The Interplay of Compassion, Subjective Happiness and Proactive Strategies on Kindergarten Teachers’ Work Engagement and Perceived Working Environment Fit

Simona De Stasio, Paula Benevene, Alessandro Pepe, Ilaria Buonomo, Benedetta Ragni and Carmen Berenguer
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Simona De Stasio: Department of Human Studies, LUMSA University, 00193 Rome, Italy
Paula Benevene: Department of Human Studies, LUMSA University, 00193 Rome, Italy
Alessandro Pepe: Department of Human Sciences “Riccardo Massa”, Bicocca University, 20126 Milan, Italy
Ilaria Buonomo: Department of Human Studies, LUMSA University, 00193 Rome, Italy
Benedetta Ragni: Department of Human Studies, LUMSA University, 00193 Rome, Italy
Carmen Berenguer: Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-17

Abstract: Background: The current cross-sectional study examines a model that was designed to advance understanding of the interplay between compassion towards teachers expressed by teaching colleagues, subjective happiness, proactive strategies and kindergarten teachers’ levels of work engagement, and perceived working environment fit. Methods: The research was conducted with a sample of 319 full-time in-service kindergarten teachers at Italian public preschools—a context in which a few previous studies have been carried out. Self-report questionnaires were administered: The Subjective Happiness Scale, the Santa Clara Brief Compassion Scale, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, the Proactive Strategy Scale, and the Teacher-working environment fit scale. Data were analyzed by using the structural equation modelling (SEM) approach. Results: Results show that compassion and subjective happiness have a direct positive total effect on work engagement, whereas the effects of compassion and subjective happiness on experienced working environment fit suggest that the association among constructs is mediated by the role of proactive strategies. Conclusions: Based on these findings, we strongly advocate that educational policy makers and head teachers’ pay close attention to the areas of personal and collective resources and work-related well-being, with a view to effectively address the promotion of early childhood teachers’ work engagement and working environment fit.

Keywords: kindergarten teachers; compassion; subjective happiness; working environment fit; proactive strategies; work engagement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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