Work Stress, Work Environment, and Teacher Performance in Islamic High Schools

This study investigates the effects of demographic factors, workplace stress, and the work environment on teachers' performance. Employing quantitative methodologies, it analyzes responses from teachers (Men = 51.7%, Women = 48.3%) at three Islamic Higher Schools or Madrasah Aliyah in Indonesia. Data was gathered through questionnaires directly handed out to respondents. The questionnaires included some demographic details of the participants, such as their gender, age, level of education, duration of employment, and monthly income. A Likert scale was employed to record respondents’ opinions on work stress, work environment, and teacher performance. Data was tested for normality, heteroskedasticity, and multicollinearity before finally being analyzed using multiple linear regression. The study’s findings indicate a marginal performance advantage for married teachers over their single counterparts ( B = .234, p = .063 ) , meaning that married teachers perform slightly better than nonmarried teachers. Workplace stress was found to have a negligible effect on teacher performance ( B = .160, p = .187), suggesting that teachers' performance did not depend on their being stressed or unstressed. Furthermore, the work environment significantly influences teacher performance ( B = .345, p = .006), meaning a conducive work environment leads to better teacher performance. These results highlight the importance of creating a supportive and conducive workplace to enhance teacher productivity, suggesting that educational institutions should prioritize improvements in the work environment to foster optimal teacher performance.


Introduction
Education plays a vital role in life because it contributes to improving intelligence and shaping the character of society.Teachers and educators have a crucial function, role, and position in national development in education.Therefore, it is imperative to maintain teachers' performance to educate students optimally.Successful educators demonstrate a positive mindset in their responsibilities, including discipline, a strong work ethic, a commitment to maintaining quality work, a sense of responsibility, and so on (Saifullah, 2020).Furthermore, performance is achieved by implementing work plans designed by leaders and educators in an institution to achieve organizational goals (Kholis & Astuti, 2023).High performance and productivity indicate superior resource quality.A teacher's performance is the result of their work and achievements, which includes the quality and quantity of assigned tasks.Good performance is expected in educational institutions as it directly affects the overall quality of education.Given that teachers play a central role in student interaction during the learning process, the quality of educational outcomes depends largely on the excellence of teacher performance (Djafar et al., 2021).However, improving creativity for better teacher performance is not always a spontaneous and easy process because it is influenced by internal and external factors (Saifullah, 2020).
Previous studies have identified factors contributing to teachers' performance, which may be categorized into demographic, psychological, and environmental factors.Dien et al. (2022) delve into the influence of demographic factors, including age and gender, on teaching effectiveness among secondary school teachers.Several researchers addressed psychological factors predicting teacher performance, including teacher efficacy, mindfulness and psychological well-being (Li, 2021), stress, self-esteem, work engagement, and burnout (Lucas-Mangas et al., 2022; Zhao et al., 2022).Furthermore, environmental factors significantly shape teacher performance, such as working conditions and administrative support (Tehseen & Hadi, 2015) and school empowerment (Lei & Xu, 2022).Understanding the interplay of individual, psychological, and environmental factors is vital in predicting teachers' performance.
However, many previous studies on the predictors of teachers' performance were conducted in general schools or workplaces other than Islamic Higher Schools (IHSs) or Madrasah Aliyah.While previous studies underline the importance of a supportive work environment and the detrimental effects of work stress, they fall short of providing concrete empirical evidence or statistical data on IHSs.Furthermore, those studies do not consider the unique challenges and dynamics of IHSs, leaving the conclusion unproven.The IHSs may face distinct issues related to cultural, religious, and community expectations that could significantly impact teacher performance, work stress, and the efficacy of the work environment.
Therefore, the current study examines the effects of demographic factors (e.g., age, gender, and marital status), psychological factors (work stress), and work environment factors (e.g., conducive work settings) on teacher performance in IHSs.Researching the effects of demographic factors, work stress, and work environment on teacher performance in IHSs contributes to addressing these institutions' unique challenges.This research can lead to more effective strategies for supporting teachers, thereby improving the quality of education and fulfilling the schools' educational and religious missions.

