PsyCap as a Mediator: Linking School Climate to Teacher Work Engagement in Vietnamese High Schools

School Climate

School climate is broadly defined as the quality and character of school life, shaped by affective and cognitive perceptions of social interactions, interpersonal relationships, organizational structures, and shared values and beliefs within a school (Cohen et al., 2009; Rudasill et al., 2018; Thapa et al., 2013; M.T. Wang & Degol, 2016). It reflects the culture, norms, and environment shaped by formal and informal school structures, participant personalities, and management. Thus, school climate includes multiple aspects of school life embedded in a school’s physical and organizational structures. It shapes the context in which social and academic relationships among students, educators, parents, and the wider community take place. These relationships are guided by shared norms, values, and expectations. Together, they support the development of students’ character, skills, and knowledge, ultimately contributing to the formation of self-reliant, dedicated, competent, and responsible citizens.

Whether definitions are broad or narrow, school climate is also approached by researchers as a multidirectional concept, with common dimensions including safety, relationships, academic climate, institutional environment, and community (Ascorra et al., 2019; Lewno-Dumdie et al., 2020; M. T. Wang & Degol, 2016). Safety encompasses physical safety, emotional safety, and discipline and order. Academic climate focuses on the quality of education, including leadership, instruction, and professional development. Community emphasizes relationships among school members and stakeholders, covering partnerships, quality of relationships, attachment, and respect for diversity. The institutional environment shapes the overall school experience through the physical environment, structural organization, and available resources. Together, these dimensions create a holistic framework for understanding the impact of school climate on stakeholders’ experiences.

In this study, school climate includes six dimensions: teacher–home communication, teacher–student relations, teacher–student closeness, student–student relations, staff relations (including teacher–staff–leadership), and student engagement, adapted from the Delaware School Climate Survey for Teachers (Bear et al., 2021). Teacher–student relations measure the degree of care, fairness, respect, and emotional support teachers provide to students. Warm, supportive teacher–student interactions are linked to teachers’ psychological outcomes, such as well-being (Spilt et al., 2011), optimism and resilience (Frenzel et al., 2009), and teachers’ PsyCap through emotional processes(Erden, 2025). Teacher–student closeness or connectedness is commonly defined as students’ perception that adults in the school care about both their academic learning and them as individuals (Wingspread Declaration on School Connections, 2004). This reflects trust-based attachment and affective connection between teachers and students (A. Peng et al., 2024; Vatou et al., 2025). Student–student relations assess the quality of peer relationships within the school, encompassing harmony, mutual care and respect, friendliness, willingness to collaborate and help one another, tolerance of individual differences, active participation in shared activities, and a collective sense of safety and belonging. For teachers, research supports the positive impacts of student–student interactions on teachers’ PsyCap components. The effects are often indirect, through reduced classroom disruptions, improved classroom management, and enhanced overall well-being (Aldridge et al., 1999; Thapa et al., 2013). Teacher–home communication measures the frequency, quality, and tone of teacher–parent collaboration. Effective teacher–parent collaboration acts as a relational job resource, reinforcing teachers’ professional identity, reducing isolation, and buffering demands, leading to better psychological outcomes for teachers (H. Yang et al., 2025). Schoolwide student engagement, based on Fredricks et al. (2004), assesses students’ cognitive, behavioral, and emotional engagement with learning and school activities. Highly engaged students demonstrate stronger academic performance, social-emotional adjustment, and fewer behavioral issues (Brand et al., 2008; Lei et al., 2018; C. Yang et al., 2018). Teacher–staff-leadership relations assess collegiality, teamwork, and mutual support among teachers, administrators, and staff. Positive professional relations contribute to a constructive school climate and then enhance teacher well-being (Cohen et al., 2009; Thapa et al., 2013).

School climate influences stakeholders’ experiences by fostering or constraining their motivation and engagement (Tubbs & Garner, 2008). A positive school climate significantly enhances teacher job satisfaction across diverse educational contexts, including elementary, secondary, and vocational settings (Collie et al., 2012; Fang & Qi, 2023; Zhang et al., 2023). Moreover, positive school climates mitigate teacher stress and burnout, thereby promoting teacher well-being (Collie et al., 2012; Grayson & Alvarez, 2008; Y. Yang & Zhou, 2025). Environments with strong parent-community relations and collaborative administrative support reduce emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, enabling teachers to maintain enthusiasm and resilience in demanding school contexts (Grayson & Alvarez, 2008).

School climate also exerts both direct and indirect effects on teacher outcomes through psychological mechanisms such as self-efficacy. Studies indicate that a positive school climate directly enhances teachers’ self-efficacy, which in turn positively influences teaching enjoyment, job satisfaction, and innovative behaviour (Fang & Qi, 2023; Zhang et al., 2023). For example, in Omani primary schools, self-efficacy mediated the relationship between school climate and innovative teaching practices, suggesting that supportive environments empower teachers to experiment with creative instructional methods (Alshuhumi et al., 2025). These findings align with socioecological perspectives, which emphasize the interplay between school environments and individual psychological resources.

