Abstract:

The specific features of the teacher work, contributing to personal deformation, require the study of teachers’ psychological well-being factors. The purpose of this survey was to analyze and compare teachers’ psychological well-being in Russia and Latvia. The research tasks were: to explore the influence of socio-demographic factors and professional indicators on the psychological well-being of teachers; to find predictors of teachers’ psychological well-being.

The empirical base of the study was the survey data of 410 teachers from Russia and 253 from Latvia, working in secondary school (67% of the total sample), secondary vocational (11.5% of the total sample) and higher education (21.5% of the total sample). The gender composition of the survey participants corresponds to the gender composition of secondary and high school teachers, where men make up about 20%. The average age of respondents in Russia is 35, in Latvia 36 years old.

To study the teachers’psychological well-being we used «The scales of psychological well-being» by C.Riff. For statistical data processing the software product IBM SPSS Statistics 23 was used. The use of Descriptive statistics, Independent Samplest Test, One-Factor ANOVA, Two-Factor analysis of variance, Correlation analysis made it possible to analyse the influence of socio-demographic and professional characteristics of the respondents on their psychological well-being.

In general, both in Russia and in Latvia, the average and above average level of psychological well-being of teachers was diagnosed.
There are significant differences in the level of psychological well-being of teachers in Russia and Latvia: for Russian teachers almost all indicators of well-being are slightly higher than for teachers in Latvia, except for three: Positive relationship, Personality growth, Human as an open system.

The study of predictors of teachers’ psychological well-being:
1. Age: in Latvia the well-being of a teacher does not depend on age; in Russia the level of well-being decreases with age.
2. Gender: in Latvia only one indicator of psychological well-being depends on teacher’s gender - Human as an open system – female teachers are more open to new experiences. In Russia almost all indicators of well-being are due to gender. Female teachers are more prosperous than male teachers.
3. Marital status: teachers who are married are usually more prosperous both in Russia and in Latvia, have beliefs that add meaning to life, they accept themselves, confident in their abilities.
4. The level of psychological well-being is higher for those respondents who are in the process of learning, regardless of the program level. Significant differences are observed at the master's level.
5. Place of work: in Latvia the highest level of well-being have higher education professors, in Russia school teachers are the happiest.

The results of the study showed that country belonging, the national mentality and socio-demographic and professional characteristics play the significant role on teachers’ psychological well-being. The study of predictors of teachers’ psychological well-being in different countries will allow developing a scientifically-based practice for psychological support of the teacher’s activities, because only a creative and psychologically safe educational environment is able to create individuals capable of bearing responsibility and managing their psychological well-being.

Keywords:

Well-being, predictors, teachers.