Session Information
26 SES 08 C, Job Satisfaction and Motivation amongst European Education Professionals: Developing Theory and Theoretical Perspectives
Symposium
Contribution
This paper will present a new theoretical perspective – the self-justification theory of university teachers’ motivation - by discussing the outcomes of two studies. One study focuses on academics’ beliefs about their role in internalizing the purposes and identities of higher education institutions to pass onto their students in order for them to become responsible citizens (Dewey, 1966). The second is a study that found students to be the main influence on university teachers’ motivation (Kiziltepe, 2008). The self-justification theory posits that with inadequate financial, professional and academic conditions, university teachers are acutely aware of the logical inconsistency between what they have and what they deserve. However, they have no alternatives; therefore in order to avoid anxiety, stress, and/or guilt, they try to justify their behaviour by convincing themselves that they are there for altruistic reasons. Cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957) proposes that we constantly make up explanations for our behaviour to avoid dissonance. It has been observed that those who have alternatives such as working in private universities, which offer incomparably better conditions, change their jobs without any hesitation.
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