An Explanatory Model of Emotional Intelligence and Its Association with Stress, Burnout Syndrome, and Non-Verbal Communication in the University Teachers

Abstract

The present study set out to define and contrast an explanatory model of perception of stress, the dimensions of burnout syndrome, emotional intelligence, and non-verbal communication in a sample of university teachers. A total of 1316 teachers from Spain, aged between 24 and 70 years (M = 45.64, SD = 10.33) and evenly distributed between both sexes, participated. The measurement instruments employed were the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24), and the Nonverbal Immediacy Scale (NIS) A structural equation model was produced that demonstrated adequate fit to the empirical data (130,259; df = 9; p < 0.001; CFI = 0.907; NIF = 0.914; IFI = 0.923; RMSEA = 0.077). Results revealed that stress relates positively with emotional exhaustion and negatively with personal fulfilment. Emotional exhaustion was associated directly with emotional attention and inversely with emotional clarity and emotional repair, with these being linked to personal fulfilment. Both emotional clarity and repair related positively with non-verbal communication. Conclusions from the present study are that emotional intelligence and body language are two relevant factors in the prevention of burnout syndrome, and as a result can help to ensure the mental wellbeing of university teachers.

Job Demands-Resources and Personal Resources as Risk and Safety Factors for the Professional Burnout Among University Teachers

“…Recently in the modern labor market, work in the education system for its particularity (high work pace, abundance of information and different roles, lack of control and similar things) is attributed to the most stressful (Bulotaitė et al, 2008;Puertas-Molero et al, 2018;Vesty et al, 2018;Xu, 2017). Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the extent of university teachers' professional burnout problem in Lithuania and to identify the main risk and safety factors for the professional burnout of this sample.…”

“…Recently, higher education is facing many significant changes that influence well-being of academicians. Restructuration of universities, challenges related to the new generation of students, increasing work requirements, role conflict of a teacher-researcher, intensity of student contact hours are only a few stressors in a daily work of university teachers which could lead to the professional burnout (Puertas-Molero et al, 2018;Vesty et al, 2018;Xu, 2017) generally recognized as a result of the prolonged work stress.…”

Burnout and Self-Perceived Instructional Competence: An Exploratory Study of a Group of Italian Female Elementary School Teachers

“…Literature related to the school environment has always investigated the relationship between the risk of teachers developing burnout syndrome and the possible effects on; protective factors [17][18][19][20][21]; the analysis of teaching contexts capable of promoting better working conditions [22]; the analysis of behavior with respect to evaluation standards [23]; and the analysis of decision styles [24].…”

Influence of Emotional Intelligence and Burnout Syndrome on Teachers Well-Being: A Systematic Review

“…Likewise, the highest levels of stress are presented by secondary school teachers, who are characterised by low communicative and emotional capacity with the students, the continuous devaluation and the inability to control the multiple situations that occur in the classroom, which results in labour dissatisfaction (Ashraf et al 2017). Regarding university education, in the study developed by Puertas-Molero et al (2018a), it is shown that the great majority of the teacher's present medium and high levels of burnout. At this stage, stress is determined by job instability, workload, continuous training to which they are exposed, as well as the acquisition of new knowledge to adequately train workers.…”