Examining the Relationships between Job Resources and Burnout Symptoms: Evidence from Technology and Vocational Business Lecturers in Nigerian Public Universities

Examining the Relationships between Job Resources and Burnout Symptoms: Evidence from Technology and Vocational Business Lecturers in Nigerian Public Universities

On the bases of the theoretical underpinnings and the conceptual model, the central purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to explore the levels of job resources and burnout symptoms among technology and vocational business lecturers, and (2) to explore the specific interplay between job resources and burnout symptoms among technology and vocational business lecturers. A nonexperimental quantitative research design was adopted toactualize the central purpose of this study. The population consisted of 288 technology and vocational business lecturers from public universities in Nigeria. The authors applied descriptive statistics (e.g. mean and standard deviation), inferential statistic (e.g. correlation) and regression statistics via 10000 resamples bootstrap with bias corrected and accelerated (BCa) estimates. The results showed that the level of job resources (e.g., use of various skills, support from HODs/colleagues, job autonomy, feedback on the job done and opportunities for career advancement) is generally low and the level of burnout symptoms (e.g., exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive impairment and emotional impairment) is generally high among technology and vocational business lecturers. The result suggested that technology and vocational business lecturers currently experienced absence of job resources and, in turn, suffer from burnout and its symptoms. The results further showed that job resources (e.g., use of various skills, support from HODs/colleagues, job autonomy, feedback on the job done and opportunities for career advancement) negatively predicted burnout and its symptoms (e.g., exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive impairment and emotional impairment). The result suggested that as job resources decreases, burnout and its symptoms increases. The result also suggested that the experiences of increased burnout symptoms is a function of the experiences of decreased job resources. The limitations and future research focus as well as theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed in the study.