emotional intelligence and positive affect as protective - qucosa

Emotional Intelligence and Positive Affect as Protective Factors Against

Burnout in Syrian Teachers:

The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on the Teachers’ Relationships With

Their Students

Dissertation

zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades

doctor philosophiae (Dr. phil.)

vorgelegt der Fakultät für Human- und Sozialwissenschaften

Technische Universität Chemnitz

von Suhair Hallum, geboren am 18. 09. 1979 in Lattakia, Syrien

Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Astrid Schütz, Prof. Dr. Stephan Mühlig

Eingereicht am 13.07.2011, Disputation am 8. 10. 2012

Zusammenfassung

Bisherige Studien deuten an, dass Emotionale Intelligenz eine wichtige Rolle in der

Lehrtätigkeit spielt. Sie hilft dem Lehrer bzw. der Lehrerin mit sich selbst, aber auch mit

Schülern klarzukommen. Jedoch ist bislang noch weitgehend unklar, welche Mechanismen

dem Zusammenhang zwischen Emotionaler Intelligenz und berufsnahen Kriterien

zugrundeliegen. Zur Klärung dieser Frage soll die vorliegende Arbeit einen Beitrag leisten.

Emotionale Intelligenz wird dabei in Anlehnung an Mayer und Salovey (1997) als Fähigkeit

aufgefasst.

Die vorliegende Arbeit umfasst drei Artikel. Der erste Artikel beschäftigt sich mit dem

Zusammenhang zwischen wahrgenommener Emotionaler Intelligenz des Lehrers und

Schülerverhalten im Klassenraum. Gefunden wurde, dass Lehrer über weniger unpassendes

Verhalten ihrer Schüler berichten, wenn sie selbst über hohe emotionale Fähigkeiten verfügen.

Hohe Emotionale Intelligenz scheint positiv verbunden zu sein mit der Tendenz, auf die

Bedürfnisse der Schüler zu fokussieren, die wiederum weniger unpassendes Verhalten im

Klassenraum zeigen.

Im zweiten Artikel wird der Zusammenhang zwischen Emotionaler Intelligenz und Burnout

untersucht. Proaktives Coping wurde als Mediator zwischen Emotionaler Intelligenz und

Burnout angenommen. Daneben wurde geprüft, ob die wahrgenommene Unterstützung durch

den Vorgesetzten den vermuteten Zusammenhang zwischen Emotionaler Intelligenz und

Burnout und die Dimension moderiert. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass Lehrer mit

hoher Emotionaler Intelligenz deshalb weniger Burnout-Symptome zeigen, weil sie dazu

tendieren, proaktives Coping als Strategie der Stressbewältigung zu nutzen. Sie können ihre

Kompetenzen und Ressourcen offensichtlich situationsangemessen einsetzen, um emotional

anspruchsvolle Situationen am Arbeitsplatz zu meistern. Darüber hinaus zeigt sich, dass

wahrgenommene Unterstützung durch den Vorgesetzten den Zusammenhang zwischen

Emotionaler Intelligenz und Burnout moderiert: Für Lehrer, die angaben, von ihrem

Vorgesetzten unterstützt zu werden, zeigte sich der indirekte Effekt von Emotional Intelligenz

auf wahrgenommene Leistungsfähigkeit über proaktives Coping deutlicher.

Die Beziehung zwischen positivem und negativem Affekt, Arbeitszufriedenheit und Burnout

ist Inhalt des dritten Artikels. Gefunden wurde, dass Lehrer mit hohem positiven Affekt

zufriedener mit ihrer Arbeit sind als Lehrer, die negativen Affekt im Zusammenhang mit

ihrer Arbeit berichten. Darüber hinaus war Arbeitszufriedenheit negativ mit dem Level an

Burnout verbunden. Die Ergebnisse der Mediationsanalyse zeigen, dass Arbeitszufriedenheit

den Zusammenhang zwischen Affekt und Burnout vermittelt.

Zusammenfassend lässt sich also sagen, dass Lehrer mit hoher wahrgenommener Emotionaler

Intelligenz erfolgreicher und zufriedener im Beruf sind und zudem eine höhere psychische

Gesundheit aufweisen. Schüler von Lehrern mit hohen emotionalen Fähigkeiten scheinen

deshalb weniger unpassendes Verhalten im Klassenraum zu zeigen, weil auf sie mehr geachtet

und ihre Probleme und Bedürfnisse besser erkannt werden. Emotional intelligente Lehrer

versuchen, Problemen im Klassenraum schon bei deren Entstehung zu begegnen, was

wiederum dazu führen könnte, dass sie weniger Belastung erleben und langfristig weniger

Burnoutsymptome zeigen. Dieser Prozess kann durch die Unterstützung des Vorgesetzten

positiv beeinflusst werden. Daneben zeigt sich auch, dass Lehrer, die positiven Affekt

gegenüber ihrer Arbeit erfahren, zufriedener mit ihrer Arbeitstätigkeit sind, was wiederum

damit verbunden ist, dass jene Lehrer Burnout-Symptome in geringem Maße erleben.

