Distributed leadership and teachers’ work engagement: subjective well-being as a mediator and perceived collective teacher efficacy as a moderator

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Alanoğlu M., Khudhur R. S., Demirtaş Z., Uslukaya A.

Frontiers in Psychology, cilt.17, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 17
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1887759
  • Dergi Adı: Frontiers in Psychology
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, Linguistic Bibliography, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Psycinfo, Directory of Open Access Journals, MLA International Bibliography
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: distributed leadership, educational leadership, perceived collective teacher efficacy, well-being, work engagement
  • Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
  • Van Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Introduction – This study examined the association between distributed leadership and teachers’ work engagement, with teacher subjective well-being specified as a mediator and perceived collective teacher efficacy as a moderator. Methods – Drawing on the Job Demands–Resources model and social cognitive theory, a moderated mediation model was tested using Bayesian structural equation modeling. Data were collected from 598 teachers working in 60 public schools in Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Results – Distributed leadership was positively associated with teacher subjective well-being [β = 0.233, 95% BCI (0.077, 0.381)] and work engagement [β = 0.234, 95% BCI (0.135, 0.333)], while subjective well-being was positively associated with work engagement [β = 0.172, 95% BCI (0.112, 0.232)]. The indirect association through subjective well-being was supported [B = 0.039, 95% BCI (0.012, 0.074)]. Perceived collective teacher efficacy moderated the association between distributed leadership and subjective well-being [β = 0.099, 95% BCI (0.003, 0.192)]. The conditional indirect association was supported at the mean and higher levels of perceived collective teacher efficacy but not at lower levels, and the index of moderated mediation excluded zero [B = 0.019, 95% BCI (0.001, 0.043)]. These conclusions remained stable under alternative prior specifications. Discussion – The findings indicate an indirect statistical association between distributed leadership and work engagement through teacher subjective well-being, which varied according to perceived collective teacher efficacy. Given the cross-sectional, self-report design, this mediation represents a statistical decomposition of covariance rather than evidence of a causal mechanism or temporal sequence.