Effects of Servant Leadership on Secondary Teachers' Well‐Being Through Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction: A Longitudinal Study

Despite growing interest in teacher well‐being, longitudinal evidence linking servant leadership to multidimensional well‐being through distinct psychological needs remains scarce. Grounded in Self‐Determination Theory (SDT), which identifies autonomy, competence, and relatedness as universal psychological needs for human flourishing, this study examines the mediating role of basic psychological needs satisfaction between servant leadership and three dimensions of teacher well‐being (workplace, life, and psychological). Using three‐wave longitudinal data from 719 secondary teachers across 28 schools in China, we employed structural equation modelling to test the hypothesised model. Results showed that servant leadership positively predicted all three well‐being dimensions. Autonomy, competence, and relatedness satisfaction partially mediated the effects on workplace and psychological well‐being. In contrast, for life well‐being, only autonomy and relatedness satisfaction functioned as full mediators, whereas competence satisfaction did not. These findings highlight domain‐specific pathways through which servant leadership enhances teacher well‐being and underscore the importance of fostering autonomy and relatedness in educational settings to support teachers' holistic flourishing.