Effort-reward Imbalance and Burnout among EFL Teachers in Iran

Understanding the relationship between job stressors and burnout among English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher using the Effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model in Iran is under-researched. Through a cross-sectional research design, the study aimed at investigating the EFL teachers’ burnout using the variables in ERI model. To this aim, 105 EFL teachers filled in ERI questionnaire and Maslach Burnout Inventory Educators Survey (MBI-ES). The quantitative data were analyzed through Pearson correlation coefficient analysis to examine the relationship between variables in ERI model and burnout dimension. The results indicated that there was a positive significant relationship between effort and overcommitment and all three burnout dimensions but a negative relationship between reward subscale and depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment. The multiple regression analysis was also used to identify ERI subscales as predictors of burnout dimensions. The results revealed that ERI model variables had a moderate amount of variation in depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment and a small amount of variation in emotional exhaustion.