“This School is Part and Parcel of Myself”: Workplace Attachment Promotes Positive Affect Among Teachers through Work Engagement

Year 2024, Volume: 11 Issue: 4, 1 - 18, 07.07.2024

Erkin Sarı , Mehmet Fatih Bükün , Cihat Yaşaroğlu

https://doi.org/10.17275/per.24.46.11.4

Abstract

The current paper examines the relationship between teachers’ attachment to their institution and positive affect, through work engagement. In addition, the hypothesized path model considers two predictors of workplace attachment, namely teaching experience in the current institution and the frequency of communication with colleagues in an ordinary working day. Data were gathered from 289 primary school teachers employed in Turkish public schools through convenience sampling. A structural equation modelling method was applied for testing the hypothesized path model. Findings demonstrated teachers who frequently communicated with their colleagues had a high workplace attachment. Furthermore, primary school teachers who had a stronger attachment to their institution more engaged to their work, which in turn leads to higher levels of positive affect and lower levels of negative affect. Although previous literature emphasized the importance of the workplace on employee well-being and work engagement, previous work on teachers’ attachment to their institutions and its consequences is limited. With these findings, the current paper made important theoretical and practical contributions (e.g., examining the predictors and well-being outcomes of emotional and cognitive bonding to work environments in a non-WEIRD sample) considering attachment to work environments is a less-studied topic in the place attachment literature as compared to other contexts (e.g., neighborhoods, cities).

Keywords

workplace attachment, work engagement, positive affect, negative affect, life satisfaction.

