue that social status is one of the most important components for psychological well-being (Bredemeier, 1979), it seems that excessive workload could impose an undue level of stress that is more serious than any other stressors. A large number of studies show that teachers are exposed to workload which results particularly in stress and transmission line. At to the lowest degree one third of teachers can be seen as suffering from extreme stress and/or burnout (e. g., Boyle, Borg, Falzon Baglioni, 1991 Friesen Sarros, 1989).Researchers have considered various unique antecedents to WFC (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985 Frone, 1992). However, the role of personality factors on womens well-being, on the other hand, is less well documented. Only a few researchers have assessed the relationship between WFC efficacy and religious coping. For instance, Carlson (1999) found negative affectivity to be directly related to greater WIF conflict. There is a need to identify how WFC efficacy and religious coping can be linked with WFC and well-being in a causal relationship in the school setting. The present study uses the Structural Equation Model (SEM) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to examine relationships among cardinal independent (exogenous) and dependent (endogenous) variables simultaneously in a causal framework.With regard to personal resources, why do some teachers succeed in being good teachers continuously enhancing students achievements , setting high goals for themselves and pursuing them persistently, while others fail to meet expectations imposed on them and tend to collapse under the burden of everyday stress? Based on this statement, the study examines the problem by investigating the influence of teachers WFC efficacy and religious coping on work-family conflict and well-being of female teachers in Malaysia. If teachers WFC efficacy and religious coping can be proven to reduce WFC among female teachers, it seems possible to increase teachers WFC efficacy and improve teachers coping style utilize religious approach which in turn may boost teachers well-being. Again, if WFC efficacy and religious coping are causally related to WFC as hypothesized, this relationship will reduce teachers WFC and increase teachers well-being respectively.PURPOSE OF THE STUDYIn generally, this study serves the purpose to examine the impact of WFC efficacy and religious coping on WFC and well-being of secondary school teachers in M alaysia.To validate the instruments utilized in this study, the researcher adopted the two-step Structural Equation Modeling. Then, the researcher estimated the hypothesized relationships.The primary purpose of this research is to construct-validate the instrument to assess WFC of female teachers in Malaysia which are Work-family conflict (WFC), Work-family conflict efficacy (WFC efficacy) Religious coping (RC), Well-being (WB) consisted of Health (GHQ) and Job-Family Dissatisfaction (JFD). The study also estimates the relationships of WFC, WFC efficacy, RC and well-being of female teachers in Malaysia.RESEARCH QUESTIONSThe following research questions are formulated to address the hypothesized relationships1. Are the constructs of work-family conflict, work-family conflict efficacy, religious coping and well-being valid and accepted?2. Does work-family conflict efficacy directly influenced the well-being of female teachers in Malaysia?3. Does work-family conflict efficacy indirect ly influenced well-being via work-family conflict of female teachers in Malaysia?4. Does religious coping directly influenced well-being of female teachers in Malaysia?5. Does religious coping indirectly influenced well-being via work-family conflict of female teachers in Malaysia?Does teachers work-family conflict directly influenced by their well-being?Does WFC-efficacy and religious coping significantly correlated?THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF WORK-FAMILY CONFLICTThe model of this study, which is derived from Frone et al., (1992), examines the interrelationships among the two predictors WFC efficacy and RC that may affect well-being directly and indirectly via work-family conflict.This research focuses on the variables that are considered vital to increase well-being and to reduce WFC. The hypothesized interrelationships and interdependency among these variables are presented in Figure 1. The model depicts four measurement models, label as efficacy accounted for the variability in WFC efficacy and FWC-efficacy. First, work-family conflict-efficacy (WFC efficacy) which acts as a predictor or an independent variable comprises work-family conflict efficacy (WFC efficacy) and family-work conflict efficacy (FWC efficacy) of work-family conflict and well-being. This type of personality may improve or increase ones well-being because it strongly affects a persons ability to do a task. Teachers WFC efficacy should aim at reducing teachers experiences with WFC aside from functioning as a personality booster. Thus, an individuals personality plays a role in the amount of work-family conflict that he or she experiences.The second latent variable, religious coping illustrates the underlying factors for positive religious/spiritual coping (POS RC) and negative religious/spiritual coping (NEG RC). In influence for teachers to cope with work-family conflict, they need to choose an effective coping style. In this study, religious coping as a second predictor of WFC and wel l-being may have significant relationships with both dependents. It is certainly reasonable to argue that teachers who manage their religious coping well would most likely have less WFC and a break up well-being. In addition, the relationship between the two constructs namely WFC efficacy and religious coping