Beyond occupational exhaustion: exploring the influence of positive meaningful work on teachers’ psychoemotional well-being in the digital age

Abstract

The teaching profession, intrinsically vocational, bestows upon its practitioners a deep sense of meaning and personal dedication. However, this personal commitment can be affected by the constant evolution of labour demands, exacerbated by the increasing technification of education. Both these needs, at a personal and organisational level, can lead to the development of emotional exhaustion, a psychological state manifesting with increased frequency in the educational sector. In this context, and referencing the job demands-resources model, we propose a model focused on the examination of the role according to the positive meaning in modulating emotional exhaustion. The research was conducted with a sample of 213 secondary school teachers in southern Spain, using a survey methodology. All data were analysed throughout the SPSS and Smart PLS statistical programs. The obtained results indicate that the presence of positive meaningful work has a negative impact on emotional exhaustion, technocomplexity and work-family conflict. Furthermore, the negative effect of positive meaning work on work-family conflict was stronger for teachers with greater experience. This study enhances the understanding of teacher well-being, suggesting the update of theoretical models to reflect current labour complexities, promoting managerial strategies and flexible policies to mitigate emotional exhaustion and foster a healthy working environment.