Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction in Swedish Preschools: Job Demands–Resources and Child-Group Linguistic Composition

Swedish preschool work is highly relational and demanding, with documented stressors and elevated turnover and sick leave among preschool teachers and childminders. Concurrently, the proportion of early second-language (L2) learners has increased in line with demographic shifts, adding cultural and linguistic complexity to everyday practice. Despite this, evidence clarifying how specific working conditions relate to staff outcomes, particularly within L2-dense contexts, remains limited. The study aimed to examine how psychosocial working conditions (e.g., role conflicts, collegial and principal support), organizational factors (e.g., openness), structural factors (e.g., child group size, child–staff ratio, and especially the proportion of L2 learners), and individual factors (e.g., formal education and professional experience) relate to preschool staff’s organizational commitment and job satisfaction, using the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model as an overarching framework. Across analyses, job resources outperformed demands, structural, and individual factors. Principal support and co-worker support were positive predictors of job satisfaction; openness and influence were positive predictors of organizational commitment (openness strongest). Quantitative demands negatively predicted job satisfaction; qualitative demands and role conflict were attenuated when resources were included. Structural (including a proportion of L2 learners) and individual factors were not significant predictors of either outcome. In line with JD-R, leadership- and climate-related resources (support, openness, influence) are the most proximal correlates of staff attitudes, whereas structural context appears to act indirectly, if at all, via demands and resources. Practical efforts should prioritize strengthening supportive leadership, collegial collaboration, and voice. Findings should be interpreted within the Swedish (and broader Scandinavian) preschool context.