LECTURER SUPPORT AND ACADEMIC BURNOUT: BASIC PSYCHOLOGICAL NEED SATISFACTION AS A MEDIATOR

Abstract

The first year of college education is the most stressful year for students, because of the many stressors they must face. If this stress condition occurs repeatedly and cannot be overcome, then students will experience academic fatigue or what will later be termed academic burnout. This research will test whether basic psychological needs satisfaction acts as a mediator in the relationship between lecturer support and academic burnout. 315 first year students were used as respondents in this study with an age range of 18-22 years (mean age = 19.3 years). The measuring instruments used are the School Burnout Inventory, Basic Need Satisfaction in General Scale, Teacher Support Questionnaire. The three measuring instruments have been tested for validity and reliability, with good and reliable categories. The collected data was analysed using Structural Equation Modelling. The results of this research show that basic psychological needs satisfaction can mediate the relationship between lecturer support and academic burnout, so it is recommended that higher education institutions pay attention to lecturer support in the form of autonomy, structure and involvement to meet the basic psychological needs of students, especially first year students. Where basic psychological needs in students are needed to reduce the occurrence of academic burnout in first year students.