In the Vietnamese context, where cultural factors like collectivism shape school dynamics, a positive school climate likely amplifies teachers’ psychological capital, further driving engagement and professional effectiveness (Han et al., 2023). School climate dimensions such as teacher–home communication and staff relations are particularly relevant due to cultural emphases on collectivism. These dimensions shape teachers’ perceptions of their work environment, which may influence their PsyCap and, subsequently, their work engagement.

Psychological Capital

PsyCap is a higher–order construct comprising four components: hope, self–efficacy, resilience, and optimism (Luthans et al., 2007, 2015). These components, grounded in positive psychology, represent state-like psychological resources that can be developed and leveraged to enhance individual and organizational outcomes. Hope refers to the ability to set realistic goals, develop pathways to achieve them, and maintain the motivation to pursue those goals (Luthans & Youssef, 2004). It involves agency (willpower) and pathways (waypower) to navigate challenges (Kun & Gadanecz, 2022). Self-efficacy indicates an individual’s confidence in their ability to perform specific tasks successfully. It drives teachers’ belief in their capacity to manage classroom demands and achieve professional success. Resilience refers to the capacity to bounce back from adversity, adapt to stress, and maintain performance under pressure. Optimism refers to a positive outlook that attributes successes to internal, stable factors and views setbacks as temporary and surmountable. Optimism fosters a proactive attitude toward work challenges and enhances well-being (Y. Li, 2018).

PsyCap is widely considered an antecedent to positive organizational outcomes, including job satisfaction and engagement (Wu & Nguyen, 2019). In educational contexts, PsyCap acts as a dynamic, developable asset that enhances teachers’ well-being, engagement, and performance while reducing stress, burnout, and turnover intention (Freire et al., 2020). Research increasingly confirms PsyCap as a mediator linking supportive environments to motivation and performance (Luthans et al., 2008; Rego et al., 2016; Shah et al., 2023). However, most of these studies have been conducted in workplace settings other than educational ones (Cheng et al., 2018; J.-C. Peng & Chen, 2023).

Within education, existing studies have extensively focused on the impacts of PsyCap on students’ academic outcomes (R. Li et al., 2023) or its mediating effects on students’ academic burnout (Tang, 2024; Yu et al., 2023). Studies on teachers’ PsyCap have received increasing attention, with research examining PsyCap’s protective role against burnout (Freire et al., 2020) and its support for well-being (Bertieaux et al., 2024) and informal professional learning (X. Huang & Wang, 2021). Nevertheless, few studies have further explored PsyCap’s association with various school climate dimensions and teachers’ work engagement, while this line of scholarship is common in other organizational settings(Cheng et al., 2018; J.-C. Peng & Chen, 2023).

Moreover, cross-cultural research remains limited. Evidence from East Asian contexts indicates that Confucian values may change how individuals interpret and use environmental resources (Johnson et al., 2024; Su & Lee, 2023; Y. Yang et al., 2024). In contrast to Western settings that emphasize autonomy and individual initiative, the deference to authority characteristic of Confucian cultures may reduce efficacy and optimism, thereby weakening PsyCap’s motivational leverage. These contextual variations highlight the need for cross-cultural studies to gain deeper insights into the mechanisms shaping these relationships.

Work Engagement

Work engagement, initially conceptualized by Kahn (1990), involves physical, cognitive, and emotional investment in work roles, driven by meaning, psychological safety, and resource availability. Saks (2019) distinguished between job and organizational engagement, while Maslach and Leiter (1997) viewed engagement as the opposite of burnout. However, Schaufeli et al. (2002) argued that engagement is a distinct construct characterized by vigour, dedication, and absorption. Cole et al. (2012) challenged this, finding high correlations between engagement and burnout and questioning their distinctiveness. Despite debates over its definition, measurement, and overlap with other job attitudes, Schaufeli et al.’s perspective remains dominant, with 94 studies on work engagement reviewed between 2011 and 2018 (Mazzetti et al., 2023).

The JD-R model underpins this view, positing that job and personal resources foster engagement and then enhance well-being and performance (Bakker et al., 2014; Mazzetti et al., 2023), while high demands and low resources lead to burnout and poor outcomes (Bakker et al., 2014). Supported by extensive research, the model highlights four mechanisms underlying engagement: the broaden-and-build process, better health, job crafting, and emotional contagion, which collectively create a positive spiral of engagement over time (Bakker, 2011; Bakker & Demerouti, 2007).

Organizational factors, including a positive school climate, leadership practices (Shao et al., 2025; Zhang & Fathi, 2025), social support (Y. Wang et al., 2025; Yolanda & Said, 2022), emotional intelligence, organizational trust, and teaching enjoyment (L. Wang, 2022), significantly enhance work engagement. In turn, engaged teachers demonstrate greater commitment, effectiveness, and performance, benefiting both themselves and students (L. Wang, 2022; Yolanda & Said, 2022).

