Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the reverse pathway dynamics between teachers’ self-efficacy and job satisfaction from a cross-country perspective. By recognizing the sparseness of empirical studies on the reciprocal relation between self-referent assessment of capabilities and job satisfaction, a model of reciprocal determinism between teacher self-efficacy and job satisfaction is proposed. The data of 51,782 primary school teachers were analyzed using a non-recursive causal reciprocal structural equation system within the overarching framework of structural equation modeling. The results indicated that teachers’ self-efficacy was reciprocally related to job satisfaction at the individuals’ level. Despite this finding, feedback effects were identified only across seven education systems. Further, it was shown via multigroup structural equation modeling that organizational culture (i.e., education systems) by proxy of the countries was moderating the structural relations among the recursive and non-recursive effects of the model. These findings underscore the importance of self-efficacy in promoting job satisfaction and indicate that more satisfied teachers are characterized also by greater teaching self-efficacy. The results are discussed within the scope of better understanding the relations between these two focal constructs for educational practice.
Highlights
Teacher self-efficacy and job satisfaction have become a focal point of researchers’ interest in the field of psychology of education by being closely connected with teachers’ well-being and psychological resilience (Katsantonis, 2020a; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2014)
Regarding the job satisfaction (J_SATIS) variable, we identified variables that mostly pertain to the school context
The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was equal to ρρ=0.012
Summary
Teacher self-efficacy and job satisfaction have become a focal point of researchers’ interest in the field of psychology of education by being closely connected with teachers’ well-being and psychological resilience (Katsantonis, 2020a; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2014). Many studies to date have found evidence in favor of the unidirectional relation of self-efficacy and job satisfaction, both at the teachers’ level (e.g., Caprara et al, 2003; Høigaard et al, 2012; Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2007) and at the principals’ level (e.g., Federici, 2013; Federici & Skaalvik, 2012). Both teacher self-efficacy and job satisfaction have been connected with many teacher- and student-related outcomes, such as teacher- student relations (Admiraal et al, 2019), teacher burnout (Høigaard et al, 2012), teacher motivation (Canrinus et al, 2012), school climate factors (Katsantonis, 2020a; Zakariya, 2020), etc. The examination of the reciprocal relationship between teacher self-efficacy and variables that constitute aspects of teachers’ psychological well-being could be of great instructional value and would extend the theoretical underpinnings of the relationship between these two important psychological variables
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