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Mindfulness as a buffer against job burnout and teaching motivation decline in academia

Behzad Rigi Kooteh, Zohreh Khoshgoftar

Mental Wellness February 19, 2026 DOI: 10.4081/mw.2026.33 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Cross-sectional, descriptive-correlational study Peer reviewed
Sample size 156
Population Faculty members at Zahedan University of Medical Sciences
Topics Meditation
Key findings Mindfulness was positively correlated with teaching motivation and negatively correlated with job burnout among medical faculty. Participants showed moderate to low mindfulness, average teaching motivation and burnout, with acting with awareness the strongest mindfulness facet and emotional exhaustion the most prominent burnout dimension.

Abstract

Faculty members are central to higher education quality, yet increasing job demands have heightened stress and burnout, particularly in resource-limited settings. Mindfulness has emerged as a promising strategy to enhance well-being and teaching motivation while reducing burnout. This cross-sectional, descriptive-correlational study investigated the level of mindfulness and its association with teaching motivation and job burnout among 156 faculty members at Zahedan University of Medical Sciences in 2025. Participants (51.9% female, mean age 48.85) completed validated self-report questionnaires assessing mindfulness, teaching motivation, and job burnout. Results indicated moderate to low levels of mindfulness and average scores for both teaching motivation and job burnout. “Acting with awareness” was the strongest mindfulness facet, while “non-reactivity to internal experience” was the weakest. Emotional exhaustion was the most prominent burnout dimension. Statistical analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between mindfulness and teaching motivation and a negative correlation between mindfulness and burnout. These findings underscore the potential benefits of mindfulness in fostering motivation and mitigating job burnout among medical faculty, highlighting the need for targeted interventions in similar institutional contexts.

Comparable studies

Other cross-sectional and survey studies on meditation, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups 2008 Cross-sectional study
Neural Correlates of Dispositional Mindfulness During Affect Labeling Adult participants 2007 Observational cross-sectional n = 27
Assessing mindfulness in children and adolescents: Development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). School-aged children and adolescents 2011 Cross-sectional validation study n = 1,413
Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators Experienced meditators and demographically matched nonmeditators 2012 Cross-sectional study n = 152
Mechanisms of Action in the Inverse Relationship Between Mindfulness and Psychological Distress Undergraduates 2008 Cross-sectional, correlational

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