Mediating Role of Psychological Capital

The reviewed literature shows that research on teachers’ PsyCap is substantial, but its role as a mediator between school environment and work engagement remains underexplored. Research highlights PsyCap’s mediating role in various contexts. Han et al. (2023) investigated the influence of school atmosphere on Chinese teachers’ job satisfaction, finding that PsyCap and professional identity serially mediated this relationship. A review by Vilarino del Castillo and Lopez-Zafra (2022) found that supportive work environments foster PsyCap, which then mediates relationships with outcomes, including job satisfaction, commitment, and performance. While their review highlights PsyCap’s mediating role in general organizational contexts, it does not specifically focus on work engagement in educational settings or explicitly link school climate dimensions to engagement via PsyCap. Tang (2024) also demonstrated PsyCap’s mediation between school climate and Chinese students’ burnout. However, these studies focus on students rather than teachers, and on burnout rather than teachers’ work engagement, limiting direct applicability.

This gap indicates a need for targeted studies to clarify PsyCap’s mediating role in the school climate–work engagement relationship, particularly in non-Western contexts like Vietnam. The Conservation of Resources (COR) theory suggests that individuals tend to seek, protect, and accumulate resources, with favorable conditions fostering a spiral of resource gain (Hobfoll, 1989). In high-pressure occupations, such as finance, health care, and nursing, PsyCap has repeatedly been shown to buffer stressors, mediate links to engagement, burnout, and well-being (X. Li et al., 2015; Y. Ren et al., 2024; S. Yang et al., 2020; Ye et al., 2025), and channels job resources into motivation. Applied to education, a positive school environment provides contextual resources that build teachers’ PsyCap (Qu, 2024), enabling them to invest energy, persist in goals, and recover from setbacks, thereby enhancing work engagement (Y. Ren et al., 2024).

In Vietnam’s contemporary high school context, characterized by heavy workloads, frequent reforms, and high accountability, teachers face demands akin to those in which PsyCap’s mediating effects are strongest (Ma, 2023). COR, therefore, predicts PsyCap as a mechanism through which the influence of school climate is translated into greater teacher work engagement.

The Conceptual Framework of This Study

COR theory provides a robust framework for justifying PsyCap as a mediator between school climate and work engagement, linking the JD-R model’s classification of work resources with POB’s explanation of PsyCap pathways. As argued in the previous section, COR suggests that a positive school climate provides valuable contextual resources that foster the accumulation of teachers’ PsyCap, which in turn serves as a mediator by enabling a resource gain spiral that enhances motivation, persistence, and energy investment, ultimately promoting greater work engagement (Hobfoll, 1989; Qu, 2024; Y. Ren et al., 2024). Based on the literature, we propose:

Two models were developed to test the mediating role of PsyCap between school climate and work engagement (Figures 2 and 3).

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Figure 2.

Main model—Model A.

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Figure 3.

Competing model—Model B.

Figure 2 presents the main model (Model A) of the study, proposing full mediation of PsyCap between school climate and teacher work engagement. School climate is measured as a latent construct with six factors (TSRe = Teacher–Student Relations; TSCo = Teacher-Student Closeness; SSRe = Student–Student Relations; StEn = Student Engagement; THCo = Teacher-Home Communication; StRe = Staff Relations). School climate predicts PsyCap (H1.1–H1.5), a higher-order construct of hope (PC.Hope), self-efficacy (PC.SeEf), resilience (PC.Resi), and optimism (PC.Opti). PsyCap then influences work engagement (WES9; H2). No direct school climate–engagement path exists. Figure 3 shows the competing model (Model B), testing mediation by adding direct paths from school climate factors to work engagement (WES9; H3.1–H3.5), alongside the indirect paths via PsyCap.

Sample

Data were collected from 1,071 high school teachers in one province in Vietnam, using a questionnaire. The sample included 586 female (54.7%) and 364 male (34.0%) teachers, with 121 missing gender data. Age distribution was: <30 years (5.2%), 30 to 39 years (31.8%), 40 to 49 years (51.8%), and ≥50 years (11.2%). Teachers taught various subjects, with 403 in natural science (including mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology), 439 in humanities (including foreign languages, literature, history, and geology), and 108 in other subjects (Table 1).

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Table 1.

Sample Characteristics by Gender and Age Group.

