The Effect of Positive Future Expectations on Life Satisfaction Among Physical Education Teacher Candidates: The Mediating Role of Happiness

Teacher burnout and high turnover rates are significant public health issues that threaten the quality of education and teacher well-being. While current interventions often focus on teachers already in the profession, preventive strategies that strengthen psychological resources before entering the profession are critically important. How-ever, the role of positive psychological structures, such as positive future expectations, in supporting the well-being of teacher candidates remains poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between positive future expectations and life satisfaction among physical education teacher candidates, as well as the potential mediating role of happiness in this relationship. The study employed a cross-sectional research design with 208 physical education teacher candidates (137 male, 71 female) selected using an appropriate sampling method. Participants completed the Positive Future Expectations Scale, the Oxford Happiness Scale Short Form, and the Satisfac-tion with Life Scale. The hypothesized mediation model was tested using regres-sion-based mediation analysis with the PROCESS macro for SPSS (Model 4). The re-sults show that positive future expectations are a meaningful and positive predictor of life satisfaction. Mediation analysis revealed that positive future expectations are posi-tively related to happiness, and that happiness is also a meaningful and positive pre-dictor of life satisfaction. The statistical significance of the indirect effect confirms that happiness plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between positive future expectations and life satisfaction. The findings suggest that positive future expecta-tions are related to teacher candidates' life satisfaction both directly and indirectly through increased happiness. Encouraging a positive future outlook and happiness experiences during teacher training may be a valuable approach to supporting psy-chological well-being. Integrating evidence-based positive psychology interventions into teacher training programs may be a practical preventive strategy that helps build psychological resilience and potentially reduce the risk of long-term professional burnout.