The Relationships Between School Principals’ Resilience, Perceived Organizational Support, and Thriving in United Arab Emirates Schools

Background/purpose. Research on how school principals in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) remain resilient in the face of workplace challenges remains limited. This study seeks to address this research gap by investigating how principals cope with work adversity (which is a time of intense stress or serious anxiety that can cause physical or psychological problems) and how they thrive in their leadership roles by moving beyond their pre-adversity level of functioning.

Materials/methods. The study used a quantitative design to examine the association of five variables with thriving: internal and external resilience factors, self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and Perceived Organizational Support (POS). Each variable was assessed independently and then analyzed for its relationship to thriving. Guided by the resilience framework, theories of response to adversity, and the socially-embedded model of thriving at work, the study explored whether these variables enhance the thriving of school principals. Out of a total of 104 school principals in one school district, 84 completed a six-part Likert-scale questionnaire. Data analysis employed descriptive, correlational, and regression analyses to examine relationships and predictors of thriving.

Results. The results showed that thriving was correlated with all variables except external resilience factors, with the strongest associations found for internal resilience factors and job satisfaction. Principals’ demographics did not significantly affect levels of thriving. Furthermore, internal factors of resilience and self-efficacy emerged as the strongest predictors of thriving, highlighting the importance of psychological resources.

Conclusion. As UAE education undergoes significant and rapid changes, the study recommends that educational policymakers prioritize resilience and thriving among school principals and consider leadership programs that integrate organizational support systems and resilience training.

Keywords: Principal resilience, thriving principals, perceived organizational support, self-efficacy, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

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