A multilevel examination of teachers’ occupational commitment: the roles of job resources and disruptive student behavior

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to extend knowledge of occupational commitment by examining predictors at the teacher- and school-level. Several job resources hypothesized to be positively associated with occupational commitment were examined: helpful feedback, input in decision-making, teacher collaboration, and principal discipline support. The moderating role of disruptive student behavior (which was hypothesized to negatively predict the outcome) was also examined to see whether the job resources help support teachers’ occupational commitment even when disruptive behaviors are high. With 12,955 teachers from 827 schools in four English-speaking countries (Australia, Canada, England, and the US), findings revealed at the teacher-level that helpful feedback and input in decision-making were positively associated with occupational commitment, whereas the reverse was true for disruptive student behavior. An interaction effect also showed that helpful feedback was particularly important for occupational commitment when disruptive student behavior was high. At the school-level, input in decision-making and principal discipline support were positively associated with occupational commitment and disruptive student behavior was negatively associated with the outcome. Findings were similar across the four countries.