Influence of lighting color temperature on teacher self-efficacy in early childhood education

This study investigates how lighting correlated color temperature (CCT) influences early childhood educators’ task-specific self-efficacy, cognitive load, and emotional experience within classroom-like environments. Grounded in the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) framework, the research employed a two-phase design. Phase I involved a needs assessment survey (n = 19) to identify educators’ priorities in classroom design, which highlighted the importance of daylight and lighting conditions. Phase II used a within-subjects experimental design (n = 30) with immersive virtual reality classrooms that were identical in all respects except lighting CCT (3000 K warm vs. 4100 K cool). Participants completed standardized early childhood teaching tasks under both lighting conditions, while task-anchored measures captured cognitive load (modified NASA-TLX), emotional and personal experience, teaching confidence and classroom management, overall satisfaction, and willingness to spend more time in the environment. Results showed that cool-tone lighting (4100 K) significantly reduced perceived mental demand, effort, and stress, while increasing perceived task success. Cool-tone lighting was also associated with more positive emotional experiences, higher satisfaction, greater willingness to remain in the space, and stronger task-specific self-efficacy appraisals. Correlational analyses indicated that lower cognitive load and more positive affect were systematically related to higher perceived teaching capability. Overall, the findings suggest that lighting CCT is a salient environmental variable shaping educators’ immediate workload, affective state, and perceived instructional competence, highlighting the potential of evidence-based lighting design to support teacher experience in early childhood educational settings.