Linking proactive motivation to search for and presence of calling among kindergarten teachers: a variable-centered and person-centered approach

Teachers’ calling is a key psychological resource in education, encompassing search and presence. Based on the Proactive Motivation Model, calling is influenced by “can do,” “reason to,” and “energized to” motivational states. While past research has linked individual motivational factors to calling presence, how multiple motivational states jointly influence both calling dimensions remains unclear. This study investigated how career adaptability (can do), organizational identification (reason to), and positive affect (energized to) predict the presence of and search for a calling. Using complementary variable- and person-centered approaches, data were analyzed from 1674 kindergarten teachers in China. Variable-centered findings showed that all three motivational states uniquely predicted the presence of calling. For calling search, only career adaptability and organizational identification were positive predictors; positive affect was non-significant. Person-centered results revealed four calling profiles: High Maintenance in Calling, Low Persistence in Calling Keep Unchanged, Moderate Development in Calling, and Emergent Development in Calling. Career adaptability positively influenced all profiles, whereas organizational identification and positive affect differentiated only specific profiles. These findings highlight the multidimensional motivational basis of calling and reveal distinct pathways in teachers’ calling development.