Dynamics, conflicts and synergies of multiple commitments in times of crisis: a study with primary and secondary school teachers in Brazil during the Covid-19 pandemic

• Autor(a) principal: Maragni, Felipe Teixeira Genta
• Data de Publicação: 2024
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da USP
• Texto Completo: https://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/12/12139/tde-26072024-144844/
• topic: Commitment; Commitment dynamics; Comprometimento; Context; Contexto; Dinâmicas de comprometimento; Incerteza; Precarização do Trabalho; Precarization of work; Uncertainty

Commitments to multiple foci and their dynamics are highly dependent on the context experienced by the individual. One crisis that has had a long-lasting impact on the world since 2020 has been the Covid-19 pandemic. This research aims to understand how a context of uncertainty affects working conditions and possibly reconfigures the foci, dynamics, conflicts and synergies of the multiple commitments of workers. To this end, a qualitative study was carried out based on the context of elementary and middle school teachers in Brazil during the pandemic. Semi-structured narrative interviews were conducted with a heterogeneous group of 20 teachers and analyzed using thematic analysis of narratives and content. Ten contextual factors that altered their working conditions were found, as well as five main moderating contextual factors that impacted their foci and dynamics of commitment during periods of uncertainty: sense of autonomy, quality of work-life balance, performance pressure degree, sense of duty, and quality of support received. Finally, two theoretical models were proposed for the dynamics of multiple commitments during periods of uncertainty. The research contributes to the theory of dynamics, conflicts, and synergies of commitment in contexts of uncertainty, while addressing and problematizing the mostly precarious working conditions of teachers during the pandemic, enabling managers at different levels to establish less degrading conditions in possible future scenarios of crisis.