Effect of Teachers’ Happiness on Teachers’ Health. The Mediating Role of Happiness at Work

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Paula Benevene¹  Simona De Stasio¹  Caterina Fiorilli¹  Ilaria Buonomo¹  Benedetta Ragni¹  Juan José Maldonado Briegas²  Daniela Barni¹ 

[1] Department of Human Studies, Libera Università Maria SS. Assunta;Department of Business Management and Sociology, University of Extremadura

关键词: teachers’ happiness;    teachers’ health;    happiness;    self-esteem;    happiness at work;    happiness at school;    subjective happiness;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02449

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

The present study aims to expand the understanding of the effects of dispositional happiness and self-esteem, as dispositional traits, on the health of teachers, as well as to understand the role played by the working environment in generating positive affection, thus mediating between the dispositional traits and teachers’ health. Two hundred and eighty-two full-time in-service teachers (93.6% female) from Rome (Italy) took part in this study. Their ages ranged from 26 to 55 ( M = 40.49 years, SD = 5.93). Participants’ teaching experience ranged from 1 to 31 years ( M = 9.95 years, SD = 5.65). 30.6% of participants taught in kindergarten (for children aged 0–5 years), 42.6% in primary schools (for children aged 6–11 years), 15.8% in middle schools and 10.9% in high schools. A questionnaire was administered, containing: the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS); the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES); The adapted version for teachers of the School Children Happiness Inventory ( Ivens, 2007 ); the Physical and Mental Health Scales (SF12). The data were analyzed using the MPLUS software, version 8. Our results showed that teacher happiness at work partially mediates the relationship between dispositional happiness and teacher health, and fully mediates the relationship between self-esteem and teacher health. To the best of our knowledge, the mediational role of teacher happiness has not been addressed before, concerning these dimensions. At the same time, our findings confirmed the role of self-esteem in endorsing health-related behaviors, thus promoting physical and mental health. Moreover, according to our study findings, when teachers acknowledge their workplace as a context in which they feel happy, the impact of dispositional happiness and self-esteem on health conditions is higher. Effective measures to promote teachers’ well-being are discussed.

【 授权许可】

CC BY