Job Stress and Burnout among Lecturers: Personality and Social Support as Moderators

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of job stress, personality and social support to burnout among college of education lecturers. The second purpose was to examine the extent to which personality and social support can buffer the negative effects of stress on burnout. Survey methodology was used for this study. Job stress, personality and social support were used to predict emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. Findings showed that job stress, personality dimensions and social support jointly and separately predicted dimensions of burnout. Personality and social support interacted with job stress to predict personal accomplishment. Results support the view that, environmental (job stress and social support) and personal factors (personality traits) have influence on burnout. The papers findings imply that interventions designed to improve lecturers’ classroom management skills, social network and assessment of their personality traits may have positive impact in combating burnout.