Impact of social support on the relationship between stress and wellbeing among female teachers in Pakistan

Abstract

In recent years, attention given to stress research has been rapidly increasing. However, research on the experiences of stress and role of social support in the lives of female teachers has not received considerable attention in Pakistan. Therefore, this study investigated the problem of stress and its effects on the wellbeing of female teachers. Initially, the levels of stress and wellbeing were measured according to individual differences among female teachers, followed by an examination of the relationship between stress and wellbeing. Finally, the moderating effect of social support was determined. To investigate this relationship, a comprehensive research framework was developed by employing the transactional model of stress and coping. 379 Pakistani public higher secondary school female teachers were chosen as respondents for this study. A cross-sectional survey was carried out to collect data on the levels of stress and wellbeing which were measured using the mean scores. One- Way ANOVA was undertaken to compare the stress and wellbeing levels according to demographic characteristics. The relationship between stress and wellbeing was analysed using Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. In addition, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis was utilised to examine the moderating effect of social support on the relationship between stress and wellbeing. The results of the current study revealed that the respondents experienced high levels of stress and low levels of wellbeing. The stress was negatively related with wellbeing. Collectively, stress dimensions explained 43.7% of the variance in their wellbeing. For the moderating effect, social support from family and friends significantly moderated the relationship between stress and wellbeing. The findings of this study will be significant to administrators and policy makers in enhancing their understanding of the overall nature of stress and its negative effects on the wellbeing and role of social support needed for the well-being of female teachers. As a conclusion, this study contributes to the research in the field of organisational psychology and studies on stress, wellbeing and social support.