Daher scheint es gewinnbringend, in die Personalauswahl Emotionale Intelligenz als ein

wichtiges Entscheidungskriterium einzubeziehen. Bestehende Qualifizierungsprogramme

sollten zusätzlich auf eine Verbesserung der emotionalen Fähigkeiten abzielen. Weiteres

Potential zur Intervention von Burnout besteht im Aufbau oder der Stabilisierung

kooperativer Beziehungen zwischen Lehrer und Vorgesetztem.

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Astrid Schütz, for her

support and for encouraging me at every opportunity.

I would like to give my special thanks to Prof. Dr. Krems, Prof. Dr. Mühlig, and Prof. Dr.

Kopp for agreeing to be on my PhD committee.

I would also like to express thanks to Dr. Michela Schröder-Abé, Dr. Katrin Rentzsch, and

Sophia Nizielski, who have each provided me with invaluable advice.

Finally, I am grateful to both my mother and my brother, who have always stood by me and

continue to do so.

Contents

1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1

2 Burnout ............................................................................................................................... 3

2.1 Risk factors for burnout .............................................................................................. 3

2.2 Assessment of burnout ............................................................................................... 4

2.3 Consequences of burnout ........................................................................................... 6

2.4 Protective factors against burnout .............................................................................. 6

2.4.1 Protective facotrs at the individual level................................................................6

2.4.2 Protective factors at the organizational level..................................................... ..8

3 The situation of Syrian teachers ......................................................................................... 8

4 General questions of the studies and general hypotheses………………………………...9

4.1 Emotional Intelligence, Attention to Student Needs, and Student Misconduct ....... 10

4.2 Emotional Intelligence, Proactive Coping, Burnout, and Supervisor Support ......... 10

4.3 Positive Affect, Job Satisfaction, and Burnout…………………….........................11

5 Studies ...................................................................................................................... 12

5.1 Attention to Student Needs Mediates the Relationship between Teacher Emotional

Intelligence and Student Misconduct in the Classroom... ....................................... 12

5.2 Emotional Intelligence, Proactive Coping, and Burnout in Syrian Teachers:

Examination of a Mediation Model .......................................................................... 25

5.3 The Role of Job Satisfaction as a Mediator between Positive Affect and Burnout.. 45

6 General Findings of the Three Studies ............................................................................. 58

6.1 Emotional Intelligence, Attention to Student Needs, and Student Misconduct ....... 58

6.2 Emotional Intelligence, Proactive Coping, Burnout, and Supervisor Support ......... 58

6.3 Positive Affect, Job Satisfaction, and Burnout ........................................................ 59

7 General Discussion ........................................................................................................... 59

8 Limitations and implications for future research ............................................................. 61

9 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 63

10 References ........................................................................................................................ 65

Introduction 1

1 Introduction

Many teachers experience high levels of stress from their work, but not all of them suffer

from burnout. Why are some teachers less likely to succumb to burnout than others? How can

teachers avoid suffering from burnout and continue to have a good influence on the behavior

of their students? One reason that some teachers are able to avoid burnout might be that these

teachers embody personality characteristics such as emotional intelligence and proactive

coping, and these characteristics may act as resources that counteract burnout. Another reason

might be that they experience feelings of positive affect from their work and feel satisfied

with their jobs. Perhaps this occurs because emotional intelligence helps teachers to

understand the emotions of their students and to interact with them. Or perhaps these teachers

are engaged in their jobs, and this might reduce the risk of burnout. Proactive coping helps

teachers to use their resources to overcome their difficulties and to manage the demands they

face, which aids in preventing burnout. Emotional intelligence can help teachers to control

their emotions and be able to think effectively and use active strategies to find solutions to

their problems.

