Principal-teacher social contagion of job satisfaction

Abstract

Although the social contagion between superiors and subordinates is widely explored in various work settings, very few have investigated this phenomenon in the educational context. Moreover, most studies on social contagion in educational settings focus on the students as the recipients. The current study examined the principal-teacher social contagion of job satisfaction and its subsequent relationship with instructional quality. The study made use of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018 data from two cultural entities: Confucian societies (Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and Shanghai) and English-speaking societies (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United States, and United Kingdom). Results of multilevel mediation analyses revealed that, at the between-level, principal job satisfaction predicted teacher job satisfaction, providing support for the principal-teacher job satisfaction contagion. The job satisfaction contagion subsequently predicted clarity of instruction and cognitive activation in the Confucian societies, but only cognitive activation in the English-speaking societies; whereas at the within-level, teacher job satisfaction predicted both instructional quality indicators in both cultural groups.