How Does Teacher Academic Optimism Affect Teacher Self‐Efficacy: Mediating Role of Teacher Professional Development and Teacher Subjective Well‐Being?

ABSTRACT Teacher self‐efficacy is a critical component of school life quality, leading scholars to explore the mechanisms behind it. Most studies have focused on this factor's mediation and moderation functions, with some indicating a strong link between teachers' academic optimism and self‐efficacy. However, the roles of teachers' professional development and subjective well‐being in this connection require further investigation. Our study takes an exclusive approach by positioning teacher self‐efficacy as the outcome variable and examining how teacher academic optimism is predicted through teacher professional development and subjective well‐being. Data were collected from 405 teachers working in K‐12 schools in Türkiye and analyzed using a cross‐sectional design. Using the bootstrapping technique, structural equation modeling results confirm the relationship between teacher academic optimism and self‐efficacy. The findings reveal that teachers' professional development and subjective well‐being mediate the relationship between teacher academic optimism and self‐efficacy. In this regard, our paper makes original contributions to the education literature by highlighting the importance of teachers' self‐efficacy. Importantly, our findings carry practical implications for practitioners and policymakers, and we offer specific suggestions based on the results to help them make informed decisions.