Lupine Publishers | Scholarly Journal Of Psychology And Behavioral Sciences
Introduction
Subjective
well-being (SWB) can be defined from multiple perspectives. Most researchers
agree with the concept put forward by Diener (1984) and believe that subjective
well-being is an individual’s overall assessment of their quality of life
according to their own standards.
Which includes the following three aspects:
a)
Cognition and evaluation of their own quality of life (i.e., life
satisfaction); and
b)
Positive emotions include happy, meaningful life, full of spirit and other
emotional experience.
c)
Negative emotions include anxiety, depression, sadness, loneliness, boredom and
discomfort and other emotional experience, but not affective disorder and
neurosis.
It
can be seen that subjective well-being has the following three basic
characteristics:
a)
Subjectivity: The evaluation of subjective well-being mainly depends on the
standards set by oneself rather than the external standards, so subjective
reporting method is often used to evaluate.
b)
Integrity: subjective well-being reflects the overall subjective quality of
life of the individual.
c)
Relative stability: subjective well-being does not change significantly with
the passing of time or the general change of environment [1].
Primary
school teachers have made important contributions to China’s basic education,
trained generations of children for millions of families, and provided batch
after batch of reserve talents for the society. However, due to various factors,
the subjective wellbeing of primary school teachers is relatively low, which
affects the work enthusiasm and effectiveness of primary school teachers to a
certain extent [2-3]. In recent years, with the implementation of a series of
national basic education policies and the improvement of the developmental
environment, the subjective well-being of primary school teachers has attracted
more and more attention from all walks of life. There is few domestic research
on the factors influencing the subjective well-being of primary school
teachers. Most of the previous research focus on limited two or three factors,
and the factors involved are different [2-3]. It is unable to systematically
reveal the influencing factors and the mechanism of the subjective well-being.
Based on the above analysis, this study intends to adopt a large sample multi
center empirical research to systematically expound the status and various
influencing factors such as the demographic factors, teaching related factors
and personal factors of primary school teachers’ subjective well-being.
Object and Methods
Object
Sample size estimation
the
minimum sample size is calculated by g.power3.0 [4]. This method needs to be
based on the incidence, but subjective well-being is a continuous variable,
only with high and low points, without whether or not points, so cannot
directly use subjective well-being to calculate the sample size. As depression
is a common psychological disorder, which plays an important role in predicting
subjective well-being, so we use the prevalence rate of primary school
teachers’ depression to calculate the sample size. Previous studies showed that
the incidence rate of depression among primary school teachers in China was
7.70% to 57.60% [5- 8], and the median test effect was d, which was 0.50 to
0.80 [9]. In this study, the effect value d = 0.70, the statistical test power
1 - β = 0.80, and the class I error probability α = 0.05 are set. The minimum
sample size needed for the survey is calculated as 846. The minimum sample size
is determined as 1016 due to a potential loss rate of 20%.
Sampling
By
stratified random sampling, a total of 1400 primary school teachers were
selected from Shenzhen, Jiangmen, Zhuhai, Shanwei and Zhanjiang from April 2020
to May 2020. Inclusive criteria: over 20 years old, normal spirit and
intelligence, more than 1 year of teaching in primary school. Exclusion
criteria: those who could not complete the scale due to serious physical
diseases, mental disorders and other reasons. In fact, 1368 people met, with a
visit rate of 97.7%. Among them, 9 (0.6%) were positive by mini mental state
examination (MMSE) and 76 (5.4%) were not willing to cooperate with the survey.
A total of 1283 people completed the survey, and the effective rate was 91.6%.
Among them, there were 361 from Shenzhen, 418 from Jiangmen, 206 from Zhuhai,
102 from Shanwei and 196 from Zhanjiang; the average age was (33.8 ± 10.6)
years old; 318 from 20 to 30 years old, 354 from 30 to 40 years old, 327 from
40 to 50 years old and 284 from 50 to 60 years old; 485 unmarried, 257
divorced, 48 widowed and 493 married; 337 from senior high school or technical
secondary school, 439 from junior college, 473 undergraduates and 34 with
master’s degree; 853 from city or town, 430 from rural; 417 substitute teachers
and 866 teachers in the personnel establishment.
