Relationship between motivational factors and satisfaction among teachers

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between motivational factors and satisfaction among teachers, along external motivators and internal motivators, jointly or singly. It also attempted to establish the relationship between personal characteristics and satisfaction, along gender, race, marital status, qualifications, length of service, and age. A 34-item, bilingual questionnaire was employed to measure the variables. A pilot test conducted in S.M. Teknik TARP with a random sample of 30 teachers showed that the instrument yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.8693 (external motivators), 0.5709 (internal motivators), 0.9418 (satisfaction with external motivators) and 0.8506 (satisfaction with internal motivators); which were measured using Cronbach's Alpha. Proportionate stratified random sampling was adopted to select a sample of 328 respondents from a population of 2208 secondary school teachers in Georgetown, Penang. Data collected were tested using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings indicated a positive and significant relationship between satisfaction and motivational factors, but satisfaction generally does not differ between males and females. Gender only affects satisfaction with external motivators. There is no significant difference in satisfaction with internal motivators among the races, but the difference in satisfaction with external motivators was found to be significant among the various ethnic groups. No significant difference in satisfaction was observed among teachers of various marital status, and qualifications. The variance in satisfaction was significant and explained by both external and internal motivators, but not length of service, and age. External motivators, however, appear to be the best predictor for satisfaction, in this study.