Teachers' mental health: Perceived social justice and life satisfaction

Teachers play an important role in the development and progress of technology and knowledge. However, in today's China, primary and secondary school teachers are living a hard life with high pressure but low payment, which results in a sense of unfair and less satisfaction of life. This study was aimed to explore the effect of teachers' perception of social justice on life satisfaction. 450 primary and secondary school teachers from China were measured with life satisfaction scales, social justice scales, income satisfaction scale, job satisfaction scale, pressure condition scale, and major life event scale. Results showed that demographic variables and individual attitudes had important effects on life satisfaction. More importantly, after controlling them, perceived social justice still had a positive effect on life satisfaction, among which distributive justice played a more important role than procedural justice. The suggestions on teachers' condition and the implications on education reform to improve teachers' mental health are discussed.