Tools
Subjective well-being scale (SWBS)
It
includes two parts: Life Satisfaction Scale and Emotion Scale. Subjective
well-being level (SWB) is the score of life satisfaction plus emotional
balance.
Satisfaction with Life Scale (SLS)
It
is compiled by Diener (1985) [10] and used to evaluate the satisfaction with
oneself’ s life and the closeness to his (or her) ideal life. SLS includes five
items. The likert 7-point scoring method is used to score from 1 to 7 points
corresponding to “strongly against” to “strongly for”. The higher the total
score, the higher the degree of life satisfaction. In this study, the
cronbach’a coefficient of the scale is 0.824.
Affect scale: positive affect, negative
affect, affect balance (AS)
It
is compiled by Bradburn (1969) and revised by fan Xiaodong into Chinese version
[11], which is used to assess the emotions and life evaluation of the general
population in the past few weeks. There are 10 items, which are divided into
three dimensions: positive emotion, negative emotion and emotional balance. If
the answer is “yes” to the positive emotion item, 1 point will be scored; if
the answer is “no” to the negative emotion item, 1 point will also be scored.
The emotional balance is calculated by subtracting the negative emotional score
from the positive emotional score and adding a coefficient of 5. In this study,
the cronbach’a coefficient of the total table is 0.886, and the cronbach’a
coefficient of each dimension is 0.814-0.837.
Test of teaeher competency (TTC)
I
it is compiled by Xu Jianping [12] to evaluate the professional competence of
primary and secondary school teachers. There are 50 items, which are divided
into 10 subscales: personal characteristics (TRI), focus on students (FCN),
professionalism (EXP), interpersonal communication (ICO), relationship building
(RB), information collection (INFO), professional preference (PP), respect for
others (RO), understanding others (UO), lie detection (LIE). The 5-point
scoring method is used to score from 1 to 5 points corresponding to “completely
inconsistent” to 5 “completely consistent”. The higher the score, the stronger
the professional competence. In this study, the cronbach’a coefficient of the
total scale is 0.894, and the cronbach’a coefficient of each subscale is
0.815-0.845.
Social support rating scale (SSRS)
it
is compiled by Xiao Shui yuan [13] to evaluate the social support and its
utilization. There are 10 items, which are divided into three dimensions:
objective support (i.e., the actual support received), subjective support (i.e.
the support that can be experienced or emotional), and utilization of support
(i.e. the active use of various social support, including the way of talking,
the way of asking for help, and the situation of participating in activities).
The higher the score, the higher the degree of social support. Generally
speaking, the total score of less than 20 is to get less social support, 20～30 is to get general social support, and
> 30 is to get satisfactory social support. In this study, the cronbach’a
coefficient of the total scale is 0.907, and the cronbach’a coefficient of each
dimension is 0.830～0.879.
Mini mental state examination (MMSE)
It
is also known as simple mental state checklist, compiled by folstein et al
(1975) and reviewed by Zhang mingyun[14] into Chinese version, which is the
most authoritative cognitive screening scale in the world. MMSE has five items,
including time and location orientation, language (retelling, naming,
understanding of instructions), mental calculation, immediate and short-term
auditory word memory, visual structure imitation, mainly for simple assessment
of orientation, memory, language, calculation and attention, etc. the test
takes 5-10 minutes. MMSE is simple to operate, and has high reliability, validity,
specificity and sensitivity. The total score of the scale was 30, the dividing
value was illiteracy group ≤ 17, primary school group ≤ 20, middle school or
above group ≤ 24. Cognitive dysfunction existed when the score is below the
threshold. In this study, the Cronbach ‘a coefficient of the scale is 0.811.
Self-compiled questionnaire for the related
factors of elementary school teachers’ subjective well-being.
