More than just making a living: how fulfilment in the spiritual life domain of teachers affect their job satisfaction

Abstract

The amount of research conducted on organizational nature in religious academic institutions has been always been in short supply and this may be attributed to the seeming arbitrariness the factors that it involves.Intrinsic Motivation, Job Satisfaction, Religion, and Spirituality are all very abstract concepts that together becomeeven more complicated and complex. This study aimed to be one of the few to try and study the relationship between Job satisfaction and religious spirituality and its existence in the Philippine setting. This was done through the analysis of the applicability of the Horizontal Spillover Theory and the Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory to the spiritual and work life ofthe teachers and professors in International Baptist College and Seminary. The researcher employed one survey and four focus group discussions to conduct a descriptive and exploratory qualitative study. The survey was distributed and gathered using quota sampling to garner a good majorityforan inclusive representation of the teachers' perception of Spirituality and their work. The final respondents to the questionnaire were 23 out of the totalpopulation of 35. Purposive sampling was then employed for the Focus Group Discussionswhere the questionswere focused on the depth and the extent upon which the phenomenon affected the employees;the respondents were divided into groups of four according to their respective departments to encourage a more familiar, comfortable, and engaging communicative atmosphere. The results of the study show that the teachers have a strong sense of spirituality, that they consider their spirituality in decision-making, and that pleasing God is one of their priorities in life. It also confirmed that most of the teachers claim to relate with the school's mission and vision, take it as their own, and that they perceive teaching as their God-given mission and purpose, their calling, and a means to serve God. These results show the similarity and overlap that the spiritual life domain has with the work life domain and how it sets upthe optimal conditions for the Horizontal Spillover Theory to occur and for the Motivation-Hygiene Theory tobe demonstrated. It was confirmed that there was an occurrence of the Horizontal Spillover Theory whenthe respondentssaid that the fulfilment of their calling, purpose, and individual mission affects their job satisfaction positively and that it serves as motivation and a strong factor in job retention. Reciprocally, satisfaction in their work also gives them spiritual gratification as they consider it as a means to serve God, demonstrating Direct and Reciprocal Spillovers. Lastly, the study showed how intrinsic and motivating factors such as passion, love for kids, the school's leadership and spirituality all have a positive effect on job satisfaction, evidence of the phenomenon explained by the MotivationHygiene Theory.