The Impact of Creative Thinking Skills on Reducing Job Burnout An analytical study of the opinions of a sample of employees in a number of private universities in Erbil Governorate - Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impact of creative thinking skills in reducing job burnout among employees at private universities in Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. The research follows a positivist quantitative methodology, utilizing a structured questionnaire grounded in Torrance’s model of creativity and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The study population comprises approximately 1,200 academic and administrative employees from nine private universities, from which a sample of 387 respondents representing around 32% of the population was selected using stratified random sampling. Creative thinking was measured across four key dimensions: originality, fluency, flexibility, and elaboration, while burnout was assessed through emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression techniques. The findings indicate that creative thinking skills play a significant role in alleviating job burnout. Specifically, enhancing employees’ creative capacities fosters greater resilience, emotional well-being, and job satisfaction. The study recommends implementing creativity-development programs, collaborative learning strategies, and problem-solving workshops to cultivate healthier and more adaptive academic environments. This research contributes to the limited body of regional literature on workplace mental health and offers practical insights for improving staff performance and retention in the private higher education sector.