Literature Review 2.1 Teacher Performance
Performance can be interpreted as work performance, work results, or performance.Performance is defined as the achievement of individuals or groups in carrying out their responsibilities and duties and their ability to achieve goals and set standards (Hameed et al., 2022).Furthermore, performance can also be interpreted as the result of implementing certain job functions or tasks, including accuracy in carrying out duties or responsibilities, achieving expected work results, and timeliness in completing work to achieve desired results.Performance does not refer to personality traits such as skills or abilities but expresses those talents or abilities.In this view, performance manifests ability through real effort (Wahyu et al., 2021).
In the context of teachers, performance reflects the ability or competence of teachers to carry out their responsibilities to achieve organizational goals or skills in fulfilling tasks aimed at improving the achievement of organizational goals, especially in the context of the madrasah environment.The importance of teacher performance in achieving educational goals cannot be underestimated.Therefore, educational institutions should guide and support educators to ensure the effective fulfillment of their responsibilities, especially in their duties and primary roles as teachers.
A teacher's primary responsibility is to provide understanding to students based on their abilities.Teachers who can complete their tasks well and show their performance are also good.In line with this perspective, performance evaluation depends on fulfilling predefined tasks, achieving work objectives, and demonstrating competence or expertise (Baharuddin, 2021).The dynamics in the educational environment depend on the interaction between educators and students, underscoring teachers' critical role in influencing educational goals' achievement.
Teacher performance is characterized by competence and commitment to teaching tasks, including the ability to formulate educational programs, carry out learning activities, and assess learning outcomes.Teacher performance indicates educators' ability to fulfill educational responsibilities in schools or madrasahs, including supervision and improvement of student achievement (Muspawi, 2021).Teacher performance reflects the teacher's ability to fulfill his role as an educator in the school environment, including providing motivation and positive influence to students to achieve educational goals following expectations.Teacher performance appraisal involves evaluating the teacher's actions and overall performance.
The government makes efforts to improve the quality of education through various programs, one of which is a program to improve the quality of teacher performance.Some initiatives include teacher upgrades, seminars, workshops, in-service scholarships, and Subject Teacher Union (STU) participation.The STU establishment program aims to improve the quality of subject teachers by providing a platform for teachers to share ideas and experiences to achieve collaborative problem-solving.Teachers who have competence are expected to create a productive and fun learning environment and effectively manage the classroom (Wahyu et al., 2021).Permana and Eliza (2022) suggest that teacher performance is influenced by two categories of factors: internal and external.Eight key factors shape teacher performance: dedication and personality, professional development, teaching quality, communication and interaction, interpersonal relationships, discipline, wellbeing, and work environment.Internal factors, such as personality and dedication, quality of teaching, communication and interaction, and discipline, contribute to the dynamics of teacher performance.Meanwhile, external factors that affect teacher performance involve the work environment, well-being, interpersonal relationships, and professional development.Muspawi (2021) suggests that teacher performance in teaching consists of learning planning, implementation of learning, and learning assessment or evaluation.

Demographic Factors
Research has explored the impact of demographic factors, such as gender, age, education, and income, on teacher performance through various lenses.Gender gaps in student achievement are influenced by interactions between students and teachers, highlighting potential disparities in academic outcomes (Dee, 2007).Additionally, Suroto et al. ( 2022) suggest that female teachers exhibit higher competency levels than male teachers, indicating potential gender-based variations in teacher performance.Moreover, the influence of educational background, years of service, and training on early childhood education teachers' performance was positive, underscoring these factors' significance in shaping teacher effectiveness ( Understanding how these demographic factors intersect with teacher performance is crucial for developing targeted interventions and support systems to enhance teacher effectiveness and improve educational outcomes.

