Does Basic Work Needs Satisfaction Mediate between Psychological Empowerment and Career Commitment of Teachers?

Abstract

This study investigated the mediating effects of the satisfaction of basic work psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) on the relationship between psychological empowerment and career commitment among teachers. Two hundred and twelve (212) teachers randomly sampled from 24 secondary schools in Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria participated in the study. Data were collected using three validated instruments and analysed using the parallel mediation process of the multiple mediation macros (Hayes, 2013) on SPSS 21.0 with bootstrapping set at 1,000. Findings revealed that psychological empowerment had significant total (c = .183; p < .05) and direct (c' = .092; p < .01) effects on teachers' career commitment. Keeping other mediators constant, there were significant indirect effects of autonomy (Coeff = .161; p < .05) and competence (Coeff = .445; p < .001) but no significant indirect effect of relatedness (Coeff = .019; p > .05) on the relationship between psychological empowerment and teachers' career commitment. Psychological empowerment therefore has significant total and direct effects on career commitment. It also has significant indirect effect on career commitment through the mediating roles of autonomy and competence but not through relatedness. Implications of the study along with suggestions for practice and research were highlighted.

The Predictive and Incremental Validity of Psychological Empowerment Dimensions on Teachers′ Career Commitment beyond Autonomy, Competence and Relatedness

“…The scale was anchored on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Reliability coefficients for the three factors ranged from 0.79 to 0.85 (Carson & Bedeian, 1994;Mabekoje et al, 2016).…”

“…Also, internal consistency ranges from .79 to .85 for the subscales and from .62 to .74 for the total scale (Mabekoje et al, 2016). Higher score indicates higher perception of empowerment.…”

“…This study focuses on psychological empowerment. Psychological empowerment has been described as individual subjective feeling of competence, responsibility and greater control over one's life (Bracht, 1999;Mabekoje et al, 2016;Rissel, 1994;Wallerstein, 1992). This in essence means that the individual moves towards autonomy and being able to decide owns plan (Mabekoje et al, 2016;Tengland, 2007).…”

“…It is however unfortunate that despite decades of academic and practitioner attention on the construct of empowerment, the received wisdom is scepticism (Dewettinck et al, 2003). For teachers to be truly empowered, they need a supporting environment in which they are cared for, not isolated and are given the opportunity to participate regularly in decision making that affects them as teachers (Mabekoje et al, 2016;Wenzlaff & Wieseman, 2004). The satisfaction of the basic psychological needs therefore stands as the foundation for the feeling of psychological empowerment.…”

“…Whereas few studies (e.g. Mabekoje et al, 2016) have been conducted on the effect of psychological empowerment on career commitment in general, none could be observed to have specifically examined the effects of psychological empowerment dimensions on teachers' career commitment. Literature have proved that psychological empowerment in totality can enhance organisational commitment and job satisfaction (Dehkordi, Kamarani, Ardestani, & Abdolmanafi, 2011).…”