Characteristics	Criteria	Gender			Age range
		Female	Male	Subtotal	<30	30–39	40–49	≥50	Subtotal
Subjects	Natural Science	218	185	403	16	123	217	51	407
	Humanities	318	121	439	29	132	234	47	442
	Other	50	58	108	5	46	49	11	111
	Subtotal	586	364	950	50	301	500	109	960
	Missing			121					111
Homeroom Teacher	Yes	433	209	642	36	209	349	54	648
	No	176	145	321	15	96	158	54	323
	Subtotal	609	354	963	51	305	507	108	971
	Missing			108					100
Extra classes	Yes	46	54	100	3	29	54	14	100
	No	566	302	868	45	282	451	98	876
	Subtotal	612	356	968	48	311	505	112	976
	Missing			103					95
Marital status	Single	90	56	146	35	44	55	10	144
	Married	553	318	871	17	278	478	107	880
	Subtotal	643	374	1,017	52	322	533	117	1,024
	Missing			54					47

Measures

Data Collection

Data were collected during the summer of 2024, coinciding with annual professional development courses for high school teachers in a province in southern Vietnam. Teachers were convened at three designated locations within the province, facilitating access to a diverse sample. Questionnaires were distributed in person during these sessions, ensuring efficient data collection. Before participation, teachers were informed about the study’s purpose, which was to investigate the relationships among school climate, psychological capital, and work engagement. They were assured that their identities would remain anonymous and their responses confidential, in accordance with ethical research guidelines. Participation was entirely voluntary, and teachers were given the option to opt out without consequence. Completed questionnaires were collected on-site, and a total of 1,071 teachers completed the survey. This approach ensured a robust response rate while maintaining ethical standards, including informed consent and confidentiality.

Data Analysis

The data analysis was conducted in two stages to ensure robust validation of the measurement and structural models. First, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), using principal components extraction with Promax rotation, was performed to identify the factor structure of the adapted school climate questionnaire, the Compound Psychological Capital Scale–Revised, and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. Constructs were retained based on stringent criteria: Cronbach’s α ≥ .70, factor loadings ≥ 0.50, and cumulative variance explained ≥ 50%. Subsequently, Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM) was conducted in AMOS (Hair et al., 2018). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted for each unidimensional construct and the four first-order components of PsyCap. Model fit was assessed through normed chi-square (χ²/df < 5.0, preferably < 3.0), RMSEA < 0.08, TLI > 0.90, and CFI > 0.90 (Byrne, 2010; Hair et al., 2018; Kline, 2006). Convergent validity required standardized loadings ≥ 0.50, AVE ≥ 0.50, and composite reliability ≥ 0.60. For the higher-order PsyCap construct, the same criteria were applied. Parameters were estimated using Maximum Likelihood, with skewness and kurtosis values below |2| (Curran et al., 1996). All constructs were modeled simultaneously with freely correlated latent variables, and were required to meet standard fit and discriminant validity criteria (Fornell–Larcker). Finally, the structural model was estimated. Hypotheses were tested via path significance (p < .05), and mediation was examined by comparing models (χ² difference tests, fit indices, and AIC and BIC).

EFA Results

EFA results show that all constructs met the required criteria for further analysis (Table 2).

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Table 2.

EFA Results.

Construct	Items	Loading range	Variance (%)	α
SC.TSRe	6	0.602–0.795	54.291	.864
SC.TSCo	3	0.456–0.910		.766
SC.SSRe	7	0.794–0.896	72.674	.937
SC.StEn	6	0.801–0.855	69.987	.912
SC.THCo	6	0.804–0.854	68.981	.910
SC.StRe	4	0.788–0.934	79.546	.903
WES9	9	0.659–0.916	75.166	.954
PC.Hope	3	0.776–0.871	70.492	.786
PC.SeEf	3	0.864–0.913	79.359	.870
PC.Resi	3	0.825–0.908	75.688	.930
PC.Opti	3	0.912–0.941	85.425	.914

Note. SC = school climate; TSRe = teacher–student relations; TSCo = teacher–student closeness; SSRe = student–student relations; StEn = student engagement; THCo = teacher–home communication; StRe = staff relations; PC = psychological capital; SeEf = self-efficacy; Resi = resilience; Opti = optimism; WES9 = work engagement; α = Cronbach’s alpha.

Measurement Model

Initial CFAs conducted for each unidimensional construct (school climate factors and work engagement) and the second-order construct (PsyCap) indicated satisfactory model fit and acceptable factor loadings. All measurement scales met the recommended reliability and validity criteria before testing the overall measurement model.

CFA results show that the overall measurement model demonstrated a good fit (Table 3; CMIN/df = 2.791, CFI = 0.958, TLI = 0.985, and RMSEA = 0.041). All variables satisfied normality assumptions. Unidimensionality was confirmed, as no cross-loadings were observed among constructs. Convergent validity was supported, and discriminant validity was confirmed ( AVE = 0.73–0.88). This confirms that the overall measurement model is sound and suitable for subsequent structural analysis. Correlations among these constructs were positive and statistically significant (p < .001), ranging from .216 to .670, suggesting no multicollinearity concerns.

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Table 3.

CFA Results for the Overall Measurement Model and Correlations.