Work Stress
Stress may be defined as the difference between the perceived environmental demands of an employee and the perceived ability to make ends meet.Change, role clarity, violent relationships, coworker support, managerial support, job control, and job demands are examples of work-related stress.Work stress is when work-related elements interfere with or worsen employees' psychological and physiological states so they cannot perform properly (Supriyadi et al., 2022).
Work stress is employees' pressure when facing job duties (Maswar et al., 2020).Symptoms of this work stress can include emotional changes such as emotional instability, anxiety, loneliness, difficulty sleeping, excessive smoking, difficulty relaxing, anxiety, tension, nervousness, high blood pressure, and digestive problems.Stress may be caused by an event that impacts a person's psyche and occurs beyond his control, thus causing tension in his soul.People who are stressed at work may constantly become nervous and worried.Excessive stress can compromise a person's capacity to interact with the environment (Makkira et al., 2022).The adverse effects of stressors will appear if this cannot be replenished during the rest period due to ongoing stress and threats (Schoger, 2023).
Stress can arise due to various factors, such as tasks that are too heavy to exceed employee capacity, ineffective supervision, time limits that are too short, lack of trust in the implementation of responsibilities, role ambiguity, differences in values between individuals and companies, frustration, changes in tasks, and role conflicts (Arifin & Putra, 2021) and even due to the high demands of professionalism on teachers (Tsalasah et al., 2019).
Work stress is a psychological, physiological, and behavioral reaction of a person when there is an imbalance between the demands placed on him and his capacity to meet those demands over time.This imbalance leads to detrimental effects on the health of the individual (Badrianto et al., 2021).When not managed optimally, work stress can cause negative impacts such as depression and frustration, negatively affecting a person's work performance.Teachers' stressors include heavy workload, relationships with colleagues and management, poor working environment, pupil behavior, long working hours, the pressure of school targets and inspections, coping with change, and administrative duties (Arismunandar et al., 2022;Buulolo et al., 2021;Maesaroh et al., 2022).These factors highlight the multifaceted nature of stressors that teachers encounter in their professional roles.

Work Environment
A conducive work environment plays an essential role in facilitating employee performance.Focusing on creating a positive working atmosphere and cultivating conditions that inspire productivity can significantly affect employee passion or morale.The work environment includes an organization's physical and nonphysical aspects.The work environment is all elements around employees that can affect the implementation of assigned tasks (Baharuddin, 2021).The work environment is an element that affects an employee's ability to perform tasks, including hygiene and lighting (Setiani et al., 2022).The components of the work environment consist of a clear job description, adequate authority, ambitious goals, communication structure, harmonious professional relationships, a dynamic working atmosphere, career prospects, and appropriate work facilities.
The work environment can directly or indirectly affect the performance of an organization or company (Rosida & Wajdi, 2023).Supporting facilities, infrastructure, and social dynamics that make it easier for employees to complete their work are interconnected with the work environment.Individuals who carry out the same role need a conducive work environment to improve the execution of their duties.The work environment dramatically influences the quality of employee performance results (Setiani et al., 2022).If the work environment supports health and facilitates smooth communication among employees, performance can be maximized and even optimized (Fauzi et al., 2022).The work environment can also shape the emotional state of employees.When employees positively perceive their workplace, they tend to feel comfortable and actively engage in activities that effectively use work time and high work performance.The work environment includes interpersonal relationships among colleagues, relationships between subordinates and superiors, and the physical environment in which employees work (Supriyadi et al., 2022).The work environment is where employees carry out their duties, and work facilities, tools, and infrastructure support work activities.2023) delineate work environments into two primary categories: physical and non-physical.The physical work environment encompasses elements like the tranquility of the workplace, a pleasant atmosphere, consistent room temperature, adequate lighting, and indoor colors.It is subdivided into environments in direct contact with workers, including desks, chairs, and tables, and the intermediate or general environment, which affects human well-being through temperature, humidity, air circulation, lighting, noise, mechanical vibrations, unpleasant odors, colors, and other factors.On the other hand, the non-physical work environment pertains to conditions related to labor relations, encompassing interactions with superiors, coworkers, and subordinates.

