The Role of Psychological Capital and Perceived Supervisor Support on Work Stress of Secondary School Teachers in Windhoek, Namibia

Abstract

Secondary school teachers in Namibia are confronted with numerous workplace issues that contribute to job stress. To identify possible measures to mitigate this issue, the study’s purpose was to investigate the role of secondary school teachers’ psychological capital and perceived supervisor support on work stress in Windhoek, Namibia. Purposive sampling technique was used to recruit a sample of 263. A quantitative approach, using a correlation research design was used. The Work Stress Questionnaire was used to measure work stress, the Compound Psychological Capital Scale was used to assess psychological capital and the Supervisor Relations subscale derived from the Antecedents Scale was used to assess perceived supervisor support. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS Version 29. The study found that psychological capital is not associated with work stress. However, subsets of psychological capital, such as hope and resilience, were found to have a significant negative correlation with work stress and its dimensions. Supervisor support was uncovered to have positive significant relationship with work stress and some of its dimensions. The study provides basis for intervention development to reduce work stress in secondary school teachers, by focusing on psychological capital and supervisor support.