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. 2025 Feb 18;13(1):134.
doi: 10.1186/s40359-025-02471-z.

Unveiling the nexus of teacher commitment and job satisfaction: insights from Ecuador's educational landscape

Guzmán Antonio Muñoz-Fernández  1 , Rossana Dolores Toala-Mendoza  2   3 , Miguel González-Mohíno  2 , Miryam Elizabeth Félix-López  3
Affiliations

Unveiling the nexus of teacher commitment and job satisfaction: insights from Ecuador's educational landscape

Guzmán Antonio Muñoz-Fernández et al. BMC Psychol. .

Abstract

Understanding the factors that determine teachers' organizational commitment and job satisfaction is fundamental in the education sector, since these two constructs are directly related to teacher effectiveness and the quality of education. Despite their importance, there is little research on these constructs in Latin America in general, and specifically in the Ecuadorian educational system. The objective of this work is thus to identify the extrinsic and intrinsic factors that influence the organizational commitment and job satisfaction of teachers in Ecuador, and to establish whether there is any relationship between organizational commitment and job satisfaction. To that end, an exploratory theoretical model based on the aforementioned variables is developed and tested on a sample of 6,316 Ecuadorian teachers, using structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques with partial least squares (PLS). The results reveal a significant relationship between both extrinsic and intrinsic factors and job satisfaction, as well as between these factors and organizational commitment. Furthermore, both extrinsic and intrinsic factors indirectly influence job satisfaction through organizational commitment. These findings underscore the importance of considering both external and internal aspects of work in efforts to promote job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Keywords: Ecuador; Educational system; Job satisfaction; Organizational commitment; Primary and secondary school teachers.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and the protocol of the Committee for Research Integrity (Institutional Review Board) of the University of Córdoba (protocol code 2015/00559, approved on December 19, 2015). Written informed consent was obtained from all participants before their participation. They were fully informed about the study’s objectives, the procedures involved, and their right to withdraw at any time. Additionally, participants were explicitly informed that their responses would remain confidential. All methods were conducted in compliance with relevant ethical guidelines and regulations. Consent for publication: Not applicable, as no identifiable information is included in this manuscript. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Hypothesis model developed on the basis of scientific literature
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Results of the hypothesis model
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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