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Indicators of the work environment encompass several aspects (Arismunandar et al., 2022).Lighting, which should ensure sufficient light reaches every employee's workspace; temperatures, measured as the air temperature within an employee's workspace; and noise, affecting employees' sensitivity and potentially impacting work activities.Color within a workspace also serves as an indicator, alongside the required wiggle room, which pertains to the spatial arrangement between employees, including furniture like tables, chairs, and cabinets.The ability to work, defined by conditions that foster a safe and calm working atmosphere, and relationships between employees, which are crucial as harmonious relationships can accelerate company goals through collaborative efforts, are also significant indicators of the work environment.
The relationships of the variables used in this study are depicted in Figure 1

Methods
Researchers used quantitative research methods in this study.Quantitative methods focus on numerical data, which are then examined using appropriate statistical procedures to obtain the significance of the influence between variables (Balnaves & Caputi, 2001).Population is a broad category of items or topics with a certain number and quality that are analyzed by the researcher and then drawn to conclusions.This study used a saturated sampling approach in which all population members were included as samples (Kaplan, 2004).The population in this study consists of teachers (N = 58) from three Islamic high schools or Madrasah Aliyah in Indonesia.
Data was collected through questionnaires that were directly handed out to respondents.These questionnaires gather various demographic details of the participants, such as their gender, age, level of education, duration of employment, and monthly income.A Likert scale was employed to record participants' opinions on work stress, work environment, and teacher effectiveness.This scale assigns values to responses, with 4 indicating "Strongly Agree," 3 for "Agree," 2 for "Disagree," and 1 for "Strongly Disagree." Multiple linear analysis assesses the impact of several independent variables on one dependent variable (Fein et al., 2022).This study analyzed the data collected using multiple linear regression with a significance threshold set at a p-value of > 0.05.significance value is 0.067, which is greater than the significance level of 0.05, indicating that the data in this study achieved a normal distribution.
Heteroscedasticity refers to a state in which residual variation is not uniform for all data in a regression model.This study uses the Glejser Test to test heteroscedasticity, which involves the regression of independent variables to residual absolute values.The degree of significance between the independent variable and the residual absolute value > 0.05 indicates the absence of heteroscedasticity and vice versa (Mardiatmoko, 2020).The Glejser test obtained the significance value for each independent variable being > 0.05, meaning there is no heteroscedasticity in the model.
Multicollinearity arises within a regression model when independent variables exhibit perfect or nearly perfect linear relationships.This condition is identified when the model's variables are either perfectly linearly related or demonstrate a high degree of linear association.The detection of multicollinearity was performed by analyzing the variance inflation factor (VIF) and tolerance values.VIF < 10 and tolerance> 0.1 value suggests no multicollinearity occurs (Mardiatmoko, 2020).The multicollinearity test analysis obtains no independent variables showing a VIF value above 1.0 and a Tolerance below 0.1, indicating no multicollinearity issue in the regression model.Education levels among the group are notably high, with an overwhelming 86% holding a Bachelor's degree and a smaller fraction (14%) achieving a Master's degree, highlighting a well-educated demographic.When examining work length, the data indicates a workforce with a relatively recent employment history; 41.4% have been in their current role for 0-5 years, suggesting a group at the early to mid stages of their careers.The monthly salary information portrays a group mainly on the lower income scale, with 48.3% earning less than IDR 900,000, pointing towards economic challenges or early career phase earning potentials.

Results
Overall, this demographic profile sketches a picture of a slightly male-dominated group: young, predominantly married, highly educated, early in their career stages, and with a concentration towards the lower salary brackets, providing a snapshot of their socio-economic standing.

