Influence of Spirituality on Burnout and Job Satisfaction:A Study of Academic Professionals in Oman

Academic managers want to increase the performance of academic staff by reducing job stress and burnout; it may have negative impact on various job outcomes such as productivity, organizational commitment, work motivation and job satisfaction. However spirituality can reduce it to minimize its impact. Present study examines the relationship between burnout and job satisfaction. Further it examines moderating effect of spirituality on the relationship between burnout and job satisfaction. The study is based on a survey conducted on expatriate lecturers working in a college of technology in Oman. Respondents for the study were selected randomly. Findings of the research indicate that increase in total burnout, and its two factors namely emotional exhaustion and reduced personal accomplishment reduce job satisfaction. However the third factor of burnout, i.e., ‘depersonalization’ has positive association with job satisfaction. High spirituality results in high job satisfaction and low burnout; moreover it affects all the three factors of burnout negatively. Findings do not record moderating effect of spirituality on the relationship between burnout and job satisfaction. As burnout among teachers affects both the academic as well as economic performance of the institute findings have implications for management of academic institutes and researchers working in the field of organizational psychology.