References

• Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. N. (2015). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203758045
• Altman, I., & Low, S. M. (Eds.). (1992). Place attachment. Human behavior and environment 12. Plenum.
• Amano, H., Fukuda, Y., & Kawachi, I. (2020). Is higher work engagement associated with healthy behaviors? A longitudinal study. Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, 62(3), e87–e93. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000001804
• Bakker, A.B. (2009). Building engagement in the workplace. In R. J. Burke & C.L. Cooper (Eds.), The peak performing organization (pp. 50–72). Routledge.
• Bakker, A. B., Schaufeli, W. B., Leiter, M. P., & Taris, T. W. (2008). Work engagement: An emerging concept in occupational health psychology. Work & Stress, 22, 187–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678370802393649
• Bentler, P. M. (1990). Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107(2), 238–246. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.107.2.238
• Bergefurt, L., Weijs-Perrée, M., Appel-Meulenbroek, R., & Arentze, T. (2022). The physical office workplace as a resource for mental health – A systematic scoping review. Building and Environment, 207, 108505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.108505
• Blegen, M. A. (1993). Nurses' job satisfaction: A meta-analysis of related variables. Nursing Research, 42(1), 36–41. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006199-199301000-00007
• Bonaiuto, M., Aiello, A., Perugini, M., Bonnes, M., & Ercolani, A. P. (1999). Multidimensional perception of residential environment quality and neighbourhood attachment in the urban environment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 19, 331–352. https://doi.org/10.1006/jevp.1999.0138
• Caesens, G., Stinglhamber, F., & Luypaert, G. (2014). The impact of work engagement and workaholism on well-being. Career Development International, 19(7), 813–835. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-09-2013-0114
• Casakin, H., & Reizer, A. (2017). Place attachment, residential satisfaction, and life satisfaction: Traditional and renewed kibbutz. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 27(7), 639–655. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2017.1317313
• Cemalcılar, Z. (2010). Schools as socialisation contexts: Understanding the impact of school climate factors on students’ sense of school belonging. Applied Psychology, 59(2), 243–272. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2009.00389.x
• Chang, C.-P., Chiu, L.-Y., & Liu, J. (2017). A study on the relationship between well-being and turnover intentions among rural school teachers: School organizational climate as a moderating variable. Creative Education, 08(04), 523–538. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2017.84041
• Chou, C.-P., & Bentler, P. M. (2002). Model modification in structural equation modeling by imposing constraints. Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, 41(2), 271–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-9473(02)00097-X
• Cohen, J., Mccabe, E. M., Michelli, N. M., & Pickeral, T. (2009). School climate: Research, policy, practice, and teacher education. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 111(1), 180–213. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146810911100108
• Collie, R. J., Shapka, J. D., & Perry, N. E. (2012). School climate and social–emotional learning: Predicting teacher stress, job satisfaction, and teaching efficacy. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(4), 1189–1204. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029356
• Corbeanu, A., & Iliescu, D. (2023). The link between work engagement and job performance. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 22(3). https://doi.org/10.1027/1866-5888/a000316
• Cortés-Denia, D., Lopez-Zafra, E., & Pulido-Martos, M. (2023). Physical and psychological health relations to engagement and vigor at work: A PRISMA-compliant systematic review. Current Psychology, 42(1), 765-780. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01450-y
• Dallago, L., Perkins, D. D., Santinello, M., Boyce, W., Molcho, M., & Morgan, A. (2009). Adolescent place attachment, social capital, and perceived safety: A comparison of 13 countries. American Journal of Community Psychology, 44, 148–160. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-009-9250-z
• Dreer, B. (2022). Teacher well-being: Investigating the contributions of school climate and job crafting. Cogent Education, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2022.2044583
• Eryılmaz, A. & Doğan, T. (2012). İş yaşamında öznel iyi oluş: Utrecht İşe Bağlılık Ölçeğinin psikometri niteliklerinin incelenmesi [Subjective well-being at work: Investigating of psychometric properties of Utrecht Work Engagement Scale]. Klinik Psikiyatri [Clinical Psychiatry], 15, 49–55.
• Ganster, D. C. & Rosen, C. C. (2013). Work stress and employee health. Journal of Management, 39(5), 1085–1122. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206313475815
• Gençöz, T. (2000). Pozitif ve Negatif Duygu Ölçeği: Geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması [Positive and Negative Affect Schedule: A study of validity and reliability]. Türk Psikoloji Dergisi [Turkish Journal of Psychology], 15(46), 19–26.
• Giuliani, M., Ferrara, F., & Barabotti, S. (2003). One attachment or more?. Hogrefe & Huber.
• Grayson, J. L., & Alvarez, H. K. (2008). School climate factors relating to teacher burnout: A mediator model. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(5), 1349–1363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2007.06.005
• Gustafson, P. (2001). Meanings of place: Everyday experience and theoretical conceptualizations. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 21(1), 5–16. https://doi.org/10.1006/jevp.2000.0185
