Social Support and Job Satisfaction in Kindergarten Teachers: The Mediating Role of Coping Styles.

Yongfei Ban,Xiaozhou Lu,Ying Yang,Ji Sun

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.809272

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between social support and job satisfaction in kindergarten teachers, and the mediating role of coping styles in this relationship. A sample of 617 kindergarten teachers (Mage = 25.13 years, SD = 5.66 years) from kindergartens in mainland China completed questionnaires measuring social support, job satisfaction, and coping style. The results showed that social support was positively related to job satisfaction and positive coping style was positively associated with social support and job satisfaction. Furthermore, the results revealed that positive coping style, but not negative coping style, had a mediating effect on the relationship between kindergarten teachers’ social support and job satisfaction. This study provides initial evidence that coping style mediates the link between social support and job satisfaction in kindergarten teachers, and suggests that increasing social support and encouraging positive coping style could improve kindergarten teachers’ job satisfaction.

Highlights

At present, kindergarten teachers generally face multiple responsibilities, heavy workloads, stressful working conditions, challenging behaviors, and diverse special needs of young children (Lambert et al, 2019), which greatly affects the job satisfaction of kindergarten teachers
The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between social support and kindergarten teachers’ job satisfaction, and whether social support had an indirect effect on job satisfaction through coping styles
To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to examine the relationship between social support, coping styles, and job satisfaction in kindergarten teachers

Summary

Introduction

Kindergarten teachers generally face multiple responsibilities, heavy workloads, stressful working conditions, challenging behaviors, and diverse special needs of young children (Lambert et al, 2019), which greatly affects the job satisfaction of kindergarten teachers. Job satisfaction of kindergarten teachers affects their investment in teaching (Ma, 2019) and influences the formation of healthy personalities in children (Hu et al, 2012). Several studies have shown that higher job satisfaction in teachers reduces the likelihood of leaving their jobs (Blömeke et al, 2017; Yang et al, 2018), which is important in times of high teacher turnover (Toropova et al, 2021). The frequent turnover of teachers undermines the educational process and hinders the achievement of teaching objectives and the progress and development of students (Lambert et al, 2019). The high turnover of kindergarten teachers due to job dissatisfaction is an urgent problem in China especially (Xia et al, 2022). It is necessary to explore the potential predictors of kindergarten teachers’ job satisfaction to enhance job satisfaction and in turn, reduce turnover rates

Objectives

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Discussion

Conclusion