A Structural Model of Teacher Role Stress, Satisfaction, Commitment, and Intentions to Leave: A Comment on Conley and you (2009)

Abstract

Conley and You assessed the plausibility of three alternative model specifications of the relations between role stressors (i.e., role conflict, role ambiguity, and role overload) and organizational commitment, satisfaction, and turnover intentions among a sample of 178 teachers employed in four Southern California high schools. Using structural equations modeling procedures to evaluate their data, the authors reported the best fit for their "fully mediated effects" model wherein there was a "strong causal path from role ambiguity and role conflict --> satisfaction --> commitment --> intentions to leave" (p. 781). This note addresses methodological issues with the present study and provides suggestions for follow-up efforts designed to replicate and/or extend this line of research.