Do demographic characteristics make a difference to burnout among Hong Kong secondary school teachers?

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the relationship between teachers' demographic variables and burnout in Hong Kong using the Maslach Burnout Inventory. It is found that when compared with the North American normative data, Hong Kong teachers scored in the average range of burnout in emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment while they scored in the low range of burnout in depersonalization. Gender differences were found in all three burnout syndromes, and teachers who were younger, unmarried, without religious beliefs, less experienced, without finishing professional training and of junior rank were more consistently burned out. Whereas age was the strongest predictor for emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, teachers' rank is the best predictor for personal accomplishment. However, the effect of demographic characteristics of teachers on burnout is not that salient. © Springer 2005.