When Job Demands Become Meaningful: The Moderating Role of Professional Identity on Subjective Well-Being Among Indonesian Teachers
Abstract
Teachers play a noble role in shaping the nation’s future generations through education; however, teachers’ subjective well-being remains a critical issue in the education sector. This study aims to examine the effect of job demands on subjective well-being and the moderating role of teacher professional identity. A total of 329 public school teachers participated in this study, selected through a multistage cluster sampling technique. Data were collected using the Job Demands Questionnaire (JDQ), the Indonesian Teacher Professional Identity (ITPI) scale, the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Data were analyzed using linear regression and Moderated Regression Analysis (MRA). The results indicate that job demands positively and significantly influence teachers’ subjective well-being, suggesting that job demands may function as challenge demands that foster meaningful work experiences rather than merely acting as stressors. Teacher professional identity also significantly moderates the relationship between job demands and subjective well-being by weakening the effect of job demands on subjective well-being. These findings highlight the importance of psychological and professional resources in explaining teachers’ well-being and contribute to the JD-R literature by demonstrating that job demands do not always reduce well-being, particularly in the Indonesian educational context.
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