Intercorrelations of Variables
Table 2 shows that several variables significantly correlated with each other both negatively and positively.Age is positively associated with Marital Status (r = .566,p < 0.01), suggesting older respondents tend to be married; Work Length (r = .831,p < 0.01), showing that older teachers had more work experience than younger teachers; and Teacher Performance (r = .275,p < 0.05), indicating that older teachers tend to perform better than younger teachers.Marital Status is positively correlated with Work Length (r = .501,p < 0.01), suggesting that married teachers have more extended work experience than single teachers; Work Stress (r = .262,p < 0.05), indicating that married teachers have higher work stress than single teachers; and Teacher Performance (r = .423,p < 0.01), suggesting that married teachers are more likely to perform better than single teachers.Monthly Salary is negatively associated with Work Stress (r = -.380,p < 0.01), suggesting that teachers with higher salaries experience less stress than those with lower salaries.Surprisingly, Monthly Salary is negatively associated with Teacher Performance (r = -.276,p < 0.01), indicating that those with higher salaries tend to perform less than those with lower salaries.Work Stress is negatively correlated with Work Environment (r = -.490,p < 0.01), indicating that teachers who perceive their work environment as unsupportive tend to experience higher stress.Similarly, Work Stress is negatively associated with Teacher Performance (r = -.462,p < 0.01), suggesting that stressed teachers tend to perform poorly.Finally, Work Environment is positively correlated with Teacher Performance (r = .500,p < 0.01), suggesting that teachers working in a suitable environment are more likely to perform better than those working in an unsupportive environment.

Regression Results
Table 3 depicts the results of regression analyses to examine the direct effects of predictors on the outcome.Teacher performance was regressed on work stress and work environment, controlling for demographic variables such as gender, age, marital status, education, work length, and monthly salary.All variable predictors explained around 44% of the variation in teacher performance (R 2 = .438,F = 4.784, P = .000).

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Among demographic variables, only marital status marginally predicts teachers' performance (B = .234,p = .063),indicating that married teachers perform slightly better than single teachers by 23 point, which is a good predictor.Surprisingly, work stress failed to predict teacher performance (B = .160,p = .187),indicating that work stress does not influence teachers' performance.However, the work environment significantly determined teachers' performance (B = .345,p = .006)by 35 points, suggesting that when the work environment improves by 35 points, teachers' performance will also improve by 35 points.

Discussion
This study found that married teachers perform slightly better than single teachers.Some studies suggest that marriage can positively affect job performance, but no concrete evidence indicates that single workers outperform married individuals (Aduma et al., 2022).Marital status can influence job satisfaction, stress levels, and overall well-being, which may impact job performance.Research has shown that singles report higher levels of job stress and lower job satisfaction than their married counterparts (Aklilu et al., 2020).Additionally, lacking a spouse is associated with fewer social support resources, affecting job performance.Conversely, having spousal support is positively associated with work performance (Kholis, 2017).
Job performance can be influenced by various factors, including marital status, suggesting a potential difference in job performance levels between married and single workers (Sun et al., 2022).Other factors, such as work characteristics, stress levels, and support systems, significantly determine job performance.While some studies indicate that married workers may have lower job satisfaction levels than unmarried employees (Duah & Kofi, 2022), the relationship between marital status and job performance remains complex, including in school settings.Marital status can impact various aspects of work life, including job satisfaction and stress levels, ultimately influencing job performance.
This study also found that supportive work environments determine teachers' performance in school settings.Understanding the complex interplay between work stress, job satisfaction, and performance is crucial for creating supportive environments for teachers.

