Happiness at work is a complex, cognitive and emotional process influenced by organizational characteristics and individual traits. Defined as a combination of job satisfaction, commitment, and engagement, happiness fosters health and stress resilience. Key contributors to workplace happiness include positive interpersonal relationships, meaningful work, recognition, fair treatment, and work-life balance. Recent studies emphasize the role of individual attributes, such as personality traits and positive dispositional effects, in shaping job happiness. For teachers, happiness is vital for mental health, self-esteem, and resilience against job demands. It enhances overall health and workplace satisfaction, highlighting the importance of cultivating happiness to support their demanding roles.

Following Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), Irrational beliefs, examined in the context of human cognition, coexist with logical thought and influence behaviors, emotions, and perceptions of reality. These beliefs manifest in various forms and impact psychological and social outcomes. In education, irrational beliefs negatively affect performance, self-determination, and motivation while correlating with burnout, emotional intelligence, and job satisfaction.

The theoretical framework of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) offers insights into how irrational beliefs relate to teachers’ happiness at work. SDT posits that psychological growth occurs when basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are satisfied. Autonomy involves experiencing freedom of choice, competence relates to feeling effective in tasks, and relatedness reflects emotional connection with others. When these needs are met, teachers experience enhanced engagement, positive emotions, and improved job performance. In education, fulfilling teachers’ psychological needs fosters commitment, enthusiasm, and effective teaching behaviors. Conversely, unmet needs and the presence of irrational beliefs can hinder well-being and performance. This highlights the interplay between beliefs, psychological needs, and workplace happiness.

The study aims to investigate the relationships between teachers’ irrational beliefs, satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and happiness at work. By exploring these relationships, the study seeks to propose targeted interventions at educational settings to promote teachers’ well-being, resilience, and productivity.

Based on the above, the aim of the study was twofold: First, to examine the relationship between teachers’ irrational beliefs and their psychological needs satisfaction and second to determine whether psychological needs satisfaction mediates the impact of irrational beliefs on happiness at work.

The findings are expected to have both theoretical and practical implications. The study will enhance understanding of how cognitive and psychological factors contribute to teacher happiness, providing evidence for targeted interventions. Practical recommendations include professional development programs and leadership strategies that foster autonomy, competence, and relatedness in educational settings. By promoting well-being, teachers may develop skills such as resilience, self-direction, and goal setting, benefiting both their performance and student outcomes.

Socially, the research highlights the broader impact of teacher happiness, suggesting that satisfied teachers can cultivate a positive mindset in students and future employees, contributing to a healthier, more optimistic society. By addressing psychological needs and irrational beliefs, the study provides valuable insights into improving teacher well-being and effectiveness.

Teachers from all over Greece will be recruited through teacher unions and school principals to complete a web-based questionnaire. The home page of the electronic questionnaire will provide information on the purpose of the study. Teachers would be asked to voluntarily complete the questionnaire, which will be anonymous, and it would be possible to stop completing it at any time. To examine teachers’ irrational beliefs, we will use The Teachers Irrational Beliefs Scale (TIBS; Gkontelos et al., 2021). The scale was designed to evaluate teachers’ irrational beliefs and includes four dimensions, namely Self-downing, Authoritarianism, Demands for Justice, and Low Frustration Tolerance. TIBS contains 21 items, rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (totally disagree) to 5 (totally agree) and it was validated and implemented in previous research (Gkontelos et al., 2021). Basic Psychological Needs will be measured by the 21‐item scale Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction (BPNS; Ryan & Deci, 2000, 2017) which is based upon self-determination theory. Participants indicate on a scale from 1 (not true at all) to 7 (very true) the extent to which items were true for them. The scale has three subscales, Autonomy (seven items), Competence (six items) and Relatedness (eight items). Teacher Happiness at work will be evaluated with an adapted version for teachers from the School Children Happiness Inventory (Ivens, 2007). The adapted version consists of 30 items, measured on a 4-point Likert scale (1 = I strongly disagree, 4 = I strongly agree). Higher scores indicate high perceived happiness at work. Validity concerns will be addressed by employing exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for each psychological construct. Reliability analysis will be conducted using Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficients as the relationship between the variables will be demonstrated by employing a combination of descriptive statistics, correlational analysis, and bivariate analysis. The suggested multivariate model will be evaluated using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. This technique will reveal both the immediate and indirect impacts, as well as the associations that exist between the variables under investigation.

The study anticipates several pivotal findings regarding the role of teachers’ irrational beliefs and basic psychological needs satisfaction in predicting workplace happiness, analyzed through a person-centered approach. 1. Correlation Between Needs Satisfaction and Irrational Beliefs: It is expected that satisfaction of teachers' basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness) will negatively correlate with irrational beliefs. Teachers with under-met psychological needs are predicted to demonstrate higher levels of irrational beliefs, adversely impacting their happiness at work. 2. Mediation Role of Needs Satisfaction: Psychological needs satisfaction is hypothesized to mediate the relationship between irrational beliefs and workplace happiness. This mediating effect may manifest through both positive and negative pathways, reflecting the dual role of irrational beliefs in shaping emotional responses and overall happiness. 3. Implications for Interventions: The findings are anticipated to provide actionable recommendations for school leadership and policymakers depending on the effects of the three psychological needs on teachers’ happiness at work. 4. Theoretical and Practical Contributions: The study is expected to extend the existing body of literature by emphasizing the critical distinction between cognitive (irrational beliefs) and motivational (needs satisfaction) factors in workplace happiness. Additionally, it aims to bridge theoretical frameworks like Self-Determination Theory and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy to offer comprehensive insights. These outcomes hold significant potential for informing policies and practices that foster a supportive environment for teachers, ultimately contributing to improved mental health, job satisfaction, and educational outcomes.

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