THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MEANINGFUL WORK AND TURNOVER INTENTION OF PRESCHOOL TEACHERS: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF WORK MOTIVATION

This study is to evaluate the mediating role of work motivation in the relationship between meaningful work and turnover intention of preschool teachers, thereby contributing to clarifying the relationship between psychological factors and turnover intention of preschool teachers. The study used a descriptive cross-sectional survey method. Data were collected through a questionnaire including closed questions designed based on available scales. Random sampling technique was used to obtain 202 respondents. Statistical analysis software (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, Version 26) was used to analyze the data to produce descriptiveness, hence Mean (M) and Standard Deviation (S.D) as well as regression. Findings showed that there is a direct effect of meaningful work on teachers' work motivation (beta = 0.2074). Teachers who have a high perception of work value are often more motivated to work. There is no direct effect from meaningful work to turnover intention, and work motivation also does not have a mediating role in influencing this relationship. This study contributes to providing more scientific evidence on the awareness of factors related to preschool teachers' turnover intention as well as psychological factors that need to be considered in their professional activities.