would covary. In other words, the researcher believes that the constructs are correlated, but does not take aim that one construct is dependent upon another. This relationship is depicted by a two-headed arrow connection as shown in Figure 1. In the current study, WFC efficacy and religious coping will be tested as predictors of WFC and well-being.The third latent variable, WFC, holds the underlying factor for Work-interfering-with-family and Family-interfering-with-work. WFC occurs when participation in the work role and the family role is incompatible in some respect. Work-family conflict can arise from 1) the time demands of one role that interfere with participation in t he other role and 2) the stress that originates in one role that spills over into the other role which, only detracts from the latters quality of life. As a result, participation in one role is do more difficult by virtue of participation in the other role. Individuals who invest more time or more psychological involvement in their work rather than their family experience the highest levels of work-to-family conflict and life stress, which ultimately reduce their quality of life.The fourth latent variable, well-being, accounts for the variability in General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and Job-Family Dissatisfaction (JFD) which is hypothesized to represent participants reported well-being. Thus, it is not what the situation offers but rather how we react to a situation that determines our well being. If work and family roles were imbalanced, conflict might occur which would eventually affect the well-being of a person. Effects will range from job-family dissatisfaction to health prob lems, which are viewed as psychological distress.Work-Family negate EfficacyH3Well-being(distress job dissatisfactionWork-familyConflict(wif,fiw) H2H7 H6H3ReligiousCopingH5Figure 1 The Hypothesized Model of Work-family Conflict and Well-BeingNote Exogenous Construct WFC efficacy religious coping WFCEndogenous Construct WFC well-beingRESEARCH HYPOTHESISIn the hypothesized model, six-spot hypotheses are tested to depict the relationships between work-family conflict and the three variables identified above. In the following discussion, each of these six hypotheses are identified and exempted.The Reciprocal Relationship between Work-Family Conflict Efficacy, Work-Family Conflict and Well-BeingStudies have shown that the personal resources that women bring with them into their roles explained more of the variance in reported strain symptoms than the role stressors alone (e.g. Amatea Fong, 1991). Self-efficacy in a particular domain has been indirectly and directly linked to outcome s in that domain. For instance, Lent, Brown and Hackett (1994) suggested that self-efficacy promotes academic and vocational outcomes, such as interest, choice and performance. The conservation of resources model proposes that individuals act to acquire and maintain a variety of resources, such as objects, energies, condition and personal characteristic. On the tail of these findings, the following hypotheses are proposedH2 Those with high work-family conflict efficacy will portray increased well-being (low distress and low dissatisfaction)H3 The effects of work-family conflict efficacy on well-being are mediated by work-family conflict, such that those with high work-family conflict efficacy demonstrate less conflict which will leads to increased well-being (low distress and low dissatisfaction).The Reciprocal Relationship between Religious Coping, Work-family Conflict and Well-BeingIn recent years, a growing body of literature has explored the implications of religion and church property for various mental and physical health outcomes (Koenig 1994). Other findings have also indicated that various dimensions of religiousness and spirituality may enhance the infixed states of well-being (Ellison, 1991). A report by the Fetzer Institute (2003), stated that a few studies in the US show that the subjective beneficial effects of participating in religious services, prayer and Bible reading are primarily due to their role in strengthening religious belief and individuals who describe themselves as having a strong religious faith report being happier and more satisfied with their lives. Most recently, Lapierre and Allen (2006) had used conservation of resources model to study the different coping methods employed by individuals to avoid WFC. They found that some coping methods are more useful than others to help individuals gain or conserve resources. Thus, the following hypotheses are proposedH4 Those with high religious coping show increased well-being (low dis tress and low dissatisfaction).H5 The effects of religious coping on well-being are mediated by work-family conflict such that those with high religious coping portray less conflict which leads to increased well-being (low distress and low dissatisfaction)The Reciprocal Relationship between Work-Family Conflict and Well-BeingWork-family conflict has been found to have a significant negative relationship with measured of psychological health rather than physical health (Mikkelsen Burke, 2004). Noor (2006) presented some selected research findings on work, family and womens well-being. The result showed that women were more strongly affected by the changes in their lives compared to men because even when employed they are still primarily trusty for the home and family. Role theory and spillover theory are the underpinning theories to explain the connection between WFC and well-being. Thus, the following hypothesis is proposedH6 WFC negatively influences well-being.The Reciprocal Rel ationship between Work-Family Conflict Efficacy and Religious Coping CovaryJudge, Erez and Bono (1998) suggested that self-efficacy has a