Principals' Management Behavior, Personality Types and Physiological Stress

Cooper, Bruce S.; Sieverding, John W.; Muth, Rodney

doi:10.1108/eb009949

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…There is a large body of literature internationally which has documented the high prevalence of stress and burnout in the teaching profession (Kyriacou, 1987). The majority of this research relates to classroom teachers while comparatively few papers report on stress amongst school principals (Tung and Koch, 1980;Cooper et al, 1988;Savery and Detiuk, 1986). One study which has examined stressors amongst school principals and other school administrators indicated that the major stressors for principals related to the following four dimensions in decreasing order of importance: role-based stress, task-based stress, conflict-mediating stress and boundary-spanning stress (Tung and Koch, 1980).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A survey of Western Australian principals found that primary principals had higher stress levels than secondary principals (Savery and Detiuk, 1986). Another study attempted to correlate continuously monitored heart rate as an indicator of physiological stress to principal behaviour, and found variations in heart rate related to personality type (Cooper et al, 1988).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A survey of the health of Victorian primary school principals

Green

Malcolm²,

Greenwood³

et al. 2001

International Journal of Educational Management

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In recent years responsibility for the administration of schools internationally has shifted from education departments towards self‐governing schools. This trend has resulted in major changes to the role of school principals. Such changes in role may impact on the psychological and physical health of principals, but there has been very little research into this population. A survey of the health and wellbeing of a representative sample of 50 principals of State primary schools in Victoria, Australia is reported. Subjects completed questionnaires measuring health‐related behaviour and stress and arousal levels and participated in comprehensive health appraisals. Principals reported better smoking patterns than the population as a whole. Despite a higher socioeconomic status than the population as a whole, the health status of the principals was not apparently better. Principals reported higher stress levels and worse physical health than a group of white‐collar employees of similar socioeconomic status.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A survey of the health of Victorian primary school principals

Green

Malcolm²,

Greenwood³

et al. 2001

International Journal of Educational Management

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“…Further, several Canadian school districts have reported that a substantial number of school administrators have had to take medical leave due to stress-related illnesses. In one large urban school district it was reported that four school principals had suffered heart attacks and that three of the men had died [6].Stress has been identified as a serious disabling phenomenon that adversely affects the health and the lifestyle of individuals [7][8][9][10][11], and in some cases, as reported above, to death. Hence, school administrator "wellness" and "coping" programmes are being developed by school districts and principals' associations to address the problem of administrative stress.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stress has been identified as a serious disabling phenomenon that adversely affects the health and the lifestyle of individuals [7][8][9][10][11], and in some cases, as reported above, to death. Hence, school administrator "wellness" and "coping" programmes are being developed by school districts and principals' associations to address the problem of administrative stress.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Coping with stress in the principalship

Allison

1997

Journal of Educational Administration

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School principals face very busy and highly unpredictable work days with many individuals and groups competing for their time. Roberson and Matthews write that many principals are overworked, constantly under fire, and unappreciated [1]. Fallon states that confrontation, conflict, and compromise are constants which principals face on a daily basis [2]. Gmelch asserts that principals are becoming increasingly faced with more pressure, more aggression, more change, and more conflict than ever before [3]. In Canada, recent newspaper reports indicate that many school administrators are "overburdened", have "tough demanding jobs that are getting tougher all the time"[4] and are "severely stressed" [5]. Further, several Canadian school districts have reported that a substantial number of school administrators have had to take medical leave due to stress-related illnesses. In one large urban school district it was reported that four school principals had suffered heart attacks and that three of the men had died [6].Stress has been identified as a serious disabling phenomenon that adversely affects the health and the lifestyle of individuals [7][8][9][10][11], and in some cases, as reported above, to death. Hence, school administrator "wellness" and "coping" programmes are being developed by school districts and principals' associations to address the problem of administrative stress. Since stress cannot be avoided, identification of effective coping strategies may provide school principals with the tools which can be used to reduce the amount of stress from the environment and to moderate the effect of stress on the individual.

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“…To function in their work role, principals, just as any employee, need proper organisational preconditions, motivation, and good health [ 12 , 13 ]. It is therefore conspicuous that studies from, for example, Australia [ 8 , 14 – 18 ], Belgium [ 19 ], Canada [ 9 ], Israel [ 20 , 21 ], Ireland [ 7 ], Malaysia [ 22 ], United Kingdom [ 23 ] and the United States of America [ 24 , 25 ] collectively indicate that principals have a stressful work situation that put them at risk for work overload, chronic stress and, eventually, conditions such as burnout [ 26 ], exhaustion disorder (ED) [ 27 ] or other forms of poor health (e.g., cardiovascular disease) [ 14 , 28 ]. In addition, overstressed principals may contribute to secondary effects by discontinuing their job or negatively influencing the health and wellbeing of staff and students via sub-optimal leadership (e.g., hasty decision-making, lack of strategic planning, limited access to support, etc.).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of exhaustion symptoms and associations with school level, length of work experience and gender: a nationwide cross-sectional study of Swedish principals

et al. 2021

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Background While poor mental health and psychiatric disorders attributed to stressful work conditions are a public health concern in many countries, the health consequences of the occupational stress experienced by school principals is an understudied issue. Although current data is lacking, some research suggests that principals have a stressful work situation that eventually may lead to burnout and exhaustion disorder, thus negatively affecting the ability of principals to function as leaders. To gauge the situation in Sweden, and as a basis for future preventive actions, we examined to what extent principals displayed signs of exhaustion and whether the prevalence rates of exhaustion differed across school levels, length of work experience as a principal, and gender. Methods Principals (N = 2219; mean age 49 years [SD 7 years]; 78% women) working at least 50% in pre-schools, compulsory schools, upper secondary schools or adult education completed a cross-sectional web survey entailing two validated inventories: The Karolinska Exhaustion Disorder Scale (KEDS) and the Lund University Checklist for Incipient Exhaustion (LUCIE). Data was analysed using traditional non-parametric methods. Gender stratification achieved covariate balance when analysing school level and length of work experience. Results Altogether, 29.0% of the principals met the exhaustion criteria in KEDS. The prevalence rates for the four LUCIE-steps of increasing signs of exhaustion were: no signs of stress, 48.8%; weak signs of stress, 25.6%; clear signs of stress but no exhaustion, 15.4%; possible exhaustion disorder, 10.2%. Compared with male principals, female principals reported more signs of possible exhaustion disorder in both LUCIE and KEDS. School level was not associated with reports of exhaustion symptoms in neither LUCIE nor KEDS. Among male principals, length of work experience was associated with exhaustion symptoms in KEDS. Conclusions A large group of Swedish principals working in pre-schools, compulsory schools, upper secondary schools or adult education displayed a symptomatology of signs of exhaustion that if sustained might lead to poor health. This observation suggests that education authorities, or other relevant stakeholders, ought to take some form of preventive action. However, effective combinations of individual, group, organisational, and/or societal preventive activities remain to be identified and tested.

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Principals' Management Behavior, Personality Types and Physiological Stress

Cited by 14 publications

References 2 publications

A survey of the health of Victorian primary school principals

A survey of the health of Victorian primary school principals

Coping with stress in the principalship

Prevalence of exhaustion symptoms and associations with school level, length of work experience and gender: a nationwide cross-sectional study of Swedish principals

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