In my thesis, I expected that emotional intelligence would have a direct negative effect on

burnout and an indirect effect on it through proactive coping. Furthermore, proactive coping

was expected to be positively related to emotional intelligence and negatively related to

burnout. Perceived supervisor support in the form of information, advice, and feedback

provided by supervisors may help teachers to more actively deal with stressors. I assumed that

perceived support from supervisors would moderate the influence of emotional intelligence

on reduced personal accomplishment through proactive coping. However, teachers with

positive affect tend to derive enjoyment from their work and to find their jobs interesting in

spite of many difficulties. They are satisfied with their jobs, and this may prevent them from

experiencing burnout. Positive affect is considered to be a stable personality variable, whereas

job satisfaction is a temporal attitude toward one’s job; therefore, positive affect was expected

to predict job satisfaction and to be positively related to it. Burnout is more of a job outcome

that results from having excessive stress for a long time, whereas job satisfaction is an

evaluative response to one’s job. Job satisfaction also means that a person enjoys his or her

career and is engaged in it; people who are satisfied tend to feel energized and competent and

are protected from being at risk of burnout. Thus, job satisfaction was expected to contribute

to the prediction of burnout by being negatively linked to it. In addition, teachers who

Introduction 2

experience positive emotions while working as teachers tend to want to keep working as

teachers despite any setbacks that they experience. They have positive attitudes about their

jobs and are thus satisfied with them. Therefore, it was expected that positive affect would

predict job satisfaction and would be positively related to it. Having positive emotions in the

workplace can help teachers to like their work and to find pleasure in it. They then probably

exhibit good job performance and this prevents them from suffering from burnout. Therefore,

I assumed that job satisfaction would mediate the relation between positive affect and burnout.

Little attention has been given to the relation between teachers’ emotional intelligence and

student misconduct in the literature, but these factors may be linked. Emotionally intelligent

teachers are aware of their own emotions; thus, they can regulate their own negative emotions

so they can act as a role model for the students and influence the behavior of their students.

Emotional intelligence also helps teachers to understand their students’ emotions, to address

their students’ emotions in a positive fashion, and to establish warm relationships with their

students. Emotionally intelligent teachers can understand their students and motivates these

students so the teachers can focus on helping their students to accomplish their goals. These

factors strengthen the relationships between the teachers and their students and have a

positive impact on the behavior of the students.

This thesis consists of three studies.The aim of the first study was to investigate the link

between emotional intelligence and student misconduct through attention to student needs.

The findings showed that attention to student needs mediates the emotional intelligence-

student misconduct relation.

Identifying the factors that are related to burnout is important as this can help to reduce the

risk of such negative outcomes. Although many studies have been conducted on the resources

that protect teachers from burnout, few studies have examined the relation between burnout

and personal resources such as emotional intelligence and proactive coping. Therefore, I

tested how these factors are related to burnout in direct and indirect ways. The role of

perceived supervisor support has also been neglected. Thus, I tested the relation between

emotional intelligence and burnout through proactive coping in the second study. In addition,

I tested the moderating role of perceived supervisor support on the link between emotional

intelligence and reduced personal accomplishment through proactive coping. The results

showed that proactive coping mediated the impact of emotional intelligence on burnout, and

perceived supervisor support moderated the influence of emotional intelligence on reduced

personal accomplishment through proactive coping.

Burnout 3

Emotions in the work environment play an essential role in job satisfaction and seem to

protect teachers from experiencing burnout. The purpose of the third study was to examine

the relations between positive affect, job satisfaction, and burnout and to determine whether

job satisfaction would mediate the association between positive affect and burnout. The

results indicated that positive affect was positively related to job satisfaction and negatively

related to burnout, and job satisfaction functioned as a mediator between positive affect and

burnout.

2 Burnout

The term burnout was first introduced in 1974 by Freudenberger. A person who works

excessively for a long period of time and who is under great pressure from his work—in

particular, from the needs of the individuals for whom he is responsible—may eventually find

that these problems are too much to cope with. He should, therefore, respond to them quickly,

or he will be at risk of burnout (Freudenberger, 1974).

2.1 Risk factors for burnout

Previous research has noted that the primary risk factors for burnout are individual and

organizational factors. Individual factors refer to not only personal traits that pertain to a

particular person, but also factors that pertain to other people who are entrusted with the

responsibility of caring for that person. For instance, van den Heuvel, de Witte, Schure,

Sanderman, and Meyboom-de Jong (2001) argue that the risk factors for burnout in the

careers of stroke patients include severe cognitive, behavioral, and emotional changes in the

patient.

The response of the person could also make burnout more likely to occur; for example,

negative emotional reactions to challenging behavior were found to contribute to two

dimensions of burnout, namely, emotional exhaustion and depersonalization (Rose, Horne,

Rose, & Hastings, 2004).

