Exploring how pay fairness perception affects preschool teachers’ job performance in China: A moderated mediation analysis

Abstract

This study constructed a moderated mediation model to examine how the social support received by teachers is associated with their work pay fairness perception in relation to their job satisfaction and job performance. Data were collected from 2411 preschool teachers in China (female = 98.01%; mean age = 29.12 years, SD = 6.28 years). These data were analyzed using structural equation modelling, bootstrapping and latent moderate structural equations. The results indicated that teachers’ perception of pay fairness is directly associated with self-rated job performance. Additionally, pay fairness perceptions have an indirect effect on higher job performance through job satisfaction. The social support that teachers perceive moderates the relationship between pay fairness perception and job satisfaction: the more social support teachers receive, the weaker the impact of pay fairness perception on job satisfaction. These findings suggest that teachers’ perception of pay fairness is related to their sense of quality of work life, as indicated by their job satisfaction and performance.