Social capital, affect balance and personal well-being among teachers in Israel and Palestine

ABSTRACT

Informed by a perspective centred on psychological health and well-being, the present research investigated whether teachers’ overall well-being was influenced by their affect balance, as well as the extent to which both affect and well-being are influenced by social capital, in conflict-ridden areas such as the occupied Palestinian Territories (Gaza Strip and West Bank). The study involved three cohorts of Palestinian teachers working in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, respectively (N = 153). Dynamics of social exclusion, religious difference, educational disparity, poor educational standards and a lack of opportunity are factors affecting Palestinian teachers in both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. The results supported the hypothesis that emotional balance directly influences teachers’ well-being. Teachers with higher levels of positive affect reported greater personal well-being than those with higher levels of negative affect. Social capital also positively influenced teachers’ personal well-being, both directly, and indirectly by fostering positive emotions. These results suggest that availability of community resources plays a key role in promoting teachers’ well-being.

KEYWORDS:

• Well-being war
• political violence
• social capital
• positive and negative affect
• teachers

Acknowledgements

We are thankful to Dr. Jamal Dagdukee, co-author of this paper, for having provided the data from his PhD dissertation. The database has been completely reworked and the rationale of the research totally restructured by the authors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethic clearance

The study is following the APA ethical guidelines and was approved by the ethic committee at Milano-Bicocca University.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Guido Veronese

Guido Veronese is a senior lecturer and clinical psychologist at Milano-Bicocca University.

Alessandro Pepe

Alessandro Pepe is a Research Fellow at Milano-Bicocca University.

Jamal Dagdukee

Jamal Dagdukee is a coordinator at Qana of Galilee Educational Psychology Centre, Israel.

Shaher Yaghi

Shaher Yaghi is program coordinator at UNRWA, Gaza, Palestine.