Personality traits and occupational stress among special needs education teachers

Abstract

We assessed the association between personality traits, sex, and occupational stress among special needs education teachers. A total of 472 special needs education teachers from Southwest Nigeria were participants (female = 39.2%; age range 23 to 58 years, special education school = 23). A logistic regression analysis indicated that the teachers with higher levels of extraversion and openness had the highest likelihood of occupational stress, and male teachers had a greater likelihood of occupational stress as compared to female teachers. Our findings were contrary to expectation as teachers with higher levels of extraversion and openness tend to have a lower likelihood for occupational stress and female teachers to have a higher likelihood for occupational stress. These findings suggest gendered resilience in females in patriarchal Nigeria.

Keywords:

• sex
• learners with special needs
• occupational stress
• personality traits
• teachers