The role of psychological capital in the relationship between perceived organizational support and burnout

The quality of human resources and their management to contribute to the strategic goals of the organization have an important place for organizations to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. In addition to the negative consequences on teachers, burnout reduces the academic success of students, which makes educational institutions to take measures against burnout. Organizational support theory argues that the incumbent reciprocates according to the degree to which the organization values his contribution and attaches importance to his well-being. Accordingly, perceived organizational support is expected to have positive results in organizational, behavioral and individual terms. Although the relationship between perceived organizational support and burnout has been the subject of many studies, a gap in the literature has been identified in Türkiye concerning the examination of the role of psychological capital in this relationship. The aim of this research is to examine the role of psychological capital in the relationship between teachers' perceived organizational support and burnout. Another aim of the research is to find out the difference of the perceived organizational support, psychological capital and burnout levels of teachers according to their demographic characteristics. The research data was collected by applying a questionnaire to 553 teachers working in educational institutions in Ankara. The questionnaire included burnout scale, psychological capital scale, perceived organizational support scale and demographic variables. Validity analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis and mediation analysis using the Hayes Process Macro method were performed on the data. T-test and ANOVA were performed for differences between groups according to demographic variables. In the study, a negative relationship was found between perceived organizational support and burnout as well as between psychological capital and burnout. Furthermore, a positive relationship was found between perceived organizational support and psychological capital. It was identified that teachers' perceived organizational support levels were medium, psychological capital levels were high, and burnout levels were low in general. As a result of the study, it was found that perceived organizational support positively affected teachers' psychological capital and negatively affected their burnout. Another result was that teachers' psychological capital negatively affected their burnout. In the study, it was found that psychological capital had a mediating effect on the relationship between perceived organizational support and burnout. In addition, findings contributing to the literature were obtained about the differences observed in the research variables according to the demographic characteristics of the participants.