Perceived school culture, personality types, and wellbeing among kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong

Abstract

While research has indicated that kindergarten teachers across cultures have consistently faced high work stress that may influence their wellbeing, little research has examined the relationships among kindergarten teachers’ wellbeing, perceived school culture, and personality types. In the research, 371 in-service kindergarten teachers completed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the School Culture Survey, the Job Satisfaction Survey, the General Health Questionaire-12, and the Rosenberg SelfEsteem Inventory. Results indicated that teachers who perceived their school culture more positively tended to show higher levels of job satisfaction and self-esteem, but less mental health complaints. In addition, teachers of the extraverted, feeling, and judging types tended to perceive their school culture more positively, have higher levels of job satisfaction and self-esteem than those teachers of the introverted, thinking, and perceiving types. Implications of the findings are discussed in relation to senior school managers and policy-makers in their effort to promote school development and teacher professional development.