Relationships between occupational stress, social support and quit intention among head teachers of middle school

ObjectiveTo study the relationships between occupational stress,social support and quit intention among head teachers in middle school.MethodsOccupational Stress Questionnaire for Teacher,Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS)and a self-designed questionnaire were used to survey 408 teachers from 10 middle schools in Xiamen and Xi'an city.ResultsThe results showed that the total occupational stress scoce of the head teachers(3.17±0.68)was higher significantly than that of non-head teachers(2.98±0.74)(P<0.05).Chi-square test showed that the head teachers had a 9.2% higher percentage of quit intention than that of non-head teachers(χ²=14.49,P<0.01).There were significant relations between occupational stress,social support and quit intention(P<0.01).Social support played a mediating role between occupational stress and quit intention in the head teachers.ConclusionThe results indicate that good social support for an individual is benefitial to decrease occupational stress of head teachers in middle school.