Effects of job demands and resources on the subjective well‐being of teachers

Abstract

Although it is widely recognised that well‐being of teachers is important, not much is known about the effects of job characteristics in subjective well‐being. This paper is a report of a study that investigates the effects of job characteristics on subjective well‐being. Nationally representative employee data is used to investigate the effects of job characteristics and teachers' subjective well‐being among teachers in Britain (N = 954). The findings suggest that there is a prima facie case for schools to use the job demands‐resources model to maintain and raise levels of job satisfaction and negative affect among their teachers. Multiple regressions were performed to calculate the relative weight of job characteristics related to subjective well‐being. Results show, among other things, that job security, autonomy and employee voice increase, and work–life conflict decreases, the subjective well‐being of teachers. In addition, it is found that family policies, a supportive supervisor and employee voice can mitigate the detrimental effects of work–life conflict, workload and work hours on negative affect. Policy implications follow, which include, inter alia, that training and development programmes with an emphasis on communications skills and providing teachers more opportunities to participate in decisions could be used to achieve greater participation, better supportive supervision and more job security. In addition, workload can be reduced by giving teachers more non‐contact time and creating smaller classes. It is widely recognised that lack of well‐being can potentially affect both workers and the organisation in negative ways. Within the teaching occupation well‐being is a serious and growing concern. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to generate insights into what job characteristics affect teacher well‐being.This study demonstrated that the JD‐R model can be used successfully to investigate job characteristics. Furthermore, this study highlights the relationship of subjective well‐being of teachers with job characteristics. In addition, it is found that various job resources can mitigate the detrimental effects of several demands on negative affect.The present study suggests that increases in subjective well‐being can be made by increasing resources and decreasing demands and that special attention needs to be drawn to: supportive management, employee voice, autonomy, job security, workload and work–life conflict. Policy implications include that training and development programmes with an emphasis on communication skills and providing teachers more opportunities to participate in decisions could be used to achieve greater participation, better supportive supervision and more job security. In addition, workload can be reduced by giving teachers more non‐contact time and creating smaller classes.