Determinants of Occupational Loyalty among Guangdong University Teachers: Moral Leadership, Work Autonomy, Psychological Contract, and Work Stress
Keywords:
University Teachers, Occupational Loyalty, Moral Leadership, Work Autonomy, Psychological Contract, Work StressAbstract
Within the framework of the "Double First-Class" initiative and ongoing reforms in higher education evaluation, the occupational loyalty of university faculty is closely linked to educational quality and the development of higher education. To investigate the mechanisms underlying this relationship, this study, grounded in the dual theories of Psychological Contract and stress interaction, employs a sample of 415 university instructors from Guangdong, China. It constructs an "antecedent-mediator-moderator-outcome" model and empirically examines the effects of Moral Leadership and work autonomy, the mediating role of Psychological Contracts, and the moderating effect of work-related stress. The results demonstrate that both Moral Leadership and work autonomy positively influence Psychological Contracts and occupational loyalty among university educators; the Psychological Contract partially mediates the relationships between these variables and occupational loyalty; and work-related stress negatively moderates the pathways from "Moral Leadership" to "Psychological Contract" and from "work autonomy" to "Psychological Contract," with more pronounced positive effects of Moral Leadership and work autonomy under conditions of low stress. This research enhances the theoretical understanding of occupational loyalty by integrating these two theoretical frameworks. It also provides practical guidance for higher education institutions to foster Moral Leadership, optimize the allocation of work autonomy, sustain Psychological Contracts, and implement targeted stress management strategies. The findings carry significant implications for advancing university faculty development.
References
Bal, P. M., Hofmans, J., & Polat, T. (2017). Breaking psychological contracts with the burden of workload: a weekly study of job resources as moderators. Applied Psychology, 66(1), 143-167.https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/apps.12116
Bashir, L. (2017). Job satisfaction of teachers in relation to professional commitment. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, 4(4), 52-59. https://doi.org/10.25215/0404.007
Gillespie, N. A., Walsh, M., Winefield, A. H., Dua, J., & Stough, C. (2001). Occupational stress in universities: Staff perceptions of the causes, consequences and moderators of stress. Work & Stress, 15(1), 53-72. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678370117944
Kaur, H., & Kaur, M. (2024). A study on the determinants of employees’ loyalty. EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IJMR), 10(4), 328 - 331. https://doi.org/10.36713/epra2013
Lu, C. Y. (2024). A study on the relationship between psychological resilience and job burnout among university teachers: An empirical survey based on 342 university teachers in Henan Province. Journal of Luoyang Normal University, 5(5), 70-76.https://doi.org/10.16594/j.cnki.41-1302/g4.2024.05.007.
Mulyana, O. P., & Izzati, U. A. (2022). Job autonomy and teacher career commitment in educational settings. International Journal of Recent Educational Research (IJORER), 3(6), 737-749.https://typeset.io/pdf/job-autonomy-and-teacher-career-commitment-in-educational-1vw323cz.pdf
Noble-Nkrumah, F., Anyigba, H., & Mensah, H. K. (2022). Psychological contract fulfilment and work behaviour nexus: The interactive effects of employee job autonomy and trust. Management Decision, 60(5), 1326-1348. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-11-2020-1493
Nishanthi, H. M., & Mahalekamge, W. G. S. (2016). Impact of psychological contract on employee outcomes of job satisfaction and organizational commitment: Evidence from a leading apparel manufacturing company in Sri Lanka. Kelaniya Journal of Human Resource Management, 11(2), 74-86. https://kjhrm.sljol.info/article/10.4038/kjhrm.v11i2.30/
Njobvu, T., & Daka, C. (2025). Psychological contract and its influence on organisational commitment and job satisfaction among teachers in Zambian public schools. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), 9(3), 3345 - 3357. https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/Digital-Library/volume-9-issue-3s/3345-3357.pdf
Qing, Z. M. (2019). A study on the occupational loyalty of young university teachers in the new era: A case study of a university in Hainan Province. Education Modernization, 6(73), 105-106.https://doi.org/10.16541/j.cnki.2095-8420.2019.73.051.
Ramlawati, R., Serang, S., Arminas, A., Junaidi, J., & Wicaksono, R. (2023). The role of ethical leadership on employee commitment to the organization: The mediating role of job satisfaction and job engagement. Organizational Psychology, 13(1), 73-91. https://orgpsyjournal.hse.ru/en/2023-13-1/826491644.html
Sabir, S. (2021). A study on ethical leadership perceptions and its impact on teachers’ commitment in Pakistan. International Journal of Educational Leadership and Management, 9(1), 28-53. https://www.hipatiapress.com/hpjournals/index.php/ijelm/article/view/4525
Schonfeld, I. S., Bianchi, R., & Luehring-Jones, P. (2017). Consequences of job stress for teachers' mental health. In T. M. McIntyre, S. E. McIntyre, & D. J. Francis (Eds.), Aligning perspectives on health, safety and well-being (pp. 55-75). Springer International Publishing. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-53053-6_3
Shi, C. H., Wang, Z. N., & Zhao, Y. D. (2021). The relationship between work stress and job burnout of R&D personnel: The moderating role of work autonomy. Forum on Science and Technology in China, 21(2), 132-140.https://doi.org/10.13580/j.cnki.fstc.2021.02.015.
Treviño, L. K., Hartman, L. P., & Brown, M. (2000). Moral person and moral manager: How executives develop a reputation for ethical leadership. California Management Review, 42(4), 128-142. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.2307/41166057
Tseng L, Wu J (2017), "How can financial organizations improve employee loyalty? The effects of ethical leadership, psychological contract fulfillment and organizational identification". Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 38 No. 5 pp. 679–698, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-07-2015-0142
Winefield, A. H. (2014). Job stress in university academics: Evidence from an Australian national study. Wellbeing: A complete reference guide, 1-21.https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118539415.wbwell033
Zhalifunnas, M. S., Bakar, R. M., & Rahmat, A. (2023). Increasing well-being in the workplace: The role of job autonomy. International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI), 10(11), 159-166. https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijrsi/digital-library/volume-10-issue-11/159-166.pdf
Zhao, Y., Mo, S. J., & Shi, J. Q. (2015). The mechanism by which ethical leadership improves employees’ job performance and satisfaction in high-pressure work contexts. Management World, 31(8), 120-131.https://doi.org/10.19744/j.cnki.11-1235/f.2015.08.011.
Zhou, W. (2017). The relationship between teachers’ job burnout, occupational stress, job satisfaction, and psychological capital (Master’s thesis). Hunan Normal University.https://kns.cnki.net/KCMS/detail/detail.aspx?dbname=CMFD201801&filename=1017126952.nh
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2026 ICON International Journal of Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Articles in this journal are copyrighted by the x may be read and used for academic purposes, such as teaching, research, or citation, with proper credit given to the author and the journal.use or modification of the articles is prohibited without permission.
statements expressed in the articles are solely the opinions of the authors.
authors are fully responsible for the content and accuracy of their articles.
other reuse or republication requires permission from the journal."
