Enhancing professional success: Chinese EFL teachers’ workplace buoyancy and cognitive flexibility

Abstract

As integral to the EFL learners' achievement and intellectual development, good language teachers need to be familiar with the influential factors hindering or promoting their success. Positive psychology paying attention to positive traits highlights the factors that boost performance. In this line, by taking boosters of being a successful teacher, the aim of the current study is to consider the interplay between Chinese EFL instructors' professional success, workplace buoyancy, and cognitive flexibility. Then, it is considered whether EFL teachers' buoyancy and cognitive flexibility can predict success. Accordingly, 328 Chinese EFL teachers were conveniently selected to participate in this study. To analyze the collected data, multiple regression analysis and Spearman Rho correlation index as well as ANOVA were employed. The findings are an indication of a direct and significant correlation and coaction among EFL teachers’ cognitive flexibility, workplace buoyancy, and professional success. Additionally, the results indicate that the cognitive flexibility of EFL teachers can be one of the significant predictors of success in their profession. Our findings imply that teachers need to enhance their positive personality traits such as cognitive flexibility and buoyancy to be successful in their profession.