# Personality Traits and Teaching Commitment Among Pre-Service Teachers: Teaching Motivation as a Mediator

## TL;DR

This study explores how personality traits relate to teaching commitment among future teachers, with teaching motivation acting as a mediator.

## Contribution

The study identifies teaching motivation as a mediator between HEXACO personality traits and teaching commitment in pre-service teachers.

## Key findings

- All HEXACO traits positively predict teaching commitment, with extraversion and agreeableness being the strongest predictors.
- Teaching motivation mediates the relationship between HEXACO traits and teaching commitment, with intrinsic motivation having the strongest effect.
- Extraversion and openness to experience show full mediation through teaching motivation, while other traits show partial mediation.

## Abstract

With the HEXACO model of personality, this study examined the relationship between HEXACO traits (i.e., honesty–humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience) and teaching commitment among 2031 Chinese pre-service teachers. The results show that all HEXACO traits positively predicted teaching commitment, with extraversion and agreeableness being the most pronounced predictors. Also, this study investigated whether teaching motivation, including intrinsic motivation, altruistic motivation, and extrinsic motivation, could explain the relationship between HEXACO traits and teaching commitment. The results supported the mediational role of teaching motivation, with intrinsic motivation showing the strongest mediational effect. For extraversion and openness to experience, a full mediation model was supported, while for the other four HEXACO traits, a partial mediation model was validated. The theoretical and practical implications of this study for teacher education are discussed.