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Subjective wellbeing in New Zealand teachers: An examination of the role of psychological capital

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2019

Andrea Soykan ,
Dianne Gardner  and
Terence Edwards
Andrea Soykan
Affiliation:
Institute of Education, Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand
Dianne Gardner*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Terence Edwards
Affiliation:
Albany, Auckland, New Zealand
*
Corresponding author. Address for correspondence: Dianne Gardner, School of Psychology, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. Email: D.H.Gardner@massey.ac.nz
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Abstract

Teaching is one of the most stressful occupations. This study explores how teachers’ psychological capital — a combination of hope, resilience, optimism and self-efficacy — is related to stress, wellbeing, appraisal and coping. Teachers (n = 1502) across New Zealand and from a range of teaching levels completed surveys. Participants with more psychological capital reported less stress and more wellbeing, saw work demands more as challenges than threats, and reported using more task-focused and less emotion-focused coping strategies. Psychological capital appeared to be directly related to increased wellbeing and reduced stress. Given the importance of teacher wellbeing for the profession and for students, we need ways to build teachers’ personal resources and, importantly, to ensure that teaching environments support wellbeing.

Keywords

stressteacher motivationwellbeingresilienceself-efficacy
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , December 2019 , pp. 130 - 138
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Copyright
© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Cambridge University Press 

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