The Role of job demands, job resources, and personal resources in work-related well-being of Chinese preschool teachers : a mixed-method study from the perspective of the job demands-resources model /

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Student Theses

2024

Qiu, Shiqi

Hong Kong : The Education University of Hong Kong

Thesis

Preschool teachers' work-related well-being (WWB) is a well-being dimension in the working context. It can be manifested as individuals' "good feeling" (hedonic WWB) and "optimal functioning" (eudemonic WWB) at work. This study adopted an explanatory sequential mixed-method design with two studies based on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model to determine the existing status and the potential organizational level and personal level antecedents of Chinese preschool teachers' WWB.Study one was a quantitative study, aiming to explore the relationships between preschool teachers' job demands (i.e., workload, emotional demands, and cognitive demands), job resources (i.e., collegial leadership and teacher professionalism), personal resources (i.e., psychological capital), and WWB (i.e., job satisfaction, job stress, work engagement, and job burnout). It further examined the potential moderating role of job and personal resources in the relationship between job demands and WWB. A total of 676 Chinese full-time preschool teachers from three cities of high (Zhuhai), medium (Changsha), and low (Lijiang) levels of economic development completed the questionnaires. Study two was a sequential qualitative study with semi-structured interviews, aiming to explore the participants' interpretation of how job demands, job resources, and personal resources were associated with their WWB. A total of 18 participants finished the interviews.The quantitative findings indicated that Chinese preschool teachers had a medium level of hedonic WWB (i.e., job satisfaction and job stress) and a relatively high level of eudemonic WWB (i.e., work engagement and job burnout). Besides, it was also suggested that job / personal resources were positively associated with WWB, whereas job demands were negatively associated with WWB overall (exception: job demands were positively related to work engagement (responsibility and dedication).It was also suggested that job resources moderated the positive relationship between job demands and job stress, and such a relationship was stronger for preschool teachers who had high levels of job resources compared to those who had low levels of job resources. Besides, job resources also moderated the positive relationship between job demands and work engagement (responsibility), and such a relationship was only significant for preschool teachers who had low levels of job resources but not for those who had high levels of job resources. Job resources also moderated the negative relationship between job demands and job burnout (lack of personal accomplishment), and such a relationship was only significant for preschool teachers who had low levels of job resources but not for those who had high levels of job resources.Moreover, personal resources were also found to moderate the positive relationship between job demands and job stress, and such a relationship was stronger for preschool teachers who had high levels of personal resources compared to those who had low levels of personal resources. Personal resources also moderated the positive relationship between job demands and work engagement (responsibility), and such a relationship was only significant for preschool teachers who had low levels of personal resources but not for those who had high levels of personal resources.In the sequential qualitative analysis, eight themes were summarized to explain participants' perceived job demands, job resources, and personal resources, and how these factors were associated with their WWB. Theme 1-4, i.e., Overwhelmed Workload, Exhausted Emotional Workers, Engaged and Proud as an Educator, and COVID-19: Increased but Tolerable Job Stress, illustrated preschool teachers' major job tasks in daily work routine and their corresponding job demands, and how these job demands influenced their WWB. Theme 5-8, i.e. The Motivation Role of Job Resources and The Double-Edged Sword Effect of Job Resources, The Motivation Role of Personal Resources and The Double- Edged Sword Effect of Personal Resources illustrated how job / personal resources worked as motivation factors of preschool teachers' WWB and their "double-edged sword effects".Theoretically, this study advances the JD-R model in two aspects. First, this study applied the JD-R model to Chinese preschool teachers, thus helping abridge the population gap in the literature. Second, job / personal resources' "double-edged sword effect" was found and advanced the JD-R model, which will bring inspiration to the subsequent studies that adopt the JD-R model as a theoretical framework. Practically, this study sheds light on the effective pathways for improving Chinese preschool teachers' WWB that job demands can be also considered as motivating factors, while job / personal resources also have their negative sides. Therefore, kindergarten principals should reduce unreasonable job demands and be cautious about the application of job resources although job resources are crucial to preschool teachers' WWB. Preschool teachers should also be cautious about personal resources' negative sides when improving these resources

LG51.H51 Dr 2024eb Qius

https://educoll.lib.eduhk.hk/records/Nqq6b5O3