Kindergarten Teachers’ Emotional Labor and Occupational Well-Being: How Do Different Interpersonal Relationships Matter?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Teaching is an emotionally demanding profession, and teachers’ ability to manage their emotions appears to be linked to their occupational well-being. Kindergarten teachers experience intense and frequent emotional interactions in their daily work; however, studies on kindergarten teachers’ emotional labor are still rare. Because social relationships are essential for understanding emotional labor, the current study explored how three types of social relationships influenced teachers’ emotional labor strategies and their occupational well-being. Research Findings: Through an investigation of 1,342 kindergarten teachers in China, the results showed that teacher-child relationship, trust in colleagues and trust in parents had different impacts on teachers’ emotional labor and dimensions of occupational well-being (job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion). Surface acting and the natural expression of felt emotions had opposite influences on teachers’ occupational well-being, and they both played mediating roles between social relationships and occupational well-being factors. Practice or Policy: The study highlighted the importance of teachers’ different interpersonal relationships, surface acting and the expression of naturally felt emotion in kindergarten contexts.