Irrational Beliefs as Mediator in the Relationship Between Activating Event and Stress in Malaysian Fully Residential School Teachers

Abstract

Teacher stress has been a major concern among researchers as it has negative impact on teaching profesion. This study aimed to test the mediating effect of irrational beliefs on the relationship between activating event as the independent variable and stress as the dependent variable. Data were collected from a sample of 201 teachers from seven Malaysian Fully Residential School (FRS) in the Johor state by using stratified random sampling. The Teacher Irrational Beliefs (TIB), Teacher Activating Event (TAE), and Teacher Stress (TRS) questionnaires were employed to measure irrational beliefs, activating events, and stress of teachers. The Pearson coefficient correlation was used to determine the relationships among variables and multiple regression analysis was used to verify the presence of mediation effects. In general, the correlation results showed that there were positive relationships among variables. The findings of regression analysis indicated that irrational beliefs mediate the relationship between activating event and stress among FRS teachers. This findings highlighted the teachers’ irrational beliefs as the major determinants of emotional problems rather than activating event itself which comply with the ABC Model based on Rational-Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) approach.

Psychosocial Work Environment and Teachers’ Psychological Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Job Control and Social Support

“…Psychological well-being or mental health among teachers has become an increasing issue in many countries [ 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Nevertheless, most studies in school settings have been on students rather than on the health and well-being of teachers [ 28 ].…”

“…Female teachers with heavy workloads in school or home were most likely to have poor mental health. Meanwhile, Ghani, Ahmad and Ibrahim [ 25 ] concluded that special education teachers suffered mild stress and indicated student misbehavior as the primary source of teacher stress, followed by workload, time and resources difficulties, recognition, and interpersonal relationships. A comparative study by Kavita and Hassan [ 23 ] on teachers in Selangor revealed that secondary school teachers, compared with primary school teachers, perceived more stress in all stress factors, which were rapport with parents and co-workers, workload, time constraints, student attitude, recognition and support, and lack of resources.…”

The Role of Irrational Beliefs on Psychological Distress among Female Office Workers in Bali

“…Also, the higher the IB score, the greater the psychological distress, and results in decreased work efficiency or productivity. 26,29,30 Referring to Ellis, we understand that individuals can have erroneous ideas (destructive, unconscious beliefs, which result in maladaptive tendencies and cause psychological distress) that can be replaced with the correct or more adaptive ideas. 7,8,12 Compared to other countries, job demands of female workers in Bali are similar to India, which are traditional norms that add to the social obligations due to marriage, and women have greater domestic responsibilities than their spouses.…”

The Irrational Beliefs of Balinese Female Office Workers

“…This can result from psychological distress experiences and related to the risk of being suffered from some illness among the person. The higher the IB results in easily on being decreased in work efficiency or productivity [7][8][9][10][11]. Sure, this does not signify that workers must only passively accept the condition.…”