It’s not only Work and Pay: The Moderation Role of Teachers’ Professional Identity on their Job Satisfaction in Rural China

All professions include work and pay and some prior studies have pointed to the role that professional identity might play in the relationship between work conditions and job satisfaction. Based on data collected from rural teachers in mainland China, this study used two-level modelling to examine the moderating effects of teacher’s professional identity (TPI) on their job satisfaction. Our research findings confirm that longer work hours, larger class size, and lower perception of income status are significantly associated with lower levels of job satisfaction, and TPI can moderate the negative effects caused by work hours and income status.