strong influence on individuals, whether they adopt an optimistic or pessimistic coping style (Seligman Schulman, 1996). They suggested that those with high generalised self-efficacy believe in their ability to change bad situations. The type of coping strategy selected has been shown to be related to the experience of work-family strain and overall well-being. Researchers have also found that self-efficacy is linked to the effectiveness of coping (Anderson, 1977 Bandura, 1977). On the basis of these findings, the following hypothesis is proposedH7 WFC efficacy and religious coping significantly correlated.SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDYThis is a fundamental area of study for both researchers and practitioners, as more and more female teachers struggle having to take up with multiple roles in life being a wife, a parent and even a caretaker of elderly parents aside from her teaching profession. Teachers are the main doers in the process of forming a community and students are the products of teachers educating efforts.Due to the above basis, there are three important research areas that need focus namely theory, methodology and practicality.Firstly, from the theoretical viewpoint, less attention is given over to examine how WFC and well-being are indirectly related to efficacy and RC. The studies by Frone (2003) called for the examination of personality dispositions as antecedents of WFC. The role of personality factors on womens well-being, on the other hand, is less well documented. Carlson (1999) found negative affectivity to be directly related to greater WIF conflict. Although many studies on WFC involved nurses, managers, clericals, doctors, lawyers and engineers there were not many studies related to work and family conflict in the teaching profession.According to Kinicki et al.s (1996) review, the basic proposition which states that environmental and personality variables influence the choice of coping strategies, has been generally supported by empirical research, but the relationships between coping strategies and outcomes are dissonant. Research on coping should address both the effects of coping on appraisal and strain as well as vice versa (Harris, 1991). It is vital to note that this study focus on the relationships between religious coping and work-family conflict and well-being. Furthermore, knowing how women study with the realities of their conflicts rather than how they feel about them seems particularly important. Therefore it is of great interest to get a deeper knowledge of the antecedents/predictors of the teachers work-family conflict.Secondly, is/from the methodological component/perspective. There are inconsistent findings regarding the relationship between WFC and well-being. Due to this reason, this study also investigates the direct and indirect relationships concurrently. Ap art from that, this study also examines WFC efficacy as a predictor of WFC due to the inconclusive findings related to efficacy and stress. In the current study, the researcher examines work-family conflict efficacy that may play an important role as a predictor of WFC in increasing teachers well-being. Unfortunately, not much is known about the relationships between WFC efficacy, religious coping, WFC and well-being in Malaysian studies. Thus, this study examines direct and indirect relationships between WFC, WFC efficacy, religious coping and well-being. By using Structural Equation Modeling, the direct and indirect relationships can be simultaneously tested. To achieve this purpose, the data are study using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Additionally, there is only few research on WFC among teachers in the Malaysian macrocosm utilizing SEM. The result of the study would substantiate understanding about the phenomenon of work-family co nflict in teacher population with the use of SEM.Thirdly, in practicality, it is important to study WFC and the psychological well-being of female school teachers. Studies has indicated that many teachers are incapable of juggling their professional and family roles effectively (Elbaz-Lubisch, 2002 Spencer, 1986). Teachers in Ackers study (1992) clearly thought that the combination roles of being a teacher and a mother were not at all convenient. Job satisfaction and teaching competence are important variables in regard to teachers perseverance in the profession. For instance, studies by Certo and Fox (2002) indicated that job satisfaction in teaching was associated with aspects such as workplace conditions, administrative control, and organizational culture. It also touched on how teachers felt about their own competencies like teaching accomplishments and their general feelings coming to work. When teacher satisfaction was examined by Scott and Dinham (2003), they found that it w as influenced by students achievement and personal efficacy. Hence, it may be plausible to argue that a teachers well-being is influenced by job satisfaction and competence plus, reduced well-being associated with work may lead to stress that will in turn affect job performance.This study hopes to contribute to the importance of the relationships between WFC, WFC efficacy, religious coping and well-being of female teachers. Work-family problems, if they are not effectively managed, will not only affect individuals and their families, but also adversely affect their employers and ultimately the society at large. Hence, the responsibility for developing and implementing effective ways to reduce work-family interference and increase development should be shared by organizations, individuals and their families, as well as policy-makers. This study may also do the policy-makers and administrators to implement intervention strategies aimed at managing teachers WFC, if