Together, stress and unrealized expectations play an important role in causing burnout, as

illustrated in a study by Gustafsson, Hassmén, Kenttä, and Johansson (2008), who examined

burnout in athletes and found that there are complex relations across a whole variety of stress-

Burnout 4

producing elements. These include levels of personal expectations, physical well-being, and

frustration when goals are not achieved (Gustafsson, Hassmén, Kenttä, & Johansson, 2008).

However, a person entering the early stages of his work does not know how to deal with the

relevant problems. This, in turn, makes him more likely to suffer from burnout. This is

supported by the research of Webster and Hackett (1999), who demonstrated that a lack of

experience puts individuals at high risk of experiencing burnout.

Low levels of social support coupled with high levels of stress at work have been found to

make emotional exhaustion and reduced personal accomplishment more likely to appear

(Parker & Kulik, 1995). Burnout could also be considered to be the result of work overload

and conflict between work and home (Prins et al., 2007). In a longitudinal study about

teachers in Australia, the authors found that when teachers’ abilities to provide innovative

teaching received low ratings, their levels of burnout were higher (Goddard, O’Brien, &

Goddard, 2006).

A recent study by Skaalvik and Skaalvik (2010) indicated that time pressure and disciplinary

problems could lead to emotional exhaustion and that disciplinary problems could also lead to

depersonalization.

2.2 Assessment of burnout

The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) is a 22-item scale that was developed through

exploratory research that included interviews and questionnaires in addition to various

established scales that were reviewed for useful contents. The items reflect the feelings and

attitudes of a person who looks after others. Similar to the items on the previously established

Hassles scale, each statement was rated on two separate dimensions: frequency and intensity.

The first version of the MBI consisted of 47 items with a two-scale format, which was then

reduced to 25 items. The final version contained 22 items that assess the three dimensions of

burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment.

Higher mean scores on emotional exhaustion or depersonalization reflect higher degrees of

burnout, in contrast to reduced personal accomplishment, which is reverse-scored (Maslach &

Jackson, 1981).

The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) has 19 items that are used to assess the three

subscales of burnout, namely, personal burnout, work-related burnout, and client-related

burnout. All the subscales offer satisfactory internal reliability and validity. Personal burnout

Burnout 5

refers to“the degree of physical and psychological fatigue and exhaustion experienced by the

person.” Work-related burnout indicates“the degree of physical and psychological fatigue

and exhaustion that is perceived by the person as related to his or her work.” By using both

scales, it is possible to recognize who is tired and also to attribute fatigue to nonwork factors,

such as health problems or family demands. Client-related burnout is“the degree of physical

and psychological fatigue and exhaustion that is perceived by the person as related to his or

her work with clients”(Kristensen, Borritz, Villadsen, & Christensen, 2005, p. 197).

The Staff Burnout Scale for Health Professionals (SBS-HP) consists of 30 items. Twenty of

them are utilized in order to assess burnout, whereas the remaining 10 items form a lie scale.

It assesses various cognitive, affective, behavioral, and psychophysiological reactions, all of

which comprise the burnout syndrome (Schaufeli, Enzmann, & Girault, 1993).

The School Burnout Inventory scale was developed by Salmela-Aro and Näätänen (2005) on

the basis of the Bergen Burnout Indicator 15 (BBI-15) relating to working life. It consists of

10 items used to measure the three factors of school burnout: exhaustion at school, cynicism

about the meaning of school, and a sense of inadequacy at school. The analyses showed good

validity and high reliability (Salmela-Aro, Kiuru, Leskinen, & Nurmi, 2009).

The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) was designed to be a multiple-choice questionnaire

for assessing three aspects of burnout, but it includes questions that seem inadequate for

assessing burnout because they seem rather unspecific. The personal burnout subscale

includes questions such as “How often do you feel tired?” Questions are answered by

choosing among five response categories consisting of always, often, sometimes, seldom, and

never or almost never. An example question from the work-related burnout subscale is “Does

your work frustrate you?” Finally, the client-related burnout subscale consists of questions

such as “Do you find it frustrating to work with clients?” The School Burnout Inventory scale

is a very short scale with 10 items. It would be difficult to test all dimensions of burnout with

such a short scale. The Staff Burnout Scale for Health Professionals (SBS-HP) provides a

one-dimensional measurement of burnout and is therefore rather general. It is often used to

evaluate reactions to burnout.

Based on my review of the literature, I expected that specific dimensions of burnout

would be related to overall emotional intelligence or its subscales, proactive coping, overall

job satisfaction or its subscales, or positive affect. Thus, I used the Maslach Burnout

Inventory (MBI) as a multidimenstional scale. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) is the

Burnout 6

most widely used burnout inventory and distinguishes three dimensions. Furthermore, it has

been found to be suitable for use in many cultures (Bakker, Demerouti, & Schaufeli, 2002).

