Work-Related Psychological Wellbeing and Conservative Christian Belief Among Methodist Circuit Ministers in Britain: Distinguishing Between Emotional Exhaustion and Satisfaction in Ministry

Drawing on data provided by 803 Methodist circuit ministers serving in Great Britain, the present study was designed to test the association between conservative Christian belief and work-related psychological wellbeing as operationalised by the balanced affect model proposed by the Francis Burnout Inventory. After taking into account the effects of personal factors, psychological factors, contextual factors, and experience factors, holding conservative Christian belief was associated with a higher level of positive affect (satisfaction in ministry) but independent of negative affect (emotional exhaustion in ministry).

Promoting well-being in the face of a pandemic: the role of sense of coherence and ego-resilience in the relationship between psychological distress and life satisfaction

COVID-19 has impacted negatively on the lives and academic activities of university students. This has contributed to increasing levels of psychological distress among this population group. Intrinsic and contextual factors can mediate the psychological impact of the pandemic. The study focuses on sense of coherence and ego-resilience as potential protective factors on indices of psychological distress and life satisfaction. Participants were undergraduate students ( N = 337) at a South African university who completed six self-report questionnaires, namely, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, the University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, the Sense of Coherence Scale, the Ego-Resilience Scale, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. To examine the direct and mediating effects of sense of coherence and ego-resilience on psychological distress, structural equation modeling was used. Compared to previous research, greater psychological distress was found in the current sample. Moreover, while the hopelessness–life satisfaction relationship was only partially mediated by protective factors, the depression–life satisfaction relationship was fully mediated by sense of coherence and ego-resilience. The direct association between ego-resilience as well as sense of coherence and life satisfaction was significant, suggesting that these factors have a health-sustaining role.

The Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Work-Related Psychological Health Among Anglican Clergy in Wales

This study explores the effect of emotional intelligence (assessed by the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale) on work-related psychological health (assessed by the two scales of the Francis Burnout Inventory) among 364 Anglican clergy serving in the Church in Wales (264 clergymen, 93 clergywomen, and 7 who did not disclose their sex). After controlling for personal factors (sex and age) and for personality dimensions (extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism), the data suggested that higher levels of emotional intelligence enhanced work-related psychological health both in terms of lowering negative affect (emotional exhaustion in ministry) and in terms of increasing positive affect (satisfaction in ministry). These findings suggest that there may be benefits in professional development programmes designed to develop emotional intelligence among clergy.

Resilience and Burnout: A Stitch That Could save Nine

The central argument in this article is that there are psychological variables, subsumed here under the generic heading of resilience, that advance fortigenesis and thus create tendencies contrary to those that produce burnout, or favourable to its antipode of engagement. In a literature review, five theoretical variables are presented: engagement, meaningfulness, subjective well-being, positive emotions, and proactive coping, as well as five somewhat practical suggestions: personal strategic planning, restorative places, optimal experience (flow), interpersonal flourishing, and Balint groups. Some comments are made about research needs.

Black Teachers' Personality Dimensions and Work-Related Stress Factors

To determine the relationship between black teachers' personalities and their stress levels on work-related factors, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and Occupational Stress Inventory for Teachers (OSIT) were used. Participants included 444 black teachers, 186 of whom were male and 258 were female, from 24 randomly selected schools in the KwaZulu-Natal province. The mean scores obtained on teachers' biographical variables were analyzed by means of a three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results indicate significant regression of personality on the predictor variables such as time pressures, administrative problems and pupil misbehaviour. The extraversion personality dimension shows significant negative correlation with educational changes. A significant positive correlation is found between neuroticism and time pressures, administrative problems and pupil misbehaviour. The results also indicate significant three-way interaction effects for work-related stress factors such as time pressure and pupil misbehaviour. The results are discussed and implications for the psychological adjustment of teachers indicated.