Psychological Needs as the Predictor of Teachers' Perceived Stress Levels

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between teachers' psychological needs and perceived stress levels. First of all, the differentiation status of teachers' psychological needs and perceived stress levels in terms of gender, type of institution and type of the school variables was examined. Then, the psychological need's level of predicting the perceived stress was tested. This research was carried out by descriptive survey design. For this purpose, Personal Information Form, Perceived stress level scale and Psychological needs scale were applied to 498 primary school teachers (317 female 63.7% and 181 male 36.3%). T test, F test and multiple linear regression analysis were applied in addition to descriptive statistics in the analysis of data. According to the results obtained from the research, it was found that the dominance needs of teachers working in private schools were significantly higher than the teachers working in public schools. It was determined that the psychological needs of teachers do not vary by gender, but the perceived stress levels of female teachers were significantly higher than male teachers. Besides, it was concluded that primary school teachers' need for relationship and secondary school teachers' need for autonomy were significantly higher compared to teachers working in other institutions. It was also determined that the needs for success, autonomy and dominance from among psychological needs significantly predicted the perceived stress. The results obtained from the research were interpreted and suggestions for further research were put forward.