2.3 Consequences of burnout

The consequences of burnout are a burden not only to the people who suffer from burnout,

but also to other people who come into contact with them, as highlighted by Klein, Frie, Blum,

and von dem Knesebeck’s (2010) research, which revealed that burned-out male surgeons

were more likely to rate their quality of care as suboptimal and tended to report more

therapeutic errors.

Many studies have demonstrated that absenteeism is one of the most frequent consequences

of burnout (Hallsten, Voss, Strak, Josephson, & Vingard, 2011; Borritz, Rugulies, Christensen,

Villadsen, & Kristensen, 2006). Similarly, Swider and Zimmerman (2010) found that burnout

can lead to absenteeism, staff turnover, and low job performance. Also, research performed by

Parker and Kulik (1995) reported that burnout can result in absenteeism and a decrease in job

performance.

Neveu (2007) suggested that reduced personal accomplishment is related to resource

depletion, whereas emotional exhaustion is related to absenteeism and depression. In another

study, emotional exhaustion and depersonalization negatively impacted job satisfaction,

whereas personal accomplishment had a positive effect on job satisfaction and a negative

influence on absenteeism (Iverson, Olekalns, & Erwin, 1998).

Most previous research has investigated the immediate effects of burnout, but a longitudinal

study by Cherniss (1992) indicated that subjects who were more burned out early in their jobs

were less likely to change their occupation or become more flexible in their approach to work

as rated by confidants later (Cherniss, 1992). Another longitudinal study carried out by Burke,

Greenglass, and Schwarzer (1996) showed that the consequences of burnout include heart

symptoms and a depressed mood.

2.4 Protective factors against burnout

2.4.1 Protective factors at the individual level: Many different approaches have been

adopted for reducing the likelihood of burnout, such as developing skills for preventive

coping, using available social resources, and meeting demands at work. Other actions that

Burnout 7

have been found to reduce burnout consist of taking into account resources such as social

support and control coping, attempting to meet demands such as work overload, as well as

participating in decision making (Maslach & Goldenberg, 1998). A longitudinal study

demonstrated that teachers with high self-efficacy were less likely to suffer from burnout,

despite high levels of job stress (Schwarzer & Schmitz, 2004). Furthermore, it has been found

that emotional intelligence can help individuals to appraise their situations and their resources

and can thus help them to select adaptive coping strategies (e.g., problem-focused coping)

rather than maladaptive coping strategies (e.g., avoidance and violence) in dealing with

negative events (Mikolajczak, Nelis, Hansenne, & Quoidbach, 2008). It was also found that

the fewest symptoms of burnout were reported by female nurses with high emotional

intelligence and low social skills. Males with high problem-solving and stress-tolerance skills

reported lower levels of burnout in a longitudinal study by Gerits, Derksen, Verbruggen, and

Katzko (2005).

Many strategies that could be used to reduce burnout were proposed by Hamann (1990).

These consisted of setting realistic aims, participating in activities, attending workshops, and

asking for professional help (Hamann, 1990). Having goals that one wants to achieve can help

make a person resilient aginst burnout. For instance, the need for achievement in a sample of

undergraduate university students was found to prevent each dimension of burnout: emotional

exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced efficacy (Moneta, 2011).

However, goals need to be achievable for effectively reducing burnout. This was suggested by

Berglas (2011) when he asserted that one’s goals should be realisitic, new skills need to be

learned, and one needs to participate in many projects to determine which one is suitable

(Berglas, 2011). Practicing relaxation techniques, exploring coping patterns, and fostering

positive self-care strategies have all been shown to be useful ways of reducing stress and

preventing burnout (Kravits, McAllister-Black, Grant, & Kirk, 2010). Various activities have

been suggested to protect workers against burnout, such as those that enhance relationships

(e.g., looking for mentors and taking part in retreats), in addition to activities such as

exercising regularly and scholarly reading (Doolittle, 2010).

Type of coping has been found to contribute to protection against burnout. For instance,

Leiter (1991) suggested that using control coping cognitions and actions tended to cause less

emotional exhaustion and to create more positive assessments of personal accomplishments,

whereas escapist coping strategies led teachers to experience higher levels of emotional

exhaustion (Leiter, 1991). Other ways of coping, such as by using wishful thinking, were

The situation of Syrian teachers 8

found to diminish emotional exhaustion (Liakopoulou et al., 2008). Religiosity also plays an

important role in preventing burnout (Kovàcs & Kėzdy, 2008). Also, many years of

experience in psychiatry, lifestyle factors, and positive changes in the health system can also

be considered to be protective factors against burnout (Kumar, Bhagat, Lau, & Ng, 2006). In

another study, Fischer, Kumar, and Hatcher (2007) found that additional protective factors

against burnout include supportive relationships, extracurricular activities, a positive attitude

toward one’s job, and high job satisfaction (Fischer, Kumar, & Hatcher, 2007). Collins and

Long (2003) demonstrated that compassion satisfaction is a protective factor against burnout

(Collins & Long, 2003).

