Project 4
Project 4
Project
Group Number: 06
Saliha Moazzam(S2020381013)
Seerat (S2020381040)
Supervisor
Musheeb Pervez
---
Lahore
2
Contributions
Introduction
Education not only serves as a ladder of opportunities but also leaves the
imprints of scholars over which their followers are poised to follow their footsteps and
society, the most important members would be teachers because their professionalism
affects the fate of the universe. School teachers contribute to the stability of society and
qualification and education of students. They act as a bridge between students, school
management and their parents. That is why; their mental health plays a vital role in the
survival of generations. People consider that teachers may possess better mental health
as compared to other populace. Social support from coworkers, peers, friends and
family members has been identified as a way to reduce detrimental effects of the
environment or work stressors and promotes better mental health among teachers.
positive environment and it can boost the self-esteem, confidence and work efficacy of
teachers in school. By good mental health, they nourish students in a better way,
whereas mental health problems lead toward the threats that endanger professional
competence. Teachers may seem as healthy individuals of society but there are a lot of
stress factors that may lead to mental health problems, low self-esteem, and low
confidence in teachers. Among professionals, teachers exhibit one of the highest levels
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of job stress and burnout in the job (Hakanen et al., 2006; Stoeber & Rennert, 2008).
Mental health problems are behavior, thoughts and emotions that affect different areas
like school, work, social and family interaction. This study is conducted to identify
factors that affect mental health and self-esteem of teachers because emotional
Social support is an inclusive construct that aims to portray the network of social
resources that a person perceives. The social support that a person receives is
embedded in the concepts of his life experiences and decisions (Zhou, 2014). This social
support to teachers is more beneficial if it is coming from the close relations e.g., family,
spouse, colleagues, principal, peers, supervisor and friends (Desombre, Delaval & Jury,
2021). There are many forms of social support that are necessary to have at various
points in one’s life e.g., emotional support, belonging support, tangible support and self-
esteem (Zhou, 2014). Emotional support is often defined as a need for help, comfort,
safety and security that a person feels in stressful times, which leaves him/her with a
sense that he is being cared for by others (Atoum & Al-Shoboul, 2018). This support is of
great importance especially for teachers, who as being in one of the most demanding
professions, often do not even recognize that they are in need of emotional support
(Easter, 2021).
A sense of belonging is also associated with this social support. It gives teachers
a sense that they are needed, respected, loved and belonged to the people that give
such support. It also enriches them with a sense of competence (Kachchhap & Horo,
2021). Tangible support is the provision of material and financial resources to the
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teachers. This support motivates and encourages any person to do better in his/ her job
their self-esteem, motivates them and inspires them to teach (Faith, 2021). In case of no
al., 1997).
makes them understand their worthiness and evaluate their competencies in order to
perform their model role to their best. Self-esteem is the opinion or judgment people
hold about themselves. It’s the extent to which we perceive ourselves as capable human
beings and worthwhile (Coopersmith, 1967). There are various types of self-esteem.
These are used to define people's view of themselves, their potential and may act as
High self-esteem helps people to believe in their own capability and autonomy to
do things on their own. It helps them to think their ideas, feelings, and opinions have
worth. Rogers (1969) showed that when teachers demonstrate high self-esteem in their
daily teaching, they could generate high self-esteem in the students as well. In school
confidence and success in their profession. Competence self-esteem refers to how good
teachers’ abilities are and its direct effect on students’ self-esteem. Research confirmed
competency of teachers. Only the competent teachers are able to bring in the desired
Teachers may have over high self-esteem, which is called inflated self-esteem. It
enables them to think of themselves as better than students and they are always ready
to underestimate their students. Teachers with inflated self-esteem do not have the
ability to listen to students and they always try to hide their incompetence. Whereas
teachers with low self-esteem tend to have low levels of confidence, which made them
feel less sure of their abilities and unmotivated to try novel things because they did not
believe that they could reach their goals. Teachers with low self-esteem were
more vulnerable to struggle with mental health problems. Empirical studies over the last
15 years indicated that low self-esteem played a significant role in the development of a
Workplace stress and stressor strain relationship has been prominent since
1970’s and workplace stress in any profession has been associated with poor job
stress can be described as “the experiences by which teachers came across negative
emotions such as anger, anxiety, distress, tension, frustration and depression are caused
in which individuals feel threatened, apprehensive, tense, and worried (Julian, 2011).