• Hakanen, J. J., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2012). Do burnout and work engagement predict depressive symptoms and life satisfaction? A three-wave seven-year prospective study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 141(2–3), 415–424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2012.02.043
• Harris, P. B., Brown, B. B., & Werner, C. M. (1996). Privacy regulation and place attachment: Predicting attachments to a student family housing facility. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 16(4), 287–301. https://doi.org/10.1006/jevp.1996.0025
• Hartig, T., Kaiser, F. G., & Bowler, P. A. (2001). Psychological restoration in nature as a positive motivation for ecological behavior. Environment and Behavior, 33(4), 590–607. https://doi.org/10.1177/00139160121973142
• Haslam, C., Atkinson, S., Brown, S. S., & Haslam, R. A. (2005). Anxiety and depression in the workplace: effects on the individual and organisation (a focus group investigation). Journal of Affective Disorders, 88(2), 209–215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2005.07.009
• Høigaard, R., Giske, R., & Sundsli, K. (2012). Newly qualified teachers’ work engagement and teacher efficacy influences on job satisfaction, burnout, and the intention to quit. European Journal of Teacher Education, 35(3), 347–357. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2011.633993
• Hummon, D. M. (1992). Community attachment: local sentiment and sense of place. In I. Altman, & S. M. Low (Eds.), Place attachment (pp. 253–278). Plenum.
• Humphrey, S. E., Nahrgang, J. D., & Morgeson, F. P. (2007). Integrating motivational, social, and contextual work design features: a meta-analytic summary and theoretical extension of the work design literature. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(5), 1332–1356. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.92.5.1332
• İnalhan, G., & Finch, E. (2004). Place attachment and sense of belonging. Facilities, 22(5/6), 120–128. https://doi.org/10.1108/02632770410540333
• Ingersoll, R.M. & Smith, T. M. (2003). The wrong solution to the teacher shortage. Educational Leadership, 60(8), 30–33.
• Kline, R. B. (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. Guilford publications.
• Lalli, M. (1992). Urban-related identity: Theory, measurement and empirical findings. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 12, 285–303. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(05)80078-7
• Le Roy, J. & Rioux, L. (2012). The mediating role of workplace attachment in the relationship between organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior. Revue internationale de psychologie sociale, 25(3-4), 211–233.
• Lee, S. Y., & Brand, J. L. (2005). Effects of control over office workspace on perceptions of the work environment and work outcomes. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 25(3), 323–333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2005.08.001
• Lewicka, M. (2005). Ways to make people active: Role of place attachment, cultural capital and neighborhood ties. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 4, 381–395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2005.10.004
• Lewicka, M. (2010). What makes neighborhood different from home and city? Effects of place scale on place attachment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, 35–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2009.05.004
• Lewicka, M. (2011). Place attachment: How far have we come in the last 40 years? Journal of Environmental Psychology, 31(3), 207–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.10.001
• Lewicka, M. (2013) Place inherited or place discovered? Agency and communion in people-place bonding. Studies in Psychology, 34(3), 261–274. https://doi.org/10.1174/021093913808295154
• Linden, M., & Muschalla, B. (2007). Anxiety disorders and workplace-related anxieties. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 21(3), 467–474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2006.06.006
• Liu, T., Zeng, X., Chen, M., & Lan, T. (2019). The harder you work, the higher your satisfaction with life? The influence of police work engagement on life satisfaction: A moderated mediation model. Frontiers in Psychology, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00826
• Manzo, L. C. (2018). City life and well-being. In A. S. Devlin (Ed.), Environmental psychology and human well-being (pp. 107–134). Academic Press.
• Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual review of psychology, 52, 397–422. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.397
• Meagher, B. R., & Cheadle, A. D. (2020). Distant from others, but close to home: The relationship between home attachment and mental health during COVID-19. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 72, 101516. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101516
• Mehra, P., & Nickerson, C. (2019). Organizational communication and job satisfaction: what role do generational differences play? International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 27(3), 524–547. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-12-2017-1297
• Mesch, G. S., & Manor, O. (1998). Social ties, environmental perception and local attachment. Environment and Behavior, 30, 504–519. https://doi.org/10.1177/001391659803000405
• Ministry of National Education (2022). National Education Statistics: Formal Education, 2021-2022. Retrieved from https://sgb.meb.gov.tr/meb_iys_dosyalar/2022_09/15142558_meb_istatistikleri_orgun_egitim_2021_2022.pdf
• Mura, A. L., Nonnis, M., Scrima, F., & Fornara, F. (2023). Promoting the work engagement of the health worker: The role of secure workplace attachment, perceived spatial-physical comfort, and relationship with patients. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 85, 101937. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101937