Construct		Item	Loading range	AVE	CR	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1	SC.TSRe	5	0.655–0.799	0.53	0.85	0.73
2	SC.TSCo	3	0.678–0.820	0.54	0.78	.576**	0.74
3	SC.StRe	4	0.692–0.922	0.74	0.92	.416**	.425**	0.86
4	SC.StEn	4	0.800–0.857	0.67	0.89	.315**	.476**	.498**	0.82
5	SC.THCo	4	0.763–0.807	0.62	0.87	.527**	.445**	.670**	.475**	0.78
6	SC.SSRe	4	0.717–0.914	0.71	0.91	.413**	.647**	.418**	.598**	.398**	0.84
7	WES9	6	0.853–0.906	0.76	0.95	.226**	.251**	.281**	.258**	.298**	.216**	0.87
8	PsyCap	4	0.795–0.912	0.77	0.93	.395**	.401**	.473**	.434**	.535**	.380**	.432**	0.88

Note. Values on the diagonal (bold) represent the square root of AVE. Values below the diagonal are Pearson correlations among constructs. All correlations are statistically significant at p < .01 (two-tailed) (**). N = 1,071. AVE = average variance extracted; CR = composite reliability.

Structural Equation Model

The results show that the main structural model fits well (CMIN/df = 2.399, CFI = 0.967, TLI = 0.964, RMSEA = 0.036; Figure 4).

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Figure 4.

Structural equation model—Model A.

Table 4 displays the results of hypothesis testing for both models.

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Table 4.

Structural Path Estimates for Model A and Model B.

Relationship	Model A estimate	Model B estimate	p (A)	p (B)	Result
Paths to PsyCap
SC.TSCo → PsyCap	0.107	0.104	.136	.152	Rejected
SC.TSRe → PsyCap	0.050	0.050	.367	.372	Rejected
SC.SSRe → PsyCap	0.026	0.028	.604	.580	Rejected
SC.StEn → PsyCap	0.182	0.179	***	***	Accepted
SC.THCo → PsyCap	0.315	0.315	***	***	Accepted
SC.StRe → PsyCap	0.113	0.111	.01	.013	Accepted
Paths to Work Engagement
PsyCap → WES9	0.470	0.382	***	***	Accepted
SC.TSRe → WES9	—	0.001	—	.989	Rejected
SC.TSCo → WES9	—	0.061	—	.429	Rejected
SC.SSRe → WES9	—	−0.026	—	.638	Rejected
SC.StEn → WES9	—	0.050	—	.272	Rejected
SC.THCo → WES9	—	0.025	—	.665	Rejected
SC.StRe → WES9	—	0.040	—	.398	Rejected

The SEM results revealed consistent relationships among school environment dimensions, psychological capital, and work engagement among high school teachers in a province in southern Vietnam. Specifically, teacher–home communication, staff relations, and student engagement significantly influenced PsyCap, confirming their role in fostering teachers’ PsyCap. In contrast, teacher–student relations, teacher–student closeness, and student–student relations showed no significant effects on teachers’ psychological capital. PsyCap, in turn, demonstrated a significant positive impact on work engagement, highlighting its critical role in driving teachers’ vigour, dedication, and absorption (Table 4).

Given that the χ² difference test is not significant (Δχ²(6) = 10.467, p = .106), Model B does not provide a statistically meaningful improvement in fit over Model A. Therefore, we retain Model A as the more parsimonious specification, further supported by its lower AIC (1,924.836 vs. 1,926.396) and BIC (2,452.329 vs. 2,483.747; Table 5).

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Table 5.

Comparison of Fit Indices Between Model A and Model B.

Model	χ2	df	p	χ2/df	CFI	TLI	RMSEA	AIC	BIC	ΔAIC	ΔBIC
Model A	1,712.863	714	<.001	2.399	0.967	0.964	0.036	1,924.836	2,452.329	—	—
Model B	1,702.396	708	<.001	2.405	0.967	0.964	0.036	1,926.396	2,483.747	+1.560	+31.418

Note. ΔAIC and ΔBIC values are calculated relative to Model A. χ² = chi-square statistic; df = degrees of freedom; CFI = comparative fit index; TLI = Tucker–Lewis index; RMSEA = root mean square error of approximation; AIC = Akaike information criterion; BIC = Bayesian information criterion; Δ = difference between models.

School Climate and Psychological Capital

In this study, it is hypothesized that school climate dimensions positively affect PsyCap. The results partially support this hypothesis, with student engagement, teacher–home communication, and staff relations showing significant positive effects on teachers’ PsyCap. These findings align with prior research suggesting that supportive school environments enhance teachers’ hope, self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism (Vilarino del Castillo & Lopez-Zafra, 2022).

