Using HLM and expert reviews to investigate the factors affecting teacher job satisfaction: A cross-cultural comparison between selected collectivistic and individualistic countries

Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) and expert reviews, this study examined the factors affecting teacher job satisfaction (TJS) across four selected collectivistic and individualistic countries. The existing 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) data associated with these countries were used for HLM analysis. The results indicated that student behavior stress, workload stress, distributed leadership, and lack of special needs personnel had different impact on TJS in these two cultural contexts. At the teacher level, teachers in individualistic countries who experienced student behavior stress reported lower TJS than teachers in collectivistic countries. Conversely, teachers in collectivistic countries who experienced heavy workload stress reported higher TJS than teachers in individualistic countries. At the school level, distributed leadership positively impacted TJS in collectivistic countries, while lack of special needs personnel had negative impact on TJS in individualistic countries. Causes of these cultural differences were suggested by experts with expertise in both cultures.