Understanding Others’ Emotions, Feeling Connected: How Teachers’ Social-Emotional Competence Links to Occupational Well-Being

• In Event: Teaching with Heart and Skill: Exploring Social-Emotional Learning in Teacher Preparation and Practice

Abstract

Teachers’ social-emotional competence (SEC) is increasingly recognized as crucial for managing not only teacher-student interactions but also relationships with colleagues, which are essential for coping with the demands of the profession. SEC has been linked to positive teacher-student relationships, which in turn support both student development and teachers’ occupational well-being (Aldrup et al., 2020; Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). However, teachers do not work in isolation. They rely heavily on their professional relationships with colleagues to exchange and develop ideas, solve problems collaboratively and cope with everyday classroom challenges (Dogan et al., 2016; Fussangel & Dizinger, 2014; Fussangel & Radisch, 2025). Empirical results show that high-quality collegial interactions represent a resource that promotes well-being (Schmidt et al., 2017).
A central component of SEC is the awareness of one’s own emotions and the emotions of others (CASEL, 2025; Mayer & Salovay, 1997). Adopting the perspective of interaction partners and empathetically understanding the concerns of others allows teachers to be sensitive to the emotional states of colleagues and better equipped to build supportive professional ties and resolve conflicts constructively (CASEL, 2025). This aligns with the notion of relatedness as a basic psychological need in Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), which emphasizes that satisfying the need for relatedness is vital for maintaining well-being at work. While previous research has shown that SEC and feelings of relatedness are associated with teacher well-being (Bartholomew et al., 2014; Burić et al., 2021; Fernet et al., 2013), it remains unclear through which mechanisms SEC contributes to occupational well-being (e.g, emotional exhaustion). Particularly, the role of collegial relatedness as a mediator has not been empirically tested. The present study assumes that higher SEC helps teachers build and maintain positive relationships with colleagues, hence leading to a stronger sense of relatedness. In turn, higher relatedness with colleagues is expected to be associated with lower emotional exhaustion, the core facet of burnout.
To investigate this research question, the present study used diary data collected over ten workdays from N = 141 in-service teachers and specified a multiple predictor mediation model. The model tested whether teachers’ perceived relatedness to colleagues mediates the associations between two facets of SEC (emotion knowledge of one’s own emotions and of others’ emotions) and emotional exhaustion via validated scales. The results showed that only the indirect effect of emotion knowledge about others’ emotions was statistically significant (A2B = -0.079, p = .044), indicating that even modest increases in teachers’ awareness of others’ emotions may meaningfully enhance collegial bonds and reduce emotional exhaustion.
These findings are discussed against the background that collegial relatedness and teacher well-being both contribute to school quality (Ditton, 2017; Fussangel & Radisch, 2025). Supporting teachers’ SEC and relatedness may therefore be a promising strategy for strengthening well-being as an integral element of sustainable school development. Schools should therefore invest in creating work environments and professional learning structures that foster teachers’ SEC and collegial connectedness.

Authors

• Josina Schriek, Humboldt University - Berlin

• Bastian Carstensen, Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education

• Katharina Asbury, Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education

• Uta Klusmann, IPN · Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education