Teacher–home communication in this study exhibited the strongest effect on PsyCap (β = .315, p < .001), supporting Epstein’s (2018) framework on school–family partnerships, which emphasizes that collaborative relationships with parents enhance teacher morale and reduce stress (Epstein, 2018). This is corroborated by empirical studies connecting high family engagement to lower teacher burnout, greater job satisfaction, and elevated PsyCap components (Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2005; Pedditzi et al., 2021). In the current Vietnamese context of K–12 education, where teachers face heavy workloads and ongoing educational reforms (L. T. Nguyen et al., 2023; Tran Huy et al., 2025), such communication, particularly via digital platforms like Zalo and VNEdu, provides a vital support network that enhances resilience and optimism, especially in resource-limited provinces (T. K. T. Nguyen, 2020; Tuổi Trẻ Newspaper, 2025). Recent research highlights how social media affords teachers ongoing, unmediated contact with parents, and that this extended engagement functions as a significant site where teachers shape how they understand and present themselves professionally (H. Huang & Zhang, 2025) and seek to continuously reinforce their sense of efficacy and purpose (Hien Kim, 2024). Such interactions, however, sometimes create additional stress and demands (Sài Gòn Giải Phóng, 2023; H. Yang et al., 2025), suggesting a dual role as both a resource and a challenge. Overall, this finding underscores the importance of teacher–home communication, not only for sharing reform information with families and communities but also for sustaining teachers’ PsyCap amid persistent workload pressures. Future research should expand the conceptualization of teacher-home communication to include these digital relational spaces and explore their ambivalent effects on PsyCap and related outcomes.

Another key finding is that student engagement significantly predicted teachers’ PsyCap, highlighting how positive classroom interactions contribute to teachers’ personal resource development. Drawing on the JD-R model, student engagement can be understood as a critical job resource that reduces emotional strain and fosters motivation, thereby fueling teachers’ work engagement. In turn, consistent exposure to engaged learners strengthens teachers’ confidence, optimism, hope, and resilience. This also aligns with POB, which conceptualizes PsyCap as a state-like capacity that can be cultivated through positive experiences. Together, these frameworks explain how student engagement acts as both a resource and reinforcer of teachers’ PsyCap. This result aligns with M. T. Wang and Degol (2016), who found that student engagement reduces teacher burnout and enhances motivation by reinforcing their sense of effectiveness. In Vietnam’s exam-oriented educational context, deeply influenced by a Confucian heritage that emphasizes academic achievement and high-stakes testing, teachers’ professional efficacy and resilience are closely tied to students’ performance outcomes (Huynh, 2024; Luong, 2015). Engaged students provide tangible evidence of effective teaching, affirming teachers’ sense of accomplishment amid intense pressure from national exams and curriculum demands, thereby enhancing optimism and buffering burnout (M. T. Wang & Degol, 2016). A study of Vietnamese teachers’ reflective practices indicates that teachers perceive student learning results as pivotal to their own sense of teaching efficacy and professional growth (T. T. Pham et al., 2023). This dimension highlights the value of promoting student involvement not only for learning gains but also for sustaining teachers’ PsyCap in a culturally competitive education context.

This study also found that staff relations significantly influenced PsyCap. Collaborative environments, where teachers, staff, and leaders work cohesively, foster a sense of belonging and value, strengthening teachers’ resilience and optimism. Jingwa (2019) found that schools with strong professional learning communities, characterized by collaborative teacher-leadership interactions, enhance teacher efficacy and commitment. X. Huang and Wang (2021) also contributed to research on the antecedents of PsyCap by examining how various dimensions of school climate are related to teachers’ PsyCap. This study provides further evidence on the importance of teamwork for teachers’ PsyCap. This result reinforces both the JD-R model and POB. Within the JD-R framework, collaborative teamwork operates as a crucial job resource, providing social support, shared responsibility, and constructive feedback that buffer against job demands and strengthen work engagement. From the perspective of POB, such supportive relationships nurture teachers’ hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism by affirming their contributions and creating a psychologically safe environment for growth. However, this finding is also at odds with Vietnam’s Confucian heritage culture, which emphasizes hierarchy, deference to authority, and high power distance (Truong & Hallinger, 2017). In traditional settings, principals are seen as unquestioned authority figures, and teachers often comply rather than collaborate. The positive role of teamwork here suggests that even within hierarchical systems, relational and collaborative practices can act as powerful enablers of PsyCap, challenging the limits of top-down leadership models and showing that a shift may be taking place in high schools in Vietnam. This may indicate that Vietnamese high schools are gradually moving toward a more collaborative, resource-based model of leadership.

Interestingly, neither teacher–student relations, teacher–student closeness, nor student–student relationships had a significant effect on PsyCap. This does not undermine their importance, but rather suggests that these relational dynamics may primarily shape other outcomes. Culturally, this may reflect the Confucian hierarchical nature of Vietnamese education, in which relationships between teachers and students remain formal and authority–driven rather than reciprocal. In such contexts, teachers are traditionally positioned as moral exemplars and disciplinarians, not as partners in emotional exchange (Truong et al., 2017; Vu, 2025). Similarly, in high schools, student–student interactions are often structured within frameworks of discipline and exam preparation under close teacher supervision, limiting teachers’ perception of them as sustained job resources. This cultural emphasis on reverence and order may constrain open dialogue and mutual emotional support, which are key conditions for nurturing the positive states underlying PsyCap, such as self-efficacy and optimism. Within the JD-R model, these relationships likely function as transient emotional resources that facilitate classroom management and daily satisfaction but lack the consistency needed to build enduring psychological capacities like PsyCap (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017). Thus, teachers may not frame interactions with students as a primary resource for their psychological growth, unlike findings reported in other contexts (Corbin et al., 2019; Purwaniningtyas et al., 2023).

