Is Familism a Motivator or Stressor? Relationships Between Confucian Familism, Emotional Labor, Work-Family Conflict, and Emotional Exhaustion Among Chinese Teachers

The relationship between teacher emotional labor and work/family conflict: The mediating role of teacher-colleague relations

Teaching, as a high-pressure profession, encompasses significant emotional labor that inevitably spills over into teachers' personal lives. It is imperative to acknowledge and address the influence of emotional labor in the workplace on teachers' work/family conflict. Using the conservation of resources theory, this research engaged 690 primary and secondary teachers, employing Teacher Emotional Labor Strategies Scale, Teacher-colleague Relations Scale, and Work/family Scale (work-family conflict, and family-work conflict) to examine how teacher emotional labor influence their work/family conflict and the mediating role of teacher-colleague relations. The results of structural equation modeling showed that (1) surface acting was a significant predictor of work/family conflict, but deep acting and the expression of naturally felt emotion were not. (2) teacher-colleague relations mediated the relationship between surface acting and work/family conflict. These findings highlight the role of teachers' emotional labor strategies and teacher-colleague relations in reducing teachers' work/family conflict and promoting teachers' well-being. Implications for the improvement of teacher regulation ability and school environment are identified.

Systematic review of teacher well-being research during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction

The COVID-19 period posed great challenges to global education systems, especially teachers even after lock-down. Teachers' wellbeing has been a concern because they have to balance health with work. Since the role of teachers is pivotal in education, there is increased in research on their wellbeing status.

Method

The current systematic review aims to analyze the distribution of research on teacher wellbeing from 2020 to mid-February 2024 using a quantitative method. It focuses on yearly distribution of studies, the research methods adopted by scholars, and the group of teachers investigated over the period. The PRISMA guidelines were followed, and 103 empirical studies were selected for the analysis.

Results

The review shows notable increase in research, particularly in 2022 and 2023, representing 37.9% and 35.9% of studies, respectively. This suggests a growing interest in teacher wellbeing among educational researchers. The findings also indicate that researchers mostly adopted quantitative methods in form of surveys (79.6%) for studies on teacher wellbeing. However, there has been an increase in qualitative and mixed-methods research recently, with qualitative research accounting for 9.7% and mixed-method research accounting for 10.7%. The review also identified a greater focus on teachers in general than on specific group of teachers.

The Effect of Familism Emotions on Post-Traumatic Growth Among the Elderly in China: The Mediating Roles of Taoist Personality and Sense of Community

Purpose

Post-traumatic growth is a significant social issue in the management of active aging in elderly people. This study investigates the influence of familism emotions on post-traumatic growth (PTG) of the elderly, and the mediating role of Taoist personality and sense of community (SOC) therein, to provide a scientific basis for the development of positive aging in the elderly.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in several communities of Hubei Province in China. A total of 338 elderly people were investigated with the Familism Emotion Scale, PTG Scale, Taoist Personality Scale and SOC Scale. SPSS 23.0 was used to derive descriptive statistics and conduct a common method bias test, Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple stepwise regression analysis. Mplus 7.3 was used for structural equation modeling to test the significance of parallel mediation effects on the data.

Results

The results show that: (1) Familism emotions, Taoist personality and SOC are positively correlated with PTG; (2) Familism emotions, Taoist personality and SOC can all positively predict PTG in the elderly; (3) Both Taoist personality and SOC partially mediated the link between familism emotions and PTG in the elderly.

Conclusion

In the context of particularly constraining societal events such as COVID-19, it is necessary to pay careful attention to the impact of external environmental influences upon the elderly, such as family and community, and to encourage elderly people to cultivate a more Taoist personality. The formation of a Taoist personality offers a promising new focus for research in elderly healthcare.

Families under pressure: A qualitative study of stressors in families of children with congenital heart disease

The objective of this study was to better understand the stressors in families of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) to assist with formulating targeted stress management plans for such families. A descriptive qualitative study was undertaken at a tertiary referral hospital in China. Following purposeful sampling, interviews were conducted with 21 parents of children with CHD regarding the stressors in their families. Following content analysis, 11 themes were generated from the data and categorised into six main domains: the initial stressor and associated hardships, normative transitions, prior strains, the consequences of family efforts to cope, intrafamily and social ambiguity, and sociocultural values. The 11 themes include confusion regarding the disease, hardships encountered during treatment, the heavy financial burden, the unusual growth track of the child due to the disease, normal events becoming abnormal for the family, impaired family functioning, family vulnerability, family resilience, family boundary ambiguity induced by role alteration, a lack of knowledge about community support and family stigma. Various and complex stressors exist for families of children with CHD. Medical personnel should fully evaluate the stressors and take targeted measures before implementing family stress management practices. It is also necessary to focus on the posttraumatic growth of families of children with CHD and strengthen resilience. Moreover, family boundary ambiguity and a lack of knowledge about community support should not be ignored, and further research is needed to explore these variables. Most importantly, policymakers and healthcare providers should adopt a range of strategies to address the stigma of being in a family of a child with CHD.

