Existential Fulfilment as Correlates of Teachers' Job Performance in Public Senior Secondary Schools in Rivers State, Nigeria

This study investigated existential fulfilment as a correlate of teachers’ job performance in public senior secondary schools in Rivers State, Nigeria. Existential fulfilment, rooted in existential philosophy and psychology, was conceptualised as teachers’ sense of purpose, personal growth, and life satisfaction. The study was guided by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, which provided a framework for understanding intrinsic motivation and professional effectiveness. A correlational survey design was employed to examine the relationships between the variables. The population comprised 5,912 teachers across 335 public senior secondary schools in Rivers State, from which a sample of 574 teachers was drawn using Taro Yamane’s formula and stratified sampling. Data were collected through validated and reliable instruments the Existential Fulfilment Questionnaire (EFQ) and Teachers’ Job Performance Questionnaire (TJPQ). Out of the distributed instruments, 543 were retrieved, representing a 95% response rate. Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used to analyse the data at a 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed a strong and significant relationship between teachers’ sense of purpose and job performance. Similarly, personal growth exhibited a perfect correlation with job performance, suggesting that opportunities for continuous development enhanced effectiveness. Life satisfaction also demonstrated a nearly perfect and significant relationship with job performance, underscoring the role of holistic well-being in shaping professional outcomes. The study concluded that existential fulfilment was a critical determinant of teachers’ job performance. It recommended that policymakers and school administrators prioritise purpose-driven engagement, professional development, and teacher welfare to strengthen educational outcomes in Rivers State.