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consists of twelve factors which include both positive and negative components such as
meaninglessness, self-esteem, positive affect, life satisfaction, suicidal ideas, personal
control, tension etc. and they can be tapped by their scale developed to measure
psychological wellbeing. In other words, a person high in PWB not only carries higher
levels of life satisfaction, self-esteem, positive feelings and attitudes, but also manages
tensions, negative thoughts, ideas and feelings more efficiently.
Research has demonstrated a clear relationship between perceived stress and
wellbeing (Udoh & Ajala; 2001). The word stress, like success, failure, or happiness,
means different things to different people and no-one has really tried to define it,
although it has become part of our daily vocabulary (Seyle, 1956, 1991). Stress,
generally, can be defined as reaction of individuals to demands (stressors) imposed upon
them (Erkutle & Chafra, 2006). However, work related stress is caused when there is a
mismatch between job requirements and the individual's capabilities, resources or needs
(National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1999).
The World Health Organization (WHO) calls stress a worldwide epidemic. This
is because it has recently been observed to be associated with 90% of visits to physicians.
Also 40% of employee turnover are due to stress-related problems (Akinboye, 1992).
Stress is thus a composite and multi-dimensional condition impacting with profound
consequences on living organisms (Akinboye, 2002).
Another variable of interest in this study is mental health. Research has
established a link between mental health and wellbeing (Martin, Carlson & Buskist,
2007; Musah & Salome, 2007; Tim & Rockey, 1992). Sunderland & Cooper (1992)
reported that nearly three in every ten employees will have a mental health problem in
any one year, the great majority of which will be anxiety and depressive disorders.
Mental health problems account for the loss of over 91 million working days each year.
Half of all days lost through mental ill health are due to anxiety and stress conditions. The
Confederation of British Industry (CBI) estimates that 30 times as many days are lost
from mental ill health as from industrial disputes.
Research findings have shown that ones belief may be a source of stress and
performance. One type of belief that has received considerable attention in the research is
self-efficacy. Research findings have shown that ones own beliefs of efficacy function as
an important determinant of motivation, affect, thought and action (Bandura, 1992). Selfefficacy refers to beliefs about ones capabilities to learn and perform behaviours at
designated levels (Bandura, 1986, 1997). Schwarzer (1999) posits that self-efficacy can
make difference to peoples ways of thinking, feeling and acting. With respect to feelings,
a low sense of self-efficacy is associated with depression, anxiety and helplessness.
People with low self-efficacy also harbour pessimistic thoughts about their performance
and personal development.
Research has shown that Self-Efficacy can influence behavior (Bandura, 1982;
Delcourt & Kinzie, 1993 and Maitland, 1996). Seligman and Schulman (1986) have
found that people who can find something positive in less-than-desirable circumstances
are generally more successful than are people who view those circumstances negatively.
Self-efficacy has been argued to be an increasingly important construct in the
organizational sciences (Gist and Mitchell, 1992), often examined as an individual
difference factor capable of influencing the relationship between antecedents and
consequences. Research has shown that employees who report perceptions of personal
efficacy cope better when faced with change (Hill, 1987), resist the acceptance of
negative feedback (Meece, Wigfield, & Eccles, 1990), and persist at performing tasks
longer, even in the face of adversity (Lent, Lopez & Bieschke 1991).
While it is very heartening to see a growing interest in the psychological
wellbeing of people, we are still at low pace at studying its relevance to organizational
growth. In short, psychological wellbeing is not just a moderator variable to our
performance as reported by Sultana (1996), rather it makes life meaningful and
purposeful. Rightly therefore, efforts are being made by psychologists to investigate the
socio-psychological correlates of PWB (Sinha and Verma, 1992). Based on the above
background, the following two research questions are raised in other to achieve the
objective of this study: (i) what is the combined effect of perceived stress, self-efficacy
and mental health on psychological wellbeing of secondary teachers? And (ii) what is the
relative contribution of perceived stress, self-efficacy and mental health on psychological
wellbeing of secondary teachers.
Method
Design
The present study adopts the Ex-post-facto research design. The predictor
variables examined have already occurred; hence there was no manipulation of the
variables. The predictor variables in this study are perceived stress, self-efficacy and
mental health
Instrumentation
Four standardized instruments were used for data collection. The instruments are
described below.
-Perceived Stress Scale
It is a 10-item scale designed and developed by Blau (1970). The scale has a
response format ranging between never (0), almost never (1), sometimes (2), fairly
often (3), and very often (4). High scores in the scale reflect high level of perceived
stress while low scores reflect low level of perceived stress. In this study, a Cronbachs
alpha of 0.72 and a Guttman Split-half reliability coefficient of 0.77 were reported for the
scale.
-Generalized Perceived Self-Efficacy Scale
The Generalized Perceived Self-Efficacy Scale (GPSS) developed by Jerusalem
and Schwarzer (1995) was adopted to measure the self-efficacy of the respondents. The
German version of the scale was developed and used by Matthias Jerusalem and Ralf
Schwarzer in 1980 as a 20-item version and later improved to 10-items version.
Examples of the items on the scale are (1) I can remain calm when facing difficulties
because I can rely on my coping abilities and (2) I can usually handle whatever comes
my way
Procedure
The researchers personally administered the scales to the respondents. Completed
scales were thoroughly checked to ensure that they were properly filled. The data analysis
involved multiple regression analysis, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the T-test
statistics.
Data Analysis
The tables presented below show the composite effects and the relative contributions of
each independent variable to the psychological wellbeing of the subjects.
Table 1: Analysis of the Composite Effects of Predictor Variables on Psychological
Wellbeing
R
0.332a
R square
0.110
Adjusted R Square
0.099
7.30
Model
Regression
Sum of Squares
1626.612
Df
3
Residual
13117.788
234 542.204
Total
14744.400
P<0.05 level
Means of Squares
Sig.
10.17
.000 a
237 53.324
Table1 shows the regression value for the combined effect (.332) and the adjusted
R2 (.099). This implies that 9.9% of the variance in the psychological wellbeing of
respondents is accounted for by the predictor variables. The table also shows that the Fvalue (10.17) is significant at 0.00, a level that is less than 0.05. This shows that the
predictor variables have significant effect on psychological wellbeing of teachers.
(Constant)
Perceived Stress
Standardized
Standardized T value
Coefficients
Coefficients
Std.
13.728
Error
5.596
-.225
.116
Self-Efficacy
Mental Health
.382
1.293
Sig.
Beta
2.453*
<.05
-.118
-1.931*
<.05
.084
.277
4.562*
<.05
.951
.803
1.359
>.05
mental health offers opportunities for resource development. Since wellbeing has to do
with optimal functionality, the result of this study, supports that of Sumbergs (1989)
study which found mentally healthy persons as ones who function adequately in family
and in society most of the time. The study also confirmed that the absence of stress
enhances the psychological wellbeing of teachers. This supports the work of Posen
(1995) which proved that understanding stress leads to deriving personal as well as
professional benefits and ultimately wellbeing.
Recommendations
Consequent upon the findings of the study, the following recommendations are made for
the improvement of teachers psychological wellbeing.
i.
Employees should be provided with genuine control over their work and an
appropriate degree of self-management of workload. Roles should be clearly
demarcated with defined responsibilities and expectations in order to avoid stress.
ii.
Employees should part of planning and decision making. The physical workplace
environment should be of a high standard, including natural light where possible,
good ventilation; good health and safety practices are readily available.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
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