A Scope Review of the Teacher Well-being Research Between 1968 and 2021

This review aimed at portraying a nuanced picture of the trajectory of teacher well-being research during 54 years from 1968 to 2021. This review used descriptive quantitative analysis with a dataset of 774 journal articles. The developmental trend demonstrates a considerable change in the volume of publications conducted during the most recent 14 years. Findings of the current review identify that research foci have covered the antecedents, nature, and effects of teacher well-being in a descending manner. Quantitative methods were observed as the most frequently used method in research studies. Moreover, the use of qualitative and mixed research methods increased in recent times. However, due to the considerable absence of mixed methods, longitudinal, and experimental research designs in this review’s corpus, our interpretation has been restricted to the ways in which teacher well-being can affect as well as be affected by associated constructs. Research on teacher well-being positions itself at the intermediate stage focusing on fusion relations combining new and recognized structures and adopting qualitative as well as quantitative practices. This review supports the evolution of the teacher well-being literature and poses recommendations for future research.

Developing and validating a scale to measure teachers' emotional labor strategy in classrooms

Teachers' emotional labor is essential to teachers' instructional quality, psychological health, and students' learning effectiveness in classrooms. To assess how teachers manage their emotions to match the display rules of classrooms, this study developed and validated a self-report scale-the Teachers' Emotional Labor Strategy in Classrooms (TELSC)-through three rounds of investigation with secondary school teachers. First, strategies and item statements were collected through existing scales, an open-ended questionnaire, and interviews. Second, the pilot study was conducted, and the results of content validity and exploratory factor analysis confirmed the 17-item formal scale with four dimensions: surface acting, deep acting, expression of naturally felt emotions, and emotion termination. The third round investigated 491 teachers and validated the scale: confirmatory factor analyses verified the four-factor structure; correlations among the four subscales and average variance extracted indicated good discriminant validity; correlations between subscales and emotional exhaustion, teacher efficacy, and years of teaching showed good criterion validity; and Cronbach's α showed good reliability. Overall, the TELSC scale is an efficient instrument to measure the strategies that teachers use to manage their emotions in classrooms, and it can be applied to understand and improve teachers' professional competence in teaching and emotional interaction.

The relationships between teachers' emotional labor and display rules, trait emotions, exhaustion, and classroom emotional climate

Introduction

Emotions are an integral part of education, and the way teachers manage their emotions is crucial to educational success. This study focuses on teachers' emotional labor in secondary school classrooms and examined the relationships between emotional labor strategies and display rules, trait emotions, emotional exhaustion, and classroom emotional climate.

Methods

In the study, 496 secondary school teachers (386 female) aged 21-59 years (mean age = 37.61 ± 8.87 years) completed five self-reported questionnaires. Data were analyzed using structural equation model in AMOS.

Results

The results showed that (1) display rules provide positive situations to deep acting and the expression of naturally felt emotions and mediate teachers' positive emotions and strategies; (2) positive trait emotions increase the expression of naturally felt emotions and negative trait emotions increase surface acting; (3) surface acting results in emotional exhaustion and has an adverse impact on classroom emotional climate; and (4) deep acting and the expression of naturally felt emotions positively affect classroom emotional climate.

Discussion

These findings revealed that deep acting and the expression of naturally felt emotions are positively related to positive emotions and the classroom setting, whereas surface acting plays a negative role in the emotional states of individuals and the classroom. The study gives the centrality of teacher emotions in the teaching and learning process, clarifies some antecedents and consequences related to emotional labor strategies in a classroom setting, and provides some ideas to optimize educational outcomes. The five variables presented in the study are good examples that can contribute to protecting teachers' wellbeing and improving the psychosociological environment.

The moderating effect of perceived organizational support: The impact of psychological capital and bidirectional work-family nexuses on psychological wellbeing in tourism

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has inflicted unprecedented damage on the tourism industry. However, the psychological health fallout of COVID-19 on tour guides has not received empirical attention yet. Therefore, the present study aims to examine how psychological capital (PsyCap) improve tour guides' psychological wellbeing (PWB), the mediating effects of work-family conflict (WFC), family-work conflict (FWC), work-family facilitation (WFF) and family-work facilitation (FWF), and the moderating effect of perceived organizational support (POS). For this quantitative research, the data were collected from 276 tour guides in China. The results indicate that PsyCap significantly mitigates two directions of work-family conflict and intensifies two directions of work-family facilitation in order to promote tour guides' PWB. Furthermore, POS moderates the direct effects of two directions of conflict and facilitation on PWB and also moderates the indirect effects of PsyCap on the aforesaid outcome via two directions of conflict and facilitation. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations and future research directions are provided.

