Eva S. Becker

Teachers’ emotional experiences and exhaustion as predictors of emotional labor in the classroom: an experience sampling study

Emotional exhaustion (EE) is the core component in the study of teacher burnout, with significant impact on teachers’ professional lives. Yet, its relation to teachers’ emotional experiences and emotional labor (EL) during instruction remains unclear. Thirty-nine German secondary teachers were surveyed about their EE (trait), and via the experience sampling method on their momentary (state; N = 794) emotional experiences (enjoyment, anxiety, anger) and momentary EL (suppression, faking). Teachers reported that in 99 and 39% of all lessons, they experienced enjoyment and anger, respectively, whereas they experienced anxiety less frequently. Teachers reported suppressing or faking their emotions during roughly a third of all lessons. Furthermore, EE was reflected in teachers’ decreased experiences of enjoyment and increased experiences of anger. On an intra-individual level, all three emotions predict EL, whereas on an inter-individual level, only anger evokes EL. Explained variances in EL (within: 39%, between: 67%) stress the relevance of emotions in teaching and within the context of teacher burnout. Beyond implying the importance of reducing anger, our findings suggest the potential of enjoyment lessening EL and thereby reducing teacher burnout.

Antecedents of teachers’ emotions in the classroom: an intraindividual approach

Using a preexisting, but as yet empirically untested theoretical model, the present study investigated antecedents of teachers’ emotions in the classroom. More specifically, the relationships between students’ motivation and discipline and teachers’ enjoyment and anger were explored, as well as if these relationships are mediated by teachers’ subjective appraisals (goal conduciveness and coping potential). The study employed an intraindividual approach by collecting data through a diary. The sample consisted of 39 teachers who each participated with one of their 9th or 10th grade mathematics classes (N = 758 students). Both teachers and students filled out diaries for 2–3 weeks pertaining to 8.10 lessons on average (N = 316 lessons). Multilevel structural equation modeling revealed that students’ motivation and discipline explained 24% of variance in teachers’ enjoyment and 26% of variance in teachers’ anger. In line with theoretical assumptions, after introducing teachers’ subjective appraisals as a mediating mechanism into the model, the explained variance systematically increased to 65 and 61%, for teachers’ enjoyment and anger respectively. The effects of students’ motivation and discipline level on teachers’ emotions were partially mediated by teachers’ appraisals of goal conduciveness and coping potential. The findings imply that since teachers’ emotions depend to a large extent on subjective evaluations of a situation, teachers should be able to directly modify their emotional experiences during a lesson through cognitive reappraisals.

The Glass Half Empty: How Emotional Exhaustion Affects the State-Trait Discrepancy in Self-Reports of Teaching Emotions

Following from previous research on intensity bias and the accessibility model of emotional self-report, the present study examined the role of emotional exhaustion in explaining the discrepancy in teachers’ reports of their trait (habitual) versus state (momentary, “real”) emotions. Trait reports (habitual emotions, exhaustion) were assessed via trait questionnaires, and state reports (momentary emotions) were assessed in real time via the experience sampling method by using personal digital assistants (N = 69 high school teachers; 1,089 measures within teachers). In line with our assumptions, multi-level analyses showed that, as compared to the state assessment, teachers reported higher levels of habitual teaching-related emotions of anger, anxiety, shame, boredom, enjoyment, and pride. Additionally, the state-trait discrepancy in self-reports of negative emotions was accounted for by teachers’ emotional exhaustion, with high exhaustion levels corresponding with a greater state-trait discrepancy. Exhaustion levels did not moderate the state-trait discrepancy in positive emotions indicating that perceived emotional exhaustion may reflect identity-related cognitions specific to the negative belief system. Implications for research and educational practice are discussed.