2.4.2 Protective factors at the organizational level: The organization can also help to

prevent burnout by ensuring reduced role conflict and reduced ambiguity, by ensuring

participation in decision-making, by increasing feedback, and by encouraging the

development of a social support network (Jackson & Schuler, 1983).

Perceived support from supervisors can reduce the emotional exhaustion and

depersonalization of employees by creating a positive work climate (Webster & Hackett,

1999). Other methods for preventing burnout include determining the causes of stressors and

the ways in which the stressors can be overcome. Supervisors can help families to decrease

the influence of such strain depending on their professional abilities (Azar, 2000).

An organization can protect the individuals who work for it against burnout by providing

support to decrease the degree of burnout (Kim, Lee, & Kim, 2009) and by improving the

social work environment (Schaufeli & Peeters, 2000). Similarly, Magennis and Smith (2005)

showed that workers who have positive experiences with their co-workers, flexibility in their

work, and adequate promotion opportunities reported lower levels of burnout (Magennis &

Smith, 2005). In longitudinal research carried out by Savicki and Gooley (1994), a sample of

child protective service workers noted that feelings of personal accomplishment increased

when the workers were encouraged to make their own decisions and to be self-sufficient.

3 The situation of Syrian teachers¹

Teachers have an important effect on students, not only by encouraging their students to

achieve high levels of education, but also by playing an essential role in students’ social

¹Footnote: I refer to the situation of teachers in Syria before the war.

General questions of the studies and general hypotheses 9

development.Teachers should be creative in helping their students to improve themselves and

to overcome their problems. In collaboration with the supervisors at the schools, teachers can

notice the behavior of the students in the classroom directly and help those who have trouble

learning (Abass, 2000).Even if teachers have the ability to help students, most schools in

Syria do not have enough technical equipment, journals, or books. The schools also tend to

change the curriculum frequently, thus making it more difficult for the teachers to be effective.

The teachers are given only a short training course to get to know everything about the new

curriculum, which makes their task very complicated. The curriculum is also too long, and

most teachers are not able to complete it in two semesters. The teachers are also constantly

and closely monitored by the schools, which leads them to suffer a lot of stress. The teachers

must also occasionally teach students outside of their assigned classes because the schools do

not have enough teachers. Although teachers have at least 25 contact hours with their students

every week, they still receive a low salary. Therefore, the teachers depend on additional

private lessons, thus making them less likely to continue to work at the schools (Al Sonbl,

2004).The teachers work as a team, which helps them, but teachers often do not like to accept

criticism from their supervisors as the schools suffer from major interpersonal friction

(Michael, 2005).

4 General questions of the studies and general hypotheses

Most previous research on emotional intelligence has investigated the relation between

emotional intelligence and either the behavior of the students or burnout regardless of any

other factors that play roles in such a relation. Therefore, I focused on the relation between

emotional intelligence and student misconduct through attention to student needs in the first

study as well as on the link between emotional intelligence and burnout through proactive

coping in the second study, and I tested the impact of perceived supervisor support as a

moderator of the link between emotional intelligence and reduced personal accomplishment

through proactive coping. In the third study, I tested the mediating role of job satisfacation on

the relation between positive affect and burnout. Thus, in my research, I attempted to answer

the following questions:

1. Why are some teachers more successful in having a positive influence on the behavior of the students than others?


2. Why are some teachers less likely to suffer from burnout than others?

3. Do emotional intelligence and proactive coping protect the teachers from burnout?

4. Does perceived supervisor support protect the teachers from being at risk of burnout?

5. Why are some teachers satisfied with their work, whereas others are not?

4.1 Emotional Intelligence, Attention to Student Needs, and Student Misconduct

Emotional intelligence plays an essential role in the quality of teaching, not only because

emotional intelligence enhances the professional performance of teachers (Mi-Tao, Hsing-

Ming,& Hsiu-Shuang, 2007), but also because teachers with high emotional intelligence are

more successful at teaching their students (Ghanizadeh & Moafian, 2010).

