Psychological Predictors and Mediators of Subjective Well-being in a Sample of Romanian Teachers

Abstract

The study examined psychological predictors and mediators of teacher subjective well-being. Participants included 174 teachers from urban middle and highschools. The first objective was to explore the psychological correlates of the teacher SWB: self-esteem, general self-efficacy (core self-evaluation), teacher self-efficacy, optimism (cognitive trait related to the psychological well-being), and perceived social support (psychosocial trait related to the psychological wellbeing. The second objective was to investigate the mediating role of self-efficacy in the association between optimism and subjective well-being. The third objective was to explore the mediating role of teacher self-efficacy in the relation between perceived social support and teacher subjective well-being. Correlation, linear regression and mediation model analyses through the Sobel test were computed. Results confirmed the research assumptions. The findings of this study enhance the understanding of personal factors associated with teacher subjective wellbeing. The constructs linked to subjective well-being (predictors and mediators) could be target of school psychologists' interventions, in order to have more engaged and performing teachers in schools. The findings were discussed in the context of designing the interventions for enhancement of the subjective wellbeing among teachers.