Does Social Informal Learning at Work predict Burn-out ? A cross-sectional study among a sample of German teachers

Details

Supervisors

Raemdonck, Isabel ; Beausaert, Simon

Faculty

Faculté de psychologie, logopédie, sexologie et des sciences de la famille

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences psychologiques

Abstract

Learning and especially informal learning at the workplace, has lately sparked a considerable amount of interest among both, practitioners and scientists. Empirical studies found social informal learning to be an important predictor of work-related outcomes, such as employability, innovative behaviour and performance. This study was intended to extend this field of research by examining the relation between social informal learning and burn-out. Cross-sectional data from an online survey has been analysed. In total, 109 teachers from Germany completed the questionnaires. It was hypothesized to find negative relationships between social informal learning (measured on the three dimensions feedback, help and information seeking) and a global burn-out score, as well as each of its sub-dimensions separately (emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment). The results indicate a partial confirmation of the hypotheses. Indeed, global burn-out and reduced personal accomplishment are negatively related to the usage of received feedback but not to the other informal learning behaviours. In contrast, depersonalisation is only significantly (negatively) related to the usage of received help and emotional exhaustion to the usage of received information. To sum up, participants who reported higher engagement in behaviours of social informal learning than others, felt less burnt out. However, the results suggest a complex relationship that remains widely unexplained, since not all learning behaviours had the same predictive power on the sub-dimensions of burn-out. Therefore, different interpretations are discussed and propositions for future research are made. Additionally and despite the challenging findings, some implications for practice are outlined.