Conclusion
The study's main findings show that work stress does not significantly predict teacher performance at IHSs.This finding suggests that whether stressful or not, the IHSs teacher's performance is steady.Alternatively, being a teacher may not make teachers stressed, and it may not even be enjoyable.In contrast, the work environment did affect the performance of IHS teachers.Thus, the school must provide a healthy environment to maintain and improve teacher performance.While some studies indicate a lack of direct impact of work stress on performance, it is essential to consider the broader implications of stress on teacher well-being and job satisfaction.Further research exploring how work stress influences different aspects of teacher functioning is warranted to develop effective strategies for supporting teachers in demanding educational settings.
This study makes several significant contributions to understanding factors affecting teacher performance at IHSs and the broader educational research and school management field.By demonstrating that work stress does not significantly predict teacher performance in this context, the study challenges common assumptions about the negative impacts of stress on teacher effectiveness.It suggests that teachers at IHSs may possess resilience or employ coping mechanisms that mitigate the effects of stress on their performance or that the nature of stress experienced is not detrimental to their teaching quality.The study emphasizes the critical role of the work environment in influencing teacher performance, pointing out that factors within the school's control, such as physical conditions, resources, interpersonal relationships, and organizational culture, can significantly impact teachers' effectiveness.This shift focuses on creating and maintaining positive work environments as a strategic approach to enhance educational outcomes.
Since work stress was not found to affect teacher performance significantly, future studies should identify and evaluate other potential factors that might influence performance.These could include job satisfaction, professional development opportunities, teaching resource availability, and student-teacher ratios.Furthermore, given the significance of the work environment on teacher performance, further research could delve into what constitutes a healthy work environment for teachers.This effort might include studies on physical aspects (e.g., facilities, resources) and non-physical aspects (e.g., organizational culture, support systems, leadership styles).
Darsinah & Purwatiningsih, 2020; Kurnianingrum & Darsinah, 2023).Šabić et al. (2021) explore the interaction effect of gender and age on teachers' self-efficacy for information and communication technology, indicating potential variations in self-efficacy levels based on demographic factors.
, upon which the hypotheses are formulated, including: H1: Demographic factors positively affect teacher performance in IHSs.H2: Work Stress negatively affects teacher performance in IHSs.H2: Work Environment positively affects teacher performance in IHSs.

Table 1
presents a demographic snapshot of 58 respondents, dissected by various socio-economic indicators such as gender, age, marital status, education, work length, and monthly Salary.The gender distribution is pretty even, with men slightly outnumbering women, representing 51.7% and 48.3% of the population.In terms of age, the group trends young, with the largest segment (37.9%) falling within the 21-30 year age range, followed by those aged 31-40 years at 29.3%, indicating a predominantly young adult demographic.Marital Status reveals that a significant majority (77.6%) are married, underscoring a trend towards marital commitment within this cohort.

Table 3 : Regression Analyses of Predictors of Teacher Performance
(Hameed et al., 2022)18)ina et al., 2021)k performance in educational settings has been extensively researched.Studies found that the working environment positively affects teachers' performance(Baharuddin, 2021;Nursalina et al., 2021), indicating that a good work environment positively influences the professional performance of teachers.Purnadi et al. (2022)found a positive and significant impact of the work environment on lecturer performance, emphasizing the importance of a conducive work environment.Setiani et al. (2022) also supported the positive impact of the physical work environment on employee performance.Moreover,Rosida and Wajdi (2023)showed that the work environment, workability, and work discipline positively and statistically significantly affect work performance.Overall, the research suggests that a conducive work environment, encompassing physical, psychological, and organizational factors, is crucial in enhancing job satisfaction, motivation, and the performance of educators and employees in educational institutions.Beyond expectation, this study found that work stress did not affect teacher work performance, suggesting that teachers' performance remains steady regardless of whether they are stressed or unstressed.Previous studies suggest that work stress can impact teacher performance negatively(Nurlaili, 2022), while others have found that work stress does not necessarily affect teacher work performance, meaning that teachers' work performance may remain steady regardless of stress levels(Ouellette et al., 2018).Another study on university teachers found that work stress resilience did not predict work performance(Hameed et al., 2022).These findings collectively suggest that the effect of work stress on teacher performance may vary based on individual and contextual factors.The finding implies that while stress levels may not directly influence teacher work performance, they can still affect other aspects of teacher well-being and job satisfaction.