Exploring the Relationship Among Display Rules, Emotional Job Demands, Emotional Labor, and Kindergarten Teachers’ Occupational Well-Being

• In Event: Teacher Identity and Agency in Racially and Politically Contested Contexts

Abstract

Since the introduction of the concept of emotional labor in the field of education, an increasing amount of attention has been given to teachers' emotional labor. However, the emotional labor of kindergarten teachers, who are considered high-emotion workers, remains underexplored. This study aimed to investigate 1220 kindergarten teachers across ten provinces in China to explore the relationship between emotional labor, display rules, emotional job-demands, and job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion. Utilizing structural equation modeling analysis, the study found that surface acting and natural expression of felt emotions significantly influenced teachers' job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion. Additionally, display rules and job-demands emotion had direct or indirect effects on teachers' job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion.

Author

• Zheng Xin, East China Normal University