Job satisfaction, psychological well-being, and movement facilitation self-efficacy among primary school classroom teachers

This study examined the direct and indirect relationships among primary school classroom teachers' job satisfaction, psychological well-being, and movement facilitation self-efficacy in physical education and games lessons using structural equation modeling (SEM).

A quantitative, cross-sectional correlational design was employed. Data were collected from 320 classroom teachers working in Ankara, Türkiye. The Minnesota Job Satisfaction Scale, the short form of the Psychological Well-Being Scale, and the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale for Providing Physical Activity in the Classroom were administered. The measurement model was validated through confirmatory factor analysis, and convergent and discriminant validity were established. The structural model was tested using maximum likelihood estimation, and mediation was examined via 5,000 bootstrap resamples.

Results indicated that job satisfaction was strongly and positively associated with psychological well-being (β = 0.64, p < 0.001), and psychological well-being was significantly and positively associated with movement facilitation self-efficacy (β = 0.39, p < 0.001). Job satisfaction was also significantly and positively associated with movement facilitation self-efficacy (β = 0.27, p < 0.001). Bootstrap analysis revealed a significant indirect association through psychological well-being (β_indirect = 0.25, 95% CI [0.17, 0.34]). The model accounted for 39% of the variance in movement facilitation self-efficacy.

Findings suggest that teachers' job satisfaction and psychological resources are important correlates of movement facilitation self-efficacy. By situating self-efficacy within the specific context of physical activity promotion, this study integrates occupational well-being theory with school-based physical activity research and highlights implications for teacher support policies and instructional capacity development.