On the one hand, emotionally intelligent teachers are aware of their feelings and the feelings

of their students. On the other hand, they are good at managing their moods in their

relationships with their students. Put together, these qualities help them to understand the

needs of their students and to react to their students’ needs accordingly. Thus, creating good

relationships between the teachers and their students as well as among the students may

minimize distruptive behavior.

It was assumed in the first study that emotional intelligence would be positively related to

attention to student needs, in contrast to the relation between emotional intelligence and

student misconduct. I also examined the potential mediating role of attention to student needs

on the link between emotional intelligence and student misconduct.

4.2 Emotional Intelligence, Proactive Coping, Burnout, and Supervisor Support

Emotionally intelligent teachers are not only better able to understand and manage their

emotions in stressful situations, but they are also better at solving problems in interpersonal

relationship (Gawali, 2012). Regarding the relation between emotional intelligence and

burnout, Platsidou (2010) suggested that emotional intelligence might be negatively related to

burnout, and Pishghadam and Sahebjam (2012) demonstrated that the pest predictor of

depersonalization is intrapersonal emotional intelligence and the best predictor of personal

accomplishment is interpersonal emotional intelligence.


We were interested in determining the relation between emotional intelligence and both

proactive coping and burnout as well as the important role of perceived suppervisor support in

protecting teachers from burnout. It was hypothesized that the relation between emotional

intelligence and burnout would be negative, whereas the link between emotional intelligence

and proactive coping would be positive. We further proposed that proactive coping would

mediate the relation between emotional intelligence and burnout, and perceived supervisor

support was expected to moderate the link betwen emotional intelligence and reduced

personal accomplishment through proactive coping.

4.3 Positive Affect, Job Satisfaction, and Burnout

Many previous studies have revealed that positive affect is negatively linked to burnout and

positively linked to job satisfaction. However, to my knowledgy, no previous study has

explored the mechanisms that underlie the relation between positive affect and burnout such

as job satisfaction. Therefore, I wanted to examine it.

It was expected that the relation between positive affect and burnout would be negative and

that the relation between positive affect and job satisfaction would be positive. Job

satisfaction was expected to have a negative association with burnout. I further hypothesized

that positive affect would have direct and indirect effects on burnout through job satisfaction.

12

5. Studies

5.1 Attention to Student Needs Mediates the Relation Between Teacher Emotional

Intelligence and Student Misconduct in the Classroom

Teacher Emotional Intelligence, attention to student needs, and student misconduct 13

Abstract

Understanding the relation between teacher emotional intelligence and student misconduct

was the goal of this research. We assumed that teachers high in emotional intelligence are

able to establish good working relationships with students by being attentive to students’

needs. In a sample of 300 Syrian teachers, emotional intelligence was assessed with the Wong

and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS; Wong & Law, 2002). Results showed that the

perceived emotional intelligence of teachers was negatively related to student misconduct and

that this relation was mediated by teachers’ attention to student needs. Our findings highlight

the role of teacher emotional intelligence in shaping social interactions in the classroom and

lead to some practical implications for teacher education.

Keywords: emotional intelligence, teachers, attention to student needs, social

interaction, misconduct


Attention to Student Needs Mediates the Relation Between Teacher Emotional

Intelligence and Student Misconduct in the Classroom

The concept of emotional intelligence was introduced by Salovey and Mayer (1990),

who defined emotional intelligence as “the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings

and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking

and actions” (Mayer & Salovey, 1997, p. 8). Later, Salovey and Mayer (1997) referred to

emotional intelligence as “the ability to access and/or generate feelings when they facilitate

thought; the abilitiy to understand emotion and emotional knowledge; and the ability to

regulate emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth” (Mayer & Salovey, 1997, p.

8). The dimensions of emotional intelligence were explained by Davies et al. (1998) as:

1. Appraisal and expression of emotion in oneself. This relates to an individual’s

ability to understand his or her deep emotions and to be able to express emotions

naturally. People who have good ability in this area will sense and acknowledge their

emotions better than most people.

2. Appraisal and recognition of emotion in others. This relates to an individual’s

ability to perceive and understand the emotions of the people around them. People

with high scores on this ability will be very sensitive to the emotions of others as well

as being able to predict others’ emotional responses.

3. Regulation of emotion in oneself. This relates to the ability of a person to regulate

his or her emotions, enabling a more rapid recovery from psychological distress. A

person with high ability in this area would be able to return quickly to normal

psychological states after rejoicing or being upset. Such a person would also have

better control of his or her emotions and would be less likely to lose his or her temper.

