Relationship Between Emotional Labor and Mental Health in Preschool Teachers: Mediation of Psychological Capital

Abstract

This study explored the relationship among the emotional labor, psychological capital, and mental health of preschool teachers. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 411 preschool teachers in China. The results revealed the following: (1) One emotional labor strategy (Surface acting) had a significant negative effect on mental health, whereas two emotional labor strategies (expression of naturally felt emotions and deep acting) had significant positive effects. (2) The psychological capital of preschool teachers had a complete mediation on the relationship between expression of naturally felt emotions and mental health and between the deep acting and mental health.

The relationship between Chinese preschool principal leadership styles and teacher leadership: Exploring the mediating effect of psychological capital

“…In this study, the psychological capital of preschool teachers is generally above the average level, indicating that preschool teachers can have a positive psychological state at work, remain optimistic and believe that they can solve challenges and difficulties. This is consistent with the results of Fu (2015), Gan (2020), andHong et al (2022). First, it is related to the object of education that preschool teachers face.…”

“…Children aged 3-6 are innocent and lively. Children's lovely smiles, pure love and unconditional trust for teachers can, to a certain extent, relieve or even cure their broken hearts due to excessive work pressure and enhance the psychological capital of preschool teachers (Hong et al, 2022). Second, it can also be related to the increasing emphasis on early childhood education in Guangdong Province and across China.…”

The effect of leisure engagement on preschool teachers’ job stress and sustainable well-being

“…Stress often occurs when environmental demands exceed an individual's resources and are difficult to meet (Duan and Mu, 2018) and the continuation of such high levels of stress may jeopardize people's mental health and expectations for a better life (Huang et al, 2021). Especially in the field of kindergarten education, preschool teachers have more work stress than teachers at other stages of education and the relatively low cognitive level of young children and the variety of work demands they often face not only negatively affect preschool teachers' positive emotions, but also lead to high levels of work stress (Hong et al, 2022;Nong et al, 2022). However, leisure activity users with positive emotions may alleviate such stressful states by engaging in more leisure activities (Chen et al, 2020).…”

“…Those with a higher cognitive investment in leisure tend to value leisure activities and will invest more time and energy in leisure activities, which may be beneficial for relieving the tension of being under a chronically high load (Poulin et al, 2019). Due to the dual responsibility of child care and education, as well as the various tasks and unexpected situations that often arise in their daily work, preschool teachers are generally perceived to be in a state of high stress and strain over time (Hong et al, 2022). If preschool teachers are aware of the importance of participating in leisure activities, they will be more likely to reduce their work stress and maintain their energy and enthusiasm for their future work and life by engaging in more leisure activities (Petrić et al, 2022).…”

“…For example, those who have higher emotional involvement in leisure activities are more likely to engage in leisure activities such as recreation and sports to reduce negative effects such as work stress. In addition, Hong et al (2022) also pointed out that preschool teachers, as the main bearers of responsibility for preschool children's care and education, are often in a state of stress and overload due to the special nature of their educational targets and emotional factors are not only important predictors of their psychological health, but also alleviate their stress and tension to some extent. Moreover, Gu et al (2020) indicated that for preschool teachers in a high stress state, kindergarten administrators should provide more emotional support and offer more time and space for leisure and relaxation, thus helping them to recover from their negative work stress state.…”