The impact of teaching-research conflict on job burnout among university teachers

Purpose To fill the previous research gap, focusing on two constructs, i.e. perceived supervisor support (PSS) and psychological capital (PsyCap), this study aims to explore the mechanism underlying the relationship between teaching–research conflict (TRC) and job burnout among university teachers using the lens of job demands–resources (JD-R) model. Design/methodology/approach First, theoretically grounded hypotheses linking teaching–research conflict, PSS and PsyCap to job burnout were formulated. Then, a cross-sectional design was used to test the theoretical model presented in this study. Findings The results showed that TRC was positively linked to emotional exhaustion (EE) and depersonalization (DP), but negatively linked to personal accomplishment; PSS moderated the effect of TRC on both EE and DP but did not act as a moderator in the relationship between TRC and personal accomplishment; and PsyCap moderated the effect of TRC on all the three dimensions of job burnout. Research limitations/implications Given that the data were collected from single-source, the study was vulnerable to the common method variance. Besides, the relative small sample size limits the representativeness of the sample. Moreover, the cross-sectional design cannot confirm causal relationship between variables. Despite these limitations, the findings of this research can potentially inform effective interventions aimed at reducing the effect of TRC on job burnout among university teachers. Originality/value Based on the JD-R model, PSS and PsyCap are used to explore the effect of TRC on job burnout for the first time.