The
CNKI, Wanfang database, VIP database, Baidu, Pubmed and other search engines
are used to search the literatures about subjective well-being among elementary
school teachers (206 in Chinese and 13067 in foreign). Based on that, the basic
content of the questionnaire is constructed, with a total of 28 items. Combined
with the results of 3 collective discussions with 10 representatives of
elementary school teachers and 5 experts in the field of elementary education,
4 items were deleted, and 1 items were added. The final questionnaire for
related factors of elementary school teachers’ subjective well-being consists
of 25 items, including gender, age, teaching age, teaching grade, marital
status, how many children do you have, education, professional title, teaching
subjects, posts, whether a head teacher, category of personnel arragement, administrative
region of school, health, selfstudy, work environment, occupation development
prospect, selfevaluation of performance, colleague evaluation of performance,
annual income, time to work, rationality of performance evaluation, physical
exercise, tourism and so on.
Collection and Arrangement of Data
Before
the investigation, the researchers who participated in the survey were trained
uniformly, and the investigation process and evaluation standard were unified.
The consistency test (kappa = 0.81~ 0.90) met the test requirements. The
questionnaires with scores of more than 50% of the items missing were
eliminated. The missing values of the valid questionnaires were estimated and
filled with the average. Two researchers independently input the same data
using Epidata3.0 software and conduct a unified logic check to ensure the
accuracy of the data.
Statistical methods
Data
was exported from epidata3.0 to SPSS 20.0 for statistical analysis. The main
statistical methods include descriptive statistics and multiple linear
regression analysis.
Ethical licensing
The
procedure of this study is in accordance with the ethical standards set by the
ethics committee of Department of Education of Guangdong Province and approved
by the Committee.
Results
Descriptive statistics
The
total average score of SWB was (-0.05 ± 2.19), and the total average score of
TTC and SSRS were (3.73 ± 0.61) and (33.71 ± 5.52), respectively. It shows that
the subjective well-being of primary school teachers in this group is on the
low side, and their competence is on the high side. They get more satisfactory
social support, as shown in Table 1.
Regression analysis
Variable assignment
First,
values are assigned to the possible situations (alternative answers) of 25
categorical variables (including demographic variables and psychosocial
variables) that may affect the total score of SWB, and the results are shown in
Table 2.
multiple stepwise linear regression analysis
on influencing factors of SWB score
Taking
the score of SWB as the dependent variable and 25 categorical variables, the
total score of TTC and SSRS as independent variables, the multiple stepwise
linear regression analysis is carried out within 95% confidence interval. From
Table 3, it can be seen that the score of SWB is positively correlated with
education, category of personnel arrangement, professional title, working
environment, career developmental prospect, annual income, selfstudy, health
status, total score of TTC and SSRS (β =. 219 ~. 780, all P < 0.05) .
Gender, head teacher, teaching subjects, marital status and posts are
negatively correlated with the total score of SWB (β = - 0.149～-. 413, all P < 0.05).
Discussion
The
score of SWB is (- 0.05±2.19), and the total score of TTC and SSRS are
(3.731±0.61) and (71 0 ±5.52), respectively. It is consistent with the results
of previous literature [15-18], suggesting that the subjective well-being of
this group is low, the competency of teachers is generally in the upper middle
level, and they get more satisfactory social support. Multiple stepwise linear
regression analysis shows that education, personnel arrangement category,
professional title, working environment, career development prospect, annual
income, self-study, health status, total score of TTC and SSRS are positively
correlated with the score of SWB, while gender, head teacher, teaching
subjects, marital status and posts were negatively correlated with the score of
SWB.
This
study finds that there is a significant correlation between gender and
subjective well-being of primary school teachers, which is consistent with the
results of Wang Wenting [19], Fu Hongmei [20] and Guo Jing [21], suggesting
that gender has an important influence on career, which may be due to the
different personality characteristics and career expectation of men and women.
Education and self-study are positively correlated with the subjective
well-being of primary school teachers. The higher the education level and
self-study enthusiasm, the stronger the subjective well-being, which is
consistent with the results of Wang Wenting [19]. To a certain extent, the
level of education reflects the individual’s intelligence level and working
foundation. Those with higher education background and efforts have mastered
more professional knowledge and more advanced education and teaching skills and
are more likely to be competent for teaching work. With the development of
economy and education, the requirement of primary school teachers’ education is
higher and higher. In recent years, primary school teachers are required to
have bachelor’s degree. Teachers with diploma of secondary normal school or
junior college can no longer meet the needs of educational development, which
urges the majority of primary school teachers to participate in various kinds
of training to improve their academic qualification and professional skills.
