A longitudinal study of health-impairment and motivational processes in the psychosocial work environment and the subsequent influence on teachers’ intention to remain at their workplace

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ABSTRACT This study examines the concurrent influence of health-impairment and motivational processes proposed by the Job Demands-Resource model on teachers’ intention to remain at their workplace at 12 and 24 months among 308 certified teachers in Sweden. Teachers’ perceptions of job demands (quantitative demands, emotional demands, work pace) and job resources (possibilities for development, social support from supervisor, social support from colleagues, recognition) were measured at baseline whereas exhaustion, work engagement, and retention intention were measured at 12 months and 24 months. Data was analysed using structural equation modelling and subsidiary analyses explored the moderating effects of job resources on the health-impairment process at 12 and 24 months. The findings indicate that the health-impairment process is a stronger predictor of teachers’ retention intention at 12 and 24 months than the motivational process and that the primary focus of teacher retention policies should be optimising teachers job demands rather than enhancing teachers’ job resources.