Toxic university: the relationships between instructor job satisfaction, burnout, conflict resolution styles, and intentions to quit

This study examined the relationships between teacher job satisfaction, burnout, conflict resolution styles, and intentions to quit their university position. Instructors completed an online survey on the aforementioned variables. Results demonstrated that higher job satisfaction was associated with greater personal achievement and positive problem solving and lower emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and intentions to quit. In line with the Job Demands-Resources Model, instructors reporting greater levels of burnout in the form of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization also reported increases in withdrawal and compliance conflict resolution styles. Notably, burnout dimensions (64.16%) were a stronger predictor of intentions to quit than job satisfaction (35.84%), the compliance conflict style (45.40%) was a significant predictor of quitting intentions, and the positive problem solving conflict style (41.22%) significantly predicted college educators’ reduced intentions to quit their job.