This research pioneered the investigation of the statistically predictive power of academics' emotions in teaching for their organizational commitment-beyond age, academic rank, academic degree, sex, and taught academic discipline. Two hundred 22 academics from 13 higher educational institutions in Shanghai, mainland China, responded to a revised version of the Emotions in Teaching Inventory (Trigwell, 2009) and the Organizational Commitment Inventory (Ling, Fang, & Zhang, 2002). Results revealed that positive emotions in teaching primarily predicted the adaptive types of organizational commitment, including affective, normative, and ideal commitment, whereas negative emotions in teaching chiefly contributed to the maladaptive types of organizational commitment, including economic and choice commitment. These findings have brought new insights into the literature on emotions in teaching and that on organizational commitment. At the same time, the findings have practical implications for academics and university senior managers.
Educational Impact and Implications StatementAs a consequence of fundamental changes, such as intensified competition and output orientation in higher educational institutions, academics' organizational commitment has become exponentially more important over the last decade. Much research has been conducted to understand organizational commitment among academics. However, very few studies have examined how academics' psychological characteristics contribute to their organizational commitment. The present study found that academics' emotions in teaching made a significant difference to their organizational commitment in predictable ways: Positive emotions in teaching were conducive to adaptive organizational commitment, whereas negative emotions in teaching tended to foster maladaptive organizational commitment. Such predictions held true irrespective of age, academic rank, academic degree, sex, and taught academic discipline. The present findings offer a new lens through which university academics and senior managers can make sense of academics' organizational commitment, that is, through academics' feelings about their teaching.