How Relationships Impact Teacher Job Satisfaction

Abstract

This study aimed to extend the knowledge of teacher job satisfaction by specifically examining predictors at the teacher level. Several components of job satisfaction were examined for their hypothesized impact, including the focused predictor of teacher-student relations. Based on the United States sample in the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018 data, the author explored this issue utilizing responses from 2,560 lower secondary school teachers nested within 166 schools. Using the transactional model of stress and coping (Lazarus, & Folkman, 1984) as a framework, the study found that teacher-student relationships are a positive and significant predictor of teacher job satisfaction. After controlling for relevant predictors, teacher relationships with their students were the strongest predictor of their job satisfaction present in the study. Discussions and implications are presented.