Similarly, student–student relations, though crucial for social cohesion (Kim, 2021), may be peripheral to teachers’ emotional and psychological resources in this context. In a Confucian-influenced country like Vietnam, student–student relations are often structurally and culturally somewhat removed from teachers’ psychological resources (Hofstede et al., 2010), which helps explain why they did not predict teachers’ PsyCap in this study. In Vietnamese classrooms, strong hierarchical norms and high power distance mean teachers are expected to maintain order, direct learning, and remain the central authority. At the same time, students’ relationships with one another are primarily understood as something to be managed, not a source of support or feedback for teachers themselves (Đào, 2014; Vu, 2025). When student–student relations are good, teachers may experience this as a sign of classroom control, but not necessarily as an interpersonal resource that enhances PsyCap. Conversely, when peer relations are difficult, these are often framed as problems to be handled rather than opportunities for relational nourishment or shared agency (Xu et al., 2023).

From a methodological standpoint, these null effects might also stem from restricted response variability and cultural desirability bias. Items measuring teacher–student relations, teacher–student closeness, and student–student relations are often rated highly in collectivist societies (Chen et al., 2019; Hofstede, 2001). Furthermore, PsyCap captures internal psychological resources rather than interpersonal or relational ones; therefore, it may be more sensitive to institutional and leadership factors than to dyadic or peer relationships. This pattern aligns with findings from East Asian teacher samples, where organizational climate and leadership support most strongly predicted PsyCap and engagement (Z. Ren et al., 2025; Zhu et al., 2025).

Psychological Capital and Work Engagement (H2)

The second hypothesis, which proposed that PsyCap positively affects work engagement, was strongly supported. This finding highlights PsyCap’s pivotal role in enhancing teachers’ vigour, dedication, and absorption in their work, consistent with previous studies (Luthans et al., 2007, 2015), which identified PsyCap as a key driver of positive organizational outcomes. Teachers with high levels of PsyCap are better equipped to navigate the demands of teaching, resulting in greater engagement. In the Vietnamese context, where teachers face heavy workloads and societal expectations, PsyCap appears to serve as a critical psychological resource, enabling them to maintain enthusiasm and commitment (Wu & Nguyen, 2019). This result suggests that interventions targeting PsyCap components—such as goal-setting workshops for hope or resilience-building programs—could significantly enhance teachers’ engagement. The strong effect size also indicates that PsyCap is a robust predictor of work engagement across cultural settings, reinforcing its universal applicability in educational research. These findings highlight the need for professional development programs that cultivate psychological strengths to sustain teacher motivation to engage in their profession. Literature has shown that PsyCap and work engagement often work together, either in parallel or sequentially, to amplify positive outcomes. In this study, PsyCap is an antecedent to engagement.

Psychological Capital as a Mediator (H3)

The third hypothesis, positing that PsyCap mediates the relationship between school climate and work engagement, was fully supported. The main model, with PsyCap as a mediator, demonstrated good fit, and the competing model, which included direct paths from school climate to work engagement, showed no significant direct effects and no improvement in fit. This confirms that PsyCap fully mediates the influence of school climate dimensions on work engagement, aligning with prior studies that position PsyCap as a bridge between organizational contexts and employee outcomes (Luthans et al., 2007; Vilarino del Castillo & Lopez-Zafra, 2022). In the Vietnamese educational context, supportive school environments, particularly through student engagement, teacher–home communication, and staff relations, enhance teachers’ psychological resources, which in turn drive their engagement. The absence of direct effects suggests that school climate influences engagement indirectly by fostering teachers’ psychological strengths (Y. Ren et al., 2024). This finding is particularly important in the current Vietnamese educational landscape, marked by heavy workloads, frequent policy reforms, and accountability pressures. In such a demanding context, similar to those examined by Ma (2023), the mediating role of PsyCap tends to be most pronounced. Consistent with COR theory, PsyCap serves as a key mediator, channeling the positive influence of school climate into enhanced teacher work engagement.

Implications

The study’s findings have several implications for educational policy and practice in Vietnam, as well as the future directions of PsyCap. Schools and leadership within their granted autonomy, which can develop appropriate interventions to foster partnerships and student engagement.

