The Effect of Work-Related Stress and Motivation on Teacher Performance Through Psychological Empowerment and Principal Leadership in Public Elementary Schools

Abstract

Teacher performance in public elementary schools remains a persistent concern in Indonesia, particularly in Temanggung Regency, where declining learning-quality scores signal suboptimal professional practice. This study analyzes the effect of work-related stress and motivation on teacher performance, positioning psychological empowerment as an intervening variable and principal leadership as a moderating variable. A quantitative survey design was employed, integrating Robbins' work-stress theory, Alderfer's ERG motivation theory, Miner's teacher-performance model, the EMASLIM principal-leadership model, and Spreitzer's psychological-empowerment framework. Data were collected from 340 civil-servant and contract elementary-school teachers across 20 sub-districts using proportional random sampling and analyzed with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that work-related stress had a positive and significant effect on teacher performance and on psychological empowerment; motivation significantly influenced both psychological empowerment and performance. Psychological empowerment significantly affected performance and mediated the effects of stress and motivation, emerging as the strongest predictor in the model. Principal leadership significantly influenced performance directly and indirectly through psychological empowerment. Simultaneously, stress and motivation affected performance through empowerment as an intervening variable and leadership as a moderator. The novelty lies in demonstrating that, within a supportive empowerment-and-leadership climate, work stress can act as constructive eustress rather than a purely destructive force, reframing the stress–performance relationship in primary-education settings.