Trajectory of Teacher Well-Being Research between 1973 and 2021: Review Evidence from 49 Years in Asia

This review portrays a dynamic developmental trend in the teacher well-being literature in Asia between 1973 and 2021 using a descriptive quantitative analysis approach. A search of the Scopus database identified 168 journal articles across 46 countries and regions in Asia. This number of publications indicated a substantial change in the knowledge corpus, particularly during the pandemic, although overall production was still relatively low. Further results revealed diversity but an imbalance of research location, research type, research methods, data collection techniques, and research foci. A functionalist perspective may suggest that the knowledge base on teacher well-being is at a beginning stage. Recommendations for future research are proposed including cross-region collaborations, more developed research foci, using mixed-method approaches, high-quality qualitative research designs, innovative qualitative techniques, and diverse qualitative data collection techniques.

The Smaller the Power Distance, the More Genuine the Emotion: Relationships between Power Distance, Emotional Labor, and Emotional Exhaustion among Chinese Teachers

Using Grandey’s model of emotional labor, this study attempted to reveal the effects of cultural and social factors on teachers’ emotions. Specifically, taking a sample of 3312 Chinese teachers, we examined the effects of power distance (PD) and emotional labor on emotional exhaustion, focusing on the mediating role of emotional labor with different interactive partners. The results showed that Chinese teachers used surface acting (SA) the most with parents, and the least with students; they used the expression of naturally felt emotions (ENFE) the most with students, and the least with colleagues and leaders. They also used deep acting more when working with students and parents. In addition, PD negatively influenced ENFE and positively influenced SA with the three interactive partners. Only SA mediated the relationship between PD and exhaustion. These results improve our understanding of teachers’ emotions in terms of power and suggest that we should consider personal psychological factors (i.e., emotional labor), social factors (i.e., interactive partners), and national culture (i.e., PD) to promote teachers’ well-being.

"There Is Nothing I Cannot Achieve": Empowering Latin American Women Through Agricultural Education

Higher education, a key driver of women's empowerment, is still segregated by gender across the world. Agricultural higher education is a field that is male-dominated, even though internationally women play a large role in agricultural production. The purpose of this study was to understand the experience, including challenges and coping strategies, of women from 10 Latin American countries attending an agricultural university in Latin America. The participants were 28 women students with a mean age of 20.9 ± 1.8 years. Following informed consent and assurance of confidentiality, four focus group sessions (one for each year of study with a mean duration of 81 min) were conducted in Spanish. The central question was, "what has been your experience at the university?" Sessions were recorded and transcribed. Thematic coding was performed independently by two teams of researchers (from Latin America and North America), with the resulting schemas combined through mutual discussion. Member checking, auditing, and reflexivity contributed to trustworthiness of the process. Students reported that the personal qualities needed for success included determination, persistence, and self-efficacy. Many described an empowerment process, including increased discipline and self-efficacy from the first to fourth year of study. University life encompassed six themes: university structure and discipline (part of the exosystem), two supportive microsystems (friends and classmates and institutional support) as well as three challenges (academics, peers, and machismo). Cultural influences instantiated in students' daily experiences included familism, machismo, and religious faith. Students anticipated futures involving further education and contributions to society. We conclude that higher education in agriculture can serve as an effective means of empowering women to feed the world.

Emotional Labor in Teaching Chinese as an Additional Language in a Family-Based Context in New Zealand: A Chinese Teacher's Case

New Zealand is a multilingual and multicultural society, where English, Maori, and the New Zealand sign language are designated as its official languages. However, some heritage languages (e.g., Chinese/Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and Korean, among others) are also taught either within or outside the national education system. During the past decade, an increasing number of students have chosen Mandarin Chinese (hereafter "Chinese") as an additional language (CAL) because of its fast-growing importance. To date, studies regarding CAL are mainly based on the mainstream Chinese programs (i.e., in schools or universities) or online platforms, with less attention paid to other types of teaching contexts (e.g., family-based and private tutoring contexts) where there also exist many potential challenges awaiting teachers. To fill in this gap, this study, based on a teaching program consisting of two families in New Zealand, explored the trajectories of a CAL teacher's emotional labor for 47 weeks to understand how she managed her emotions when she taught the language as well as balanced the relationship among the three parties: the institution, the two families, and herself. Narrative inquiry was used as a methodological approach. The data involved written and spoken narratives. Using inductive and deductive thematic analysis, findings revealed her different understandings of the emotional labor in the two families, respectively, during the program. Further analysis of the data revealed some factors that impacted her emotional labor and how they impacted her teaching in a family-based context. We concluded our study with a discussion of the implications of these findings for teaching CAL in similar contexts.