Therefore, the lower the education level, the greater the pressure of further education
and the lower their happiness.
This
study finds that the subjective well-being of teachers in charge of a class is
lower than that of other teachers, the subjective well-being of primary school
teachers who teach mathematics, Chinese, English and other quiz required
subjects is lower than that of teachers teaching other subjects, the subjective
well-being of teachers in administrative positions is lower than that of other
teachers, the subjective well-being of married teachers is lower than that of unmarried
teachers. It is consistent with the results of previous research [18-21],
suggesting that social role and work pressure affect subjective well-being.
Compared with unmarried teachers, teachers who are not in charge of a class,
teachers in charge of non-quiz required subjects and teachers who are not
engaged in administrative work, married teachers, head teachers, teachers
teaching quiz required subjects and teachers who are engaged in administrative
work have more heavy tasks, greater work pressure, longer working hours and
more dispersion, they not only need to work in school, but also often in
leisure time. So, they have less rest and leisure, and are more prone to
physical and mental fatigue, thus reducing their sense of happiness. The
subjective well-being of the substitute teachers is lower than that of the
teachers in the personnel establishment. At present, there are still 3% primary
school teachers in China who are substitute teachers. Their situation can be
summarized as the following sentences: “they are teachers, but they often have
no teacher’s treatment, lack of training leads to insufficient development
assistance, unable to make ends meet and have no support for the elderly, and
the prospect of hard work is not clear”. This dilemma makes substitute teachers
face greater survival pressure in the accelerated development of society [22].
TTC total score and professional title are positively correlated with
subjective well-being of primary school teachers, consistent with the results
of previous research [2,18]. It is suggested that the professional quality not
only affects the work effect of teachers, but also affects the teachers’ life
feeling. TTC total score is the subjective evaluation of teachers’ work
ability, values and other professional qualities, while the professional title
is the recognition of the comprehensive quality of the individual (including
the professional and technical level) by the school and society. The lower the
total score of TTC, the more the teachers think they are not competent for
teaching; the lower the professional title, especially the professional title
not corresponding to the teaching age, The more seriously their comprehensive
quality (not only the professional and technical level) is not recognized by the
work unit and society, which is more prone to frustration, and the job burnout
is more easily caused by the feeling of “pay - get imbalance [23]”, thus
reducing the subjective well-being.
Health
status is a positive predictor of primary school teachers’ subjective
well-being, which is consistent with Guo Jing’s [3] and Rory’s [21] research
results, suggesting that physiological and mental function play important roles
in life experience. Poor health condition can easily cause discomfort and loss
of sense of the individual (including physiological and social functions).
Because of the high work pressure and less activity, primary school teachers
become the high incidence group of occupational diseases, which greatly hinders
their work efficiency and quality of life, and easily leads to depression,
anxiety and other negative emotions [8], thus reducing subjective well-being.
Social support level was positively correlated with SWB score, which was
consistent with the previous study [24,25]. Social support has a positive
predictive effect on the subjective well-being of different groups [26-27],
which is confirmed in this study. Social support is based on sufficient
interpersonal understanding and harmonious interpersonal relationship, which
not only provides material support and emotional comfort for the parties, but
also provides feasible coping methods to help them solve problems, successfully
overcome difficulties, reduce the level of physical and mental stress, and
maintain mental health and subjective well-being. The career development
prospect, working environment, annual income are positively correlated with the
subjective well-being of primary school teachers, consistent with the results
of zhangguyue and Ren zhengpan [19,28], suggesting that occupational value
plays an important role in promoting the subjective well-being. Generally
speaking, the higher the social value (being paid attention to by the society),
the better the prospect of the occupation, the more comfortable the working
environment, the higher the level of welfare and income, the stronger the
professional acquisition and subjective well-being [29].
Conclusion
There
are many influencing factors of primary school teachers’ subjective well-being,
which can be summarized into two categories: one is positive, mainly the living
resources and working condition, including material resources, such as income,
and spiritual resources, such as social support, education level, etc; the
other is negative, mainly the subjective life difficulties, such as staffing
constraints, unclear career prospect, poor health, etc.
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