Previous studies found that teachers’ psychological capital positively affects their workplace well-being. However, the underlying internal mechanism behind this relationship remains ambiguous. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of ego-resiliency and work-meaning cognition on this relationship among Chinese teachers. The questionnaire, including the psychology capital scale (PCS), workplace well-being subscale (WWBS), Psychological Empowerment Scale (PESS), and Ego-Resiliency Scale (ERS), was used to collect data points from 1388 primary and secondary school teachers. The results reveal that: (1) teachers’ psychological capital positively predicts workplace well-being; (2) work-meaning cognition mediates the relationship between teachers’ psychological capital and workplace well-being; (3) the influence of work-meaning cognition on the relationship between teachers’ psychological capital and workplace well-being is moderated by ego-resiliency. These findings explore the factors that affect well-being and point to potential ways to enhance teachers’ workplace well-being.

Teachers’ career satisfaction (CS), perceived organizational support (POS), and psychological capital (PC) have a significant impact on their professional growth and overall educational quality. However, the interactive dynamics and temporal mechanisms among these variables remain underexplored. This study addresses this gap by employing cross-lagged panel network analysis. A total of 431 Chinese teachers (71.69% female; M = 37.61, SD = 8.78) participated in surveys conducted at two time points. Three centrality indices, out-expected influence (out-EI), in-expected influence (in-EI), and bridge-expected influence (bridge-EI) were used to identify the most important nodes in the POS-PC-CS network. Results showed that POS-1 exhibits the highest out-EI; all five CS nodes displayed relatively high in-EI. Although not ranking highest, the four PC nodes showed comparatively elevated out-EI, in-EI, and bridge-EI. These results offer valuable insights for developing targeted interventions and educational policies that aim to foster positive professional outcomes among teachers.