Work until you drop: effects of work overload, prolonging working hours, and autonomy need satisfaction on exhaustion in teachers

Abstract

Based on a longitudinal survey of K-12 teachers in Switzerland (N = 533), a conditional effects model was used to analyze the relationships between teachers' work overload, prolonging working hours as a coping strategy, autonomy, and exhaustion. The findings showed that the effect of work overload on exhaustion was fully mediated by prolonging working hours. Autonomy moderated the longitudinal effects of work overload on exhaustion. Simple slope analyses demonstrated that autonomy buffered the negative effects of work overload on exhaustion.