The job and life satisfaction of teachers: a social cognitive model integrating teachers’ burnout, self-efficacy, dispositional optimism, and social support

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to test a model of factors predicting teachers’ job and life satisfaction, burnout, dispositional optimism, social support, perceived workload, and self-efficacy. The model extends Lent and Brown’s (J Voc Behav 69(2):236–247, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2006.02.006, 2006; J Career Assess 16(1):6–21, https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072707305769, 2008) social cognitive model of the interaction of sources of job and life satisfaction. Specifically, burnout, a condition with a high incidence rate among teachers, was included. The participants were 676 Swiss teachers. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. The results revealed the differential effect of the variables considered on teachers' burnout and job satisfaction, as well as their life satisfaction. Dispositional optimism, social support, and perceived workload might reduce the risk of teacher burnout; dispositional optimism, social support, and teacher self-efficacy seem to positively affect job satisfaction; and dispositional optimism alone, together with burnout and job satisfaction, directly relates to teachers’ life satisfaction. Practical implications of these results are discussed.