Psychological capital as a moderator between emotional labor, burnout, and job satisfaction among school teachers in China

Abstract

In this study, we examined the relationship between emotional labor and burnout as well as job satisfaction. Besides, we also explored whether psychological capital (PsyCap) moderated the emotional labor-burnout or job satisfaction associations. In total, 264 full-time Chinese school teachers in China were recruited. Results showed that PsyCap was related to emotional labor, burnout, and job satisfaction in the hypothesized direction. Furthermore, PsyCap moderated the association between emotional labor and the outcome variables. For instance, positive association between surface acting on depersonalization as well as negative association with job satisfaction was weaker when PsyCap was high. In addition, positive association between deep acting and job satisfaction was further reinforced among participants with high PsyCap but not among participants with low PsyCap. Finally, the relationships of PsyCap with depersonalization as well as job satisfaction were more salient among employees who reported infrequent use of expression of naturally felt emotion. Limitations and implications of the study were discussed.