Psychological capital moderates the effect of emotional labor strategies on job burnout in college teachers

Abstract

I explored the correlations of psychological capital, job burnout, and emotional labor strategies. Participants were 434 teachers at two universities in China, who completed scales to measure the three variables. Results showed that both deep acting and expression of natural emotion were negatively correlated with college teachers' job burnout, and surface acting was positively correlated with job burnout. Additionally, psychological capital significantly moderated these effects: For teachers with high psychological capital, expression of natural emotion and deep acting were both significantly correlated with job burnout, but the correlation between surface acting and burnout was not significant; however, for teachers with low psychological capital, surface acting and burnout were significantly correlated, but the correlations between expression of natural emotion and burnout, and between deep acting and burnout were not significant. The results shed light on how to reduce and prevent job burnout among college teachers.