The Influence of School Atmosphere on Chinese Teachers’ Job Satisfaction: The Chain Mediating Effect of Psychological Capital and Professional Identity

Abstract

Until today, the impact of organizational atmosphere on job satisfaction has still attracted the attention of researchers in the field of education to help decision-makers and school leaders improve the teachers’ commitment, professional identity, and job satisfaction through the construction of the school environment. This study explored the impact of school atmosphere on the teachers’ job satisfaction and examined the chain mediating role of psychological capital and professional identity. The school atmosphere, psychological capital, professional identity, and job satisfaction scales were used to investigate 648 primary and secondary school teachers in China. The bootstrap method was used to test the mediating effect. The results showed that school atmosphere had a positive predictive effect on the teachers’ job satisfaction; psychological capital does not play a mediating role between school atmosphere and job satisfaction; professional identity plays a mediating role between school atmosphere and job satisfaction; psychological capital and professional identity play a chain mediating role between school atmosphere and job satisfaction. Therefore, this study proposes that schools adopt more effective school management strategies to build a positive school atmosphere to improve the teachers’ psychological capital and professional identity to solve the practical problem of low job satisfaction among primary and secondary school teachers.