FACTORS INFLUENCING TEACHERS’ WORK HAPPINESS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS UNDER THE SAMUT PRAKAN SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AREA OFFICE

Abstract

This research aimed to: 1) examine the level of teachers’ work happiness,                     2) investigate factors influencing teachers’ work happiness, and 3) develop a predictive equation for teachers’ work happiness in secondary schools under the Samut Prakan Secondary Educational Service Area Office. This study employed a quantitative research design. The population consisted of teachers in secondary schools under the Samut Prakan Secondary Educational Service Area Office. The sample size was 129 teachers, determined using the G*Power program and selected through stratified random sampling. The research instrument was a five-point Likert scale instrument. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analysis (Enter method).

          The results revealed that: 1) the overall level of teachers’ work happiness was at the highest level, with “love of work” having the highest mean score, followed by “relationships with colleagues” and “work achievement,” respectively; 2) the overall level of factors influencing teachers’ work happiness was at a high level, with family quality of life having the highest mean score, followed by work climate and empathetic leadership; and 3) all three factors significantly predicted teachers’ work happiness at the .01 level, with a predictive power of 56.70% (R² = 0.567). The most influential factor was family quality of life (β = 0.499), followed by work climate (β = 0.345), whereas empathetic leadership showed no statistically significant influence.

          These findings indicate that teachers’ work happiness is a result of the integration of personal life factors and workplace context, particularly family quality of life and work climate, which play more significant roles in enhancing teachers’ work happiness than organizational structural factors.