consequences e.g., anxiety and depression among healthy young workers (Eysenck,
different professionals like teachers have undergone a drastic increase in personal and
professional demands that adversely affects their mental health ( Gorsy, Panwar,&
Sandeep Kumar, 2015). Thomas et al. (2022) investigated the occupational stress and
mental health problems among secondary school teachers. The results revealed
violence/abuse, low income and poverty, work stress/load and unemployment) and
environmental factors (poor access to basic services, injustice & discrimination and
social & gender inequalities) which make them more prone to psychological distress,
With previous studies, it can be identified that teaching has been proven a
demanding and stressful profession due to various physical and mental challenges. The
mental health problems. By summarizing the introduction of this research study, we can
conclude how important social support is for teachers and how social support along
with self-esteem enhance work productivity and reduce their vulnerability towards
Implications
The present study will be able to highlight the importance of social support and
self-esteem to teachers and how these factors subsequently enhance the mental health
of school teachers. Through this research, our targeted population will get awareness of
how their mental health is affected by these factors. Moreover, this research work will
point out findings that can open up different perspectives for new researchers to do
research. In Pakistan, the population that we have intended to work on is one of the
candidates is also taken into account, it will highlight factors that could determine their
future work efficacy and competency, beforehand. This research will also set the basis
of a new, improved and better pedagogy, which can not only increase the popularity of
those institutes who will adopt it but will also improve the academic performance of
self-esteem importance and social support benefits are factors that are not highlighted
Furthermore, due to the limited and inconsistent findings, further studies need
to be conducted for awareness, which will increase the insight of people regarding this
issue and will contribute to the literature of teacher’s social support, self-esteem and
will also be able to manage the mental health problems in school teachers by keeping in
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view that social support and self-esteem could also be the reason behind such issues. It
will also guide towards making the most suitable intervention plan for school teachers.
Aim
To investigate the relationship between social support, self-esteem and mental health
Objectives
teachers.
● To find out the impact of social support on the mental health of school teachers.
● To find out the relationship between self-esteem and mental health problems in
school teachers.
● To explore the gender differences in social support, self-esteem and mental health
● To explore the differences between the social support, self-esteem and mental
Operational Definition
Social Support. Cobb (1976) defined the term social support as the knowledge,
which leads a person to believe that he/she is being cared for, loved, esteemed and a
Self-Esteem. It can be defined as the sense of value or worth a person has for
likes himself or herself. In 1965, Rosenberg defined self-esteem as a factor that guides a
Mental Health Problems. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2022) defined
the term mental health problems as the disturbances in the mental health of a person,
behaviors and relationships with others. These problems also interfere with the ability
of an individual to cope with the normal stresses of life and unable a person to
Literature Review
into a rising issue in many countries (Sheffield Dobbie, & Carroll, 1994). However, most
studies in school settings have been on understudies rather than on the mental health
employee retention in that organization for a longer time. It was also found that this
employee retention. However, Rajakala and Kumar (2015) concurred social support and
job satisfaction among teachers in India, with a sample of 382 teachers (Men=70,
Women=312) that were working in both rural and urban schools. The study revealed
that social support that a teacher got from the spouse and the tangible support
(income) that he/she got were positively related to higher job satisfaction of teachers.
Researches indicated that teachers, just like other humans, also experienced
many situations in their everyday life. Nevertheless, unlike others, they had to bear it
and continue to perform their jobs. Emotional appraisal is defined as a process in which
a person’s cognitions about different events predict their emotional reactions to those
thinking about different events and their relation to the self. It might also change the
emotional reactions that the person experienced in that event. In the case of teacher
emotions within the context of teachers’ appraisals, their way of seeing different events
was highly impacted by their previous unresolved emotions. It was found that if positive
and necessary social support was given at this point, then with reappraisal, it could save
the teachers from experiencing more emotional turmoil and stress in future, which may
automatically increase their self-esteem and could even simultaneously made them less
Social support is the belief that others were available to sympathize emotionally
or provide practical assistance when they were needed in their thick and thin. Different
researchers inferred that social support polish an individual’s ability to adapt to the
changes by facing the challenges of life and to cope or manage stress within the crisis
(Lepore et al., 1991; Hunter, 1989; Johnson & Indvik, 1990; Cobb, 1976). Russell et al.