• National School Climate Center (2020). The 14 dimensions of school climate measured by the CSCI. Retrieved from https://schoolclimate.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/CSCI-14-Dimensions-Chart.pdf
• Nonnis, M., Mura, A. L., Scrima, F., Cuccu, S., & Fornara, F. (2022). The moderation of perceived comfort and relations with patients in the relationship between secure workplace attachment and organizational citizenship behaviors in elderly facilities staff. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(2), 963. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19020963
• Rasool, S. F., Wang, M., Tang, M., Saeed, A., & Iqbal, J. (2021). How toxic workplace environment effects the employee engagement: The mediating role of organizational support and employee wellbeing. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(5), 2294. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052294
• Rioux, L. (2017). Comfort at work: An indicator of quality of life at work. In G. Fleury-Bahi, E. Pol, & O. Navarro (Eds.), Handbook of environmental psychology and quality of life research (pp. 401–419). Springer International Publishing/Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31416-7_22
• Rioux, L., & Pavalache-Ilie, M. (2013). Workplace attachment and organizational commitment: Are they predictors of organizational citizenship behavior? Annals of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Psychology Series, 1, 5–18.
• Rioux, L., & Pignault, A. (2013a). Workplace attachment, workspace appropriation, and job satisfaction. Psyecology, 4(1), 39–65. https://doi.org/10.1174/217119713805088342
• Rioux, L., & Pignault, A. (2013b). Workplace attachment and meaning of work in a French secondary school. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 16, E23. https://doi.org/10.1017/sjp.2013.42
• Rollero, C., & de Piccoli, N. (2010). Does place attachment affect social well-being? European Review of Applied Psychology, 60(4), 233–238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erap.2010.05.001
• Scannell, L., & Gifford, R. (2013). The psychology of place attachment, In R. Gifford (Ed.), Environmental Psychology: Principles and Practice. Optimal Books.
• Scannell, L., Gifford, R. (2017). The experienced psychological benefits of place attachment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 51, 256–269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2017.04.001
• Schaufeli, W. B., Salanova, M., González-Romá, V., & Bakker, A. B. (2002). The measurement of engagement and burnout: A two sample confirmatory factor analytic approach. Journal of Happiness Studies, 3(1), 71–92. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015630930326
• Schaufeli, W.B., Taris, T.W. and van Rhenen, W. (2008). Workaholism, burnout, and work engagement: three of a kind or three different kinds of employee well-being? Applied Psychology: An International Review, 57(2), 173–203. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2007.00285.x
• Schweizer, C., Edwards, R. D., Bayer-Oglesby, L., Gauderman, W. J., Ilacqua, V., Juhani Jantunen, M., … Künzli, N. (2007). Indoor time–microenvironment–activity patterns in seven regions of Europe. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, 17(2), 170–181. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jes.7500490
• Scrima, F., Rioux, L., & Guarnaccia, C. (2019). A study of the relationship between workplace attachment and job satisfaction. Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 26, 209–220, https://doi.org/10.4473/TPM26.2.3
• Shen, Y., Li, X., Dong, S., & Fu, J. (2021). Work stress and turnover intention among Chinese rural school principals: A mediated moderation study. PsyCh Journal, 10(6), 926–933. https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.491
• Stokols, D., & Shumaker, S. A. (1982). The psychological context of residential mobility and well-being. Journal of Social Issues, 38(3), 149–171. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1982.tb01776.x
• Thapa, A., Cohen, J., Guffey, S., & Higgins-D’Alessandro, A. (2013). A review of school climate research. Review of Educational Research, 83(3), 357–385. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654313483907
• Tims, M., Bakker, A. B., & Derks, D. (2013). The impact of job crafting on job demands, job resources, and well-being. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 18(2), 230–240. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032141
• Türker, Y., & Kahraman, Ü. (2021). School climate and self-efficacy as predictor of job satisfaction. Kuramsal Eğitimbilim Dergisi [Journal of Theoretical Educational Science], 14(4), 548–569. https://doi.org/10.30831/akukeg.901457
• Twigger-Ross, C. L., & Uzzell, D. L. (1996). Place and identity processes. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 16, 205–220. https://doi.org/10.1006/jevp.1996.0017
• Ünsal, A. & Sülkü, S. N. (2020). Bölgeler arası gelişmişlik düzeylerinin belirlenmesi ve karşılaştırılması: Türkiye ÖrneğI [Determination and comparison of development levels’ across regions: Turkey case]. bilig – Türk Dünyası Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi [Journal of Social Sciences of the Turkic World], 95, 177–209.
• van Beek, I., Taris, T. W., Schaufeli, W. B., & Brenninkmeijer, V. (2014). Heavy work investment: Its motivational make-up and outcomes. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 29(1), 46–62. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-06-2013-0166
• Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063–1070. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.54.6.1063
• Yao, J., Qiu, X., Yang, L., Han, X., & Li, Y. (2022). The relationship between work engagement and job performance: Psychological capital as a moderating factor. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.729131