The Effect of Early Childhood Teachers’ Job Satisfaction on Teaching Creativity: The Mediating Role of Happiness and the Moderating Role of Career Experience

This study examined the effects of job satisfaction and happiness on preschool teachers’ teaching creativity, which plays a crucial role in the holistic and creative development of young children. In addition, the mediating effect of happiness and the moderating effect of teaching experience were investigated. The participants were 311 preschool teachers working in G Metropolitan City and J Province, and data were collected through a survey. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 21.0. The results are as follows. First, both job satisfaction and happiness had significant positive effects on teaching creativity. Second, happiness was found to partially mediate the relationship between job satisfaction and teaching creativity. Third, a multi-group structural equation modeling analysis revealed significant differences in the structural relationships among job satisfaction, happiness, and teaching creativity depending on years of teaching experience, indicating that teaching experience serves as a moderating variable. In particular, the influence of job satisfaction on teaching creativity was stronger among highly experienced teachers, while the effect of happiness was more significant among teachers with less experience. These findings suggest that job satisfaction and happiness are key antecedents in enhancing teaching creativity among preschool teachers. Moreover, they highlight that happiness—as an aspect of emotional well-being—not only contributes indirectly to creative teaching practices but also exerts varying effects depending on the teacher’s level of experience.