(1987) narrated that lower levels of teacher stress were associated with higher levels of
social support from colleagues. The evidence declared that increasing social support to
Nixon et al. (2011) reported that teacher stress levels could be measured
and Frost (2017) represented that “Women unlikely men reported to experience more
stress related to having insufficient time to spend with their own children; for
recreational pursuits; for caregiving family and friends”. Another study dealing
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specifically with teachers, Burke and Greenglass (1996) reported that support from
family and friends had the same impact on burnout and work stress for both men and
women. In prior research (Ferguson, Mang and Frost, 2017), it was found that gender
Social support has often been considered as a by-product of the social dimension
of a professional's lifestyle, which is especially related with their mental health. In the
because they can defend themselves against the adverse effects of life competencies
and job efficacy. The social support provided from the supervisors and employment
context of the education sector in Malaysia, it seemed that teachers with low social
support would be more likely to have high depression and psychological distress. A
report from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has revealed that 2.3 percent
employed adults are mainly suffering from depression and 4.4 percent of the teachers
professional demands (Agyapong et al., 2022). Similarly, Chen et al. (2009) described
that social support in terms of teachers acts as a moderator in the relationship between
It was found that self-esteem needs are the basis for human desire and we all
have to be accepted and valued by others. If a person is not able to accomplish self-
esteem needs, it can cause mental health issues. A psychologist Mark Leary who
developed the Sociometer theory (1995) in order to explain the function and nature of
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self-esteem emphasizes this concept (Leary & Baumeister, 2000). This theory states that
self-esteem monitors the degree of social acceptance that a person enjoys from his
social circle and alerts himself to any threats from belonging that might arise.
Self-esteem refers to the need for respect and self-confidence. In a person’s life,
described self-esteem into two different forms. Firstly, the need for self-respect in the
form of self-love, self-confidence, aptitude or skill and secondly the need for respect
the healthiest expression of self-esteem is the one, which manifests in the respect we
research conducted on 59 teachers from 3 north central school districts and 33 teachers
from one institutional school setting. They filled the Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory
(Coopersmith, 1967). Beck's Depression Scale, (Beck, A.T., 1961), Staff Burnout Scale for
Mental Health Professionals and Stress Profile for teachers (Maslach, C.1981). Analysis
of variance for teaching level in primary school and high school by gender showed those
teaching high classrooms in primary school experienced more burnout and stress than
did high school teachers. In the institutional setting, women scores were higher as
compared to the men’s primary school teachers were. Burnout scores were also
significantly higher for female high school teachers than for both female and male
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primary school teachers; however, scores on stress were significantly higher for male
high school teachers than for both male primary school teachers and female high school
teachers.
that there is a difference in between the social support, self-esteem and mental health
problems in urban and rural school teachers. Similarly, gender differences also exist in
terms of social support, self-esteem and mental health problems in school teachers.
Lastly, it is also assured that the variable under study does have significant impact on
the selected population but it is not researched to its deserved level neither in the west,
nor in Pakistan.
Rationale
Rationale of conducting this research is to explore factors that affect the health
of school teachers. As school teachers are the most important component of our society
which not only leads the future generation but is also the key asset of any developed
and successful nation, still their mental health has never been the part of discussion in
our country. Relating to different previous studies, we want to expand the current
knowledge base of concerning fields by understanding the relationship among the social
Research Questions
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● What is the relationship between social support and mental health problems in
school teachers?
teachers?
● What is the association between self-esteem and mental health problems in school
teachers?
● What are the gender differences in terms of social support, self-esteem and mental
● What are the causes of low self-esteem, low social support and high mental health
● What are the differences between the social support, self-esteem and mental
Hypothesis
● There will be lower levels of social support and self-esteem in females as compared
● There will be lower levels of social support and self-esteem in urban school teachers
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