First, to strengthen student engagement, it may be beneficial to provide teachers with ongoing training, support, and coaching aimed at fostering more participatory instructional practices. Such efforts could help teachers reflect on and adopt approaches that position students as active partners and encourage them to participate in classroom interactions. In turn, when teachers actively engage students in classroom activities, this may be associated with higher levels of teachers’ psychological capital, as students’ active participation and diligence can reinforce teachers’ sense of efficacy, optimism, and motivation. Second, strengthening communication with families through regular forums or diverse channels of communication may help provide teachers with broader external support networks that are associated with greater professional sustainability. Such school-family partnerships can also reinforce the shared nature of educational responsibility. This highlights that students’ development is a shared effort between schools and families rather than resting solely on teachers. Third, promoting staff relations through collaborative training and leadership support programs may help foster a more cohesive work environment that is associated with a higher level of teachers’ PsyCap. Strengthening teamwork among teachers, staff, and leaders can enable teachers to draw on relational resources, which may support teachers’ sense of PsyCap. Importantly, such collaborative practices need not conflict with cultural norms emphasizing respect for authority. Rather, teamwork could be framed as consistent with Confucian values of harmony and collective responsibility, thereby aligning cultural tradition with modern resource-based models of teacher well-being. In practical terms, this suggests that school leaders could consider strategies such as reducing unnecessary administrative demands and creating structured opportunities for collaboration. For example, recent research on Vietnamese professional learning communities shows that when schools formally allocate time for lesson study, joint planning, and reflective dialogue within subject groups, teachers report stronger collegial ties, shared responsibility, and better support in interpreting curriculum reforms (Dinh et al., 2023, 2024).

All these suggestions may not be straightforward to implement, particularly when cultural factors are taken into account. Nonetheless, strategies informed by the JD-R model and positive organizational behaviour may help address aspects of teaching demands, such as heavy workloads or societal expectations, while supporting the development of a more motivated teaching workforce. This study’s findings appear to reflect the broader challenge of balancing Confucian values rooted in Vietnam with ongoing national attempts to reform general education from teachers’ perspectives. For example, the results indicate that when teachers did not perceive teacher-student or student-student relational climate as directly associated with their PsyCap, student engagement showed a stronger association. This suggests that teachers may still find it difficult to view students as collaborative partners in instructional processes.

Furthermore, the findings imply that teachers may place greater emphasis on external structural support, such as assistance from administrative staff, or lower hierarchical pressure when coping with professional demands. Although causal interpretations cannot be drawn, the results suggest that the potential value of integrating PsyCap development into teacher professional development initiatives could be associated with improved job satisfaction and retention over time. In the Vietnamese context, leveraging collectivist cultural values to strengthen community-based support systems may further complement such efforts. Overall, the findings suggest that educational reforms may benefit from not only introducing new curricular expectations but also fostering supportive leadership practices, trust-based collaboration, and organisational conditions conducive to teachers’ PsyCap.

Limitations and Future Research

Despite its contributions, this study has limitations that should be considered. First, the cross-sectional design limits causal inferences, as the data were collected at a single point in time during summer 2024 professional development courses. Although this arrangement facilitated efficient data collection, the sample may not fully represent the broader population of teachers. Second, this study was conducted in a single province, which also limits the generalizability of these findings to other provinces or nationwide. Future research applying longitudinal and intervention designs and using more diverse and geographically representative samples would be valuable for examining the relationships among school climate factors, PsyCap, and work engagement. Third, the study relied on self-reported measures, which may introduce response bias. Future research could incorporate observational data or multi-source assessments for validation. Another limitation relates to measurement adaptation. This study did not conduct the necessary steps to validate the established scales in a new context for the local educational setting. This may have affected their conceptual equivalence and construct validity. Future studies should employ more rigorous validation procedures, such as mixed-methods approaches, back–translation, and pilot testing the scales, to enhance confidence in the measurement of these constructs across contexts.

Additionally, factors with insignificant effects, including teacher–student relations, teacher–student closeness, and student–student relations, were not fully explored, possibly due to contextual factors, such as hierarchical classroom dynamics. Future research should explore these mechanisms further by integrating cultural dimensions and social exchange theory. For instance, future models could examine whether hierarchical norms moderate the PsyCap pathway, or whether interventions promoting teacher–student co-agency could activate PsyCap’s motivational potential in collectivist contexts. Comparative studies across Confucian and Western systems would clarify whether relational warmth exerts weaker effects in cultures where power distance and exam–driven schooling dominate. Qualitative studies could further explore how teachers perceive their relationships with students or student–student relations. Such studies could also explore different types of relationships that might help understand any cultural moderation. Future studies could also examine other school climate dimensions (such as teacher–teacher relations and leadership styles) and may also apply certain PsyCap-based interventions for a clearer impact on teachers’ engagement. Exploring additional mediators could also enrich the model, providing a more comprehensive understanding of teacher motivation in diverse educational contexts. The model could also be expanded to examine how school climate influences teachers’ performance through PsyCap, work engagement, or other mediators.

Theoretically, this study offers some implications for future PsyCap research, particularly within educational systems undergoing ongoing reforms while maintaining cultural traditions. This study provides evidence-informed insights for Vietnamese schools seeking to gradually shift from a hierarchical, compliance-focused culture toward more collaborative professional communities. More broadly, this study suggests that PsyCap interventions may benefit from moving beyond one-size-fits-all models toward culturally adapted approaches that consider how different relationships and organizational structures shape the development of psychological resources (Katsantonis, 2020) as well as the potential roles of Confucian values in influencing these processes, either directly or as contextual moderators (Y. Huang, 2025).