possible reducing t heir workload.Additionally, practitioners are interested in the extent to which various interventions like family-friendly policies and programs, and the supportiveness of the work-family culture would actually reduce employees work-family role conflict. They are also interested in how this can have significant impact on a number of work, family and personal outcomes, as mentioned above. Therefore, future research should be aimed at examining the effectiveness of such interventions.LIMITATION OF THE STUDYFirst, limiting the generalizability of current findings, even though the sample represents the organizations population, they were female. Secondly, the disadvantage of using a mess method is that it influence the willingness of individuals to respond accurately. Finally, the present study is clearly limited by the cross-sectional nature of the research.DELIMITATION OF THE STUDYThis study focused only on married female secondary school teachers in the District of Hulu Langat in Se langor. This sample size was limited to only those who were in one dominion in one state. The researcher controlled the influence of participants marital status, number of children, working experience on WFC and level of institutions (secondary schools) that were expected to have high significant levels of conflict between work and family roles. The presence of children within the home has been identified as a factor that affects conflict. Regarding the influence children have on work and family conflict, research has suggested that FWC and WFC are exacerbated by the number of children living within the home (Kinnunen Mauno, 1998 Voydanoff, 1988). This research also included in-depth open-ended interviews to further explore the mechanisms that explain teachers WFC.DEFINITION OF THE OPERATIONAL identify TERMSFor the purpose of this study, the key terms or constructs under the study are operationally defined as follow, with some elaborations on the definitions.Work-Family ConflictW ork-family conflict has been defined as a form of inter-role conflict in which pressures from work and family roles are incompatible (Greenhaus Beutell, 1985). For instance, when one devotes extra time and energy into one role, the other role is compromised. This study defines work-family conflict according to Netemeyer et al., (1996, p. 401) as a form of inter-role conflict in which the general demands of, time devoted to and strain created by the job interfere with performing family-related responsibilities.Work-Family Conflict EfficacyWork-family conflict efficacy is defined as an individuals beliefs in her or his ability to manage work-family and family-work conflict (Cinamon, 2003). In this study, work-family conflict efficacy refers to the perceptions of self-efficacy to manage work-family conflict and family-work conflict.Self-efficacy was theoretically defined in this study as self-regulatory efficacy, which is a specific type of perceived self-efficacy. The given attainmen t in this study was Bandura (1997) defined a specific type of self-efficacy, self-regulatory efficacy, as the ability to guide and motivate oneself to get things done that one knows how to do. The issue is not whether one can do them occasionally but whether one has the efficacy to get oneself to do them regularly in the face of varied dissuading (p.43).Religious Coping non-homogeneous definitions of coping have been proposed, including coping as a psychoanalytic process as a personal trait, style or disposition as a description of situationally specific strategies and as a process. In this study, coping in the context of religious approach is used. Thus, religious coping is defined as dealings with life effectively within the search for significance towards the sacred (Pargament, 1997). Religious coping includes a positive and negative religious/spiritual coping factor that reflects benevolent religious involvement in the search for significance and a negative factor that reflect s religious struggle in coping.Well-beingKathryn Dianne (2009) argued that employee well-being consists of subjective well-being (life satisfaction and dispositional affect), workplace well-being (job satisfaction and work-related affect) and psychological well-being (self acceptance, positive relations with others, environmental mastery, autonomy, purpose in life and personal growth). In this study well-being refers to symptoms of psychological distress and job-family dissatisfaction.Symptoms of psychological distressGoldberg (1978) has identified symptoms of psychological distress through somatic and affective of distress.Job-Family DissatisfactionJob-family dissatisfaction refers to a respondents perception of negative spillover from his or her work to family (Small Riley, 1990), for example the negative impact of a respondents work demands or stressors on her marital and parental roles.MediatorMediators are intervening variables, which could explain why relationships exist. Me diation exists when an exogenous construct indirectly influences an endogenous construct via a third variable or construct. That is, the effect of a third variable or construct (mediator) intervenes between two other related constructs. In this study, work-family conflict functions as a mediator.SUMMARYChapter one is organized into nine sections. The rootage section presents the background of the study, followed by the statement of problem and purpose of the study. To achieve the purpose of the study, several research questions have been formulated and explained more on the conceptual framework part, a set of relationships (work-family conflict efficacy, religious coping, work-family conflict and well-being) in a path diagram is depicted. Sixth, on the basis of

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