Perceived Social Support as a Moderator of Job Stress among Private School Teachers

Abstract

The teaching profession is widely recognised as one of the most demanding occupations due to its multifaceted responsibilities, emotional labour, administrative expectations, and continuous performance pressures. Private school teachers, in particular, often face heightened occupational stress because of workload demands, job insecurity, institutional accountability, and limited organisational support. In this context, perceived social support has emerged as a significant psychosocial factor that may help teachers cope effectively with occupational stress. The present study was undertaken to examine the relationship between perceived social support and job stress among private school teachers and to explore the differences in job stress between teachers with high and low levels of social support. The study adopted a descriptive survey design within the quantitative research paradigm. The target population comprised private school teachers working in Samastipur District, Bihar. A sample of 240 private school teachers was selected from various privately managed schools using the simple random sampling method. Data were collected using the Social Support Scale developed by Asthana and Verma (2005) and the Occupational Stress Index developed by Srivastava and Singh (1984). Appropriate descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, including correlation analysis and independent samples t-test, were employed for data analysis. The findings revealed that private school teachers experienced a moderate level of perceived social support alongside a considerable level of occupational stress. A significant negative relationship was found between perceived social support and job stress, indicating that higher social support was associated with lower occupational stress. Furthermore, teachers with high perceived social support experienced significantly lower job stress compared to those with low social support. The study concludes that perceived social support functions as an important protective psychosocial factor in reducing occupational stress among private school teachers. The findings emphasise the need for supportive institutional environments, collegial cooperation, and effective teacher welfare mechanisms to promote occupational well-being and enhance educational effectiveness.