Positive affect, self-management, and stress as they relate to intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction

Teaching is generally viewed as a demanding profession. The daily interactions with co-workers and students plus the incessant, fragmented demands of teaching often lead to overwhelming stress. Notwithstanding, many teachers report high levels of job satisfaction. While there have been many studies on the relationship between teachers* stress and job satisfaction, the findings are inconsistent. Clarification of this relationship may be achieved via the framework of the intrinsic and extrinsic reward systems. Further, stress and job satisfaction may be related to the individual difference variables positive affect and self-management. This study had three main objectives. The first was to establish a solid basis for analysis through the use of well-established, standardized instruments. The second was to examine the relationship between teachers' stress and job satisfaction within the framework of the intrinsic and extrinsic reward systems. The third goal was to explore how the individual difference variables, positive affect and self-management, relate to stress and job satisfaction. The responses of 110 teachers on job satisfaction and stress questionnaires revealed that the majority of teachers expressed uncertainty about job satisfaction. Their stress levels were about the same or slightly higher than other similar groups. Self-management was negatively correlated with stress but was not correlated with job satisfaction. There was a fairly strong negative correlation between stress and intrinsic job satisfaction and overall job satisfaction but not between stress and extrinsic job satisfaction. Further analysis revealed that there was a differential linkage of stress to job satisfaction, depending on the level of positive affect. The most intrinsically satisfied teachers were those who were low in stress and high in positive affect, whereas the least satisfied were those high in stress and low in positive affect. Implications of these results are discussed and directions for future research are suggested.