Multiple pathways to burnout: Cognitive and emotional scenarios in teacher burnout

Abstract This article introduces a conceptually derived model, "Multipathway to Burnout (MPB)", which describes the optional paths of burnout sensation as it moves from low to high levels of severity. The MPB model specifies how, as a result of stress, burnout in teachers can develop in a "pincer-movement" with two identifiable "flanks": Cognitive (personal and professional sense of nonaccomplishment), and Emotional (sense of overload and emotional exhaustion). Both flanks, either separately, or in conjunction, may lead to a battery of responses, including an expressed urge to quit the job or the profession. The model was empirically tested in a cross-sectional study, employing path analysis techniques.