Why Emotions Matter: The Role of Teachers' Emotional Experiences in Their Intentions to Quit

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 7
  In Roundtable Session: Hiring Practices, Recruitment Strategies, and Retention Efforts and Their Impact on Teachers

Abstract

Our study examined the role teachers’ positive and negative emotions play in the relationship
between their motivation to leave the profession and self-efficacy, burnout, and job satisfaction. At
present, very little research has explored how emotions influence these associations, and existing research
has focused solely on studying negative emotions. We hypothesized that teachers’ emotional experiences
would be indirectly related to their intentions to quit through self-efficacy, burnout, and job satisfaction.
We employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze these relationships and found that the
association between self-efficacy and intention to quit diminished when teachers’ emotions were taken
into account. Our findings highlight the importance of interventions and policies that enhance teacher
well-being as a way to address the teacher shortage.

Authors

• Meiko Lin, Yale University

• Dena Simmons, LiberatED

• James Floman, Yale University

• Marc A. Brackett, Yale University