Communal and Motivational Mechanisms Promoting Well-Being and Reducing Ill-Being Among Teacher Education Students During Wartime

This study examines communal and motivational mechanisms associated with well-being and ill-being among teacher education students during wartime. Drawing on self-determination theory and resilience frameworks, it focuses on environments that support autonomy, competence, and relatedness, as well as communal resilience. Participants included 332 Jewish and Arab-Bedouin students (Mean age = 26.24, SD = 6.38; 93.7% female), who completed an online questionnaire. Jewish students reported higher well-being indicators (autonomous motivation, resilience, hope, and engagement) and lower ill-being indicators (anxiety, depression, and PTSD) than Arab-Bedouin students. Structural equation modeling was used with a mediation model in which community resilience was associated with need satisfaction and need frustration, which, in turn, were associated with well-being and ill-being. Community resilience was positively associated with need satisfaction, which, in turn, was linked to resilience, hope, engagement, and autonomous motivation in both groups, and to lower ill-being among Arab-Bedouin students. It was also negatively associated with need frustration, which was linked to lower resilience among Jewish students and higher ill-being in both groups. These findings highlight SDT as a resilience theory characterized by cultural specificity during wartime and the role of communal resilience as a resource associated with well-being and ill-being among students. They emphasize educational settings as environments that promote resilience.