A Study on the Relationship between Well-Being and Turnover Intentions among Rural School Teachers: School Organizational Climate as a Moderating Variable

Abstract

This study examined the effect of teacher well-being and the organizational climate in rural elementary schools on teachers’ turnover intentions, as well as the effect of the interaction between teacher well-being and organizational climate on teachers’ turnover intentions. Teachers from rural elementary schools in Nantou County, Taiwan, were the participants in this study. A questionnaire was distributed and surveys were collected from 254 teachers. SPSS statistical software was used to conduct confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis, descriptive statistics analysis, independent-samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis. The findings in this study were as follows: 1) Male and female teachers in rural elementary schools showed a significant difference in the professional sharing construct of school organizational climate. 2) Teachers of different age, marital status, part-time position, years of service, and native land showed significant differences in the well-being constructs of life satisfaction and negative emotions. 3) Teachers of different marital status showed a significant difference in the school organizational climate constructs of work supervision, teaching constraints, and turnover intentions. 4) Teachers from different places showed a significant difference in the estrangement construct. 5) The influence of teacher well-being on turnover intentions was negatively affected by the school organizational climate constructs of support, work supervision, and comradeship. The constructs of teaching constraints and estrangement had a significant and positive effect on turnover intentions. Thus, school organizational climate had a moderating effect on the relationship between teacher well-being and turnover intentions.