4. Use of emotion to facilitate performance. This relates to a person’s ability to make

use of his or her emotions by directing them toward constructive activities and

personal performance. A person who is highly capable in this dimension would be

able to encourage him or herself to continuously improve. He or she would also be

able to direct his or her emotions in positive and productive directions (Law, Wong, &

Song, 2004, p. 2).

There is growing evidence that emotional intelligence (EI) is related to job

performance (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2008). Some workplace settings include social

interactions that elicit emotions more than other work settings do (Mossholder, Settoon,

Armenakis, & Harris, 2000). In jobs characterized by high emotional labor, it is necessary to

accurately perceive and appropriately manage emotions. Teaching, for example, involves


continuous and sometimes conflict-prone interactions with students (Gregoriadis & Tsigilis,

2008). Teacher emotional intelligence can promote adaptive reactions in emotionally charged

situations (Perry & Ball, 2007).

Dealing with emotions and using them to achieve desired outcomes can be considered

to be elements of emotional intelligence. There has been much debate on the

conceptualization and measurement of the construct. Currently, two classes of models of EI

exist: the ability model and the so-called mixed models. Mixed models view EI as a trait

conglomerate that combines emotional competencies with other personality facets. By

contrast, the ability model proposed by Mayer and Salovey (1997) views EI as an interrelated

set of skills involved in processing emotional information, including perceiving,

understanding, using, and regulating emotions in the self and others. This model is well

grounded in theory and supported by research (e.g., Mayer, Salovey, Caruso, & Sitarenios,

2003). To measure EI, there are performance tests that assess a participant’s abilities in a

laboratory context. Self-report measures, on the other hand, are based on a participant’s

subjective experiences in everyday interactions. In this study, we applied the ability model to

examine perceived EI.

Teacher Emotional Intelligence

Previous research has pointed to the importance of teacher EI in the school setting.

Trait emotional intelligence in teachers was found to be related to perceived efficacy in

responding to students and managing the classroom (Di Fabio & Palazzeschi, 2008). Perry

and Ball (2007) found that teachers with high EI ability dealt more constructively with

negative situations and were more likely to search for positive solutions (Perry & Ball, 2007).

Sutton’s (2004) qualitative study suggested that regulating one’s own emotions and those of

students is essential for teachers (Sutton, 2004).

In our study, we examined the relation between teachers’ perceived EI and student

misconduct, as well as one possible mechanism that was proposed to underlie this relation.

We expected teachers’ perceived emotional intelligence to be negatively related to student

misconduct (Hypothesis 1) because in previous studies, a person’s EI was linked to the

behavior of others (e.g., Wong & Law, 2002). Effects were expected with respect to emotion

appraisal and emotion regulation specifically and with respect to emotional intelligence as an

overall construct. Because the behaviors of students and teachers were found to be closely

intertwined (Bakker, Hakanen, Demerouti, & Xanthopoulou, 2007), emotionally perceptive

teachers were expected to be more susceptible to being influenced by their students’


emotional states. The ability to regulate emotions was expected to influence the emotional

tone of the interaction and to facilitate attention to student needs (Hypothesis 2), which again

was expected to be negatively related to student misconduct (Hypothesis 3). Attention to

student needs was expected to mediate the influence of EI on student misconduct (Hypothesis

4).

Method

Subjects

Three hundred Syrian teachers (95 men and 205 women) from 13 schools participated

voluntarily in the study. The teachers’ mean age was 40.37 years (SD = 7.77), and they had

taught for a mean of 15.37 years (SD = 7.94). Their students’ ages varied between 10 and 18

years.

Procedure

We invited approximately 400 teachers to participate in a study concerning emotions

at school. Those who agreed to take part received brief oral instructions and were assured that

their responses would be treated confidentially. The teachers completed a set of

questionnaires and returned them on the same day. All scales were translated into Arabic and

then translated back into the original language to ensure that the contents were equivalent.

Measurement

Emotional intelligence. We used the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale

(WLEIS; Wong & Law, 2002) to measure perceived emotional intelligence. The scale

consists of four dimensions (i.e., self-emotion appraisal, other-emotion appraisal, use of

emotion, and regulation of emotion) that can be mapped onto the ability model (Salovey &

Mayer, 1990). Each subscale consists of four items with a 7-point response format ranging

from 1 (totally disagree) to 7 (totally agree). Cronbach’s alpha values were .83, .84, .84,

and .88 for self-emotion appraisal, other-emotion appraisal, regulation of emotion, and overall

emotional intelligence, respectively. Example items are “I have a good sense of why I have

certain feelings most of the time” (self-emotion appraisal), “I always know my friends’

emotions from their behavior” (other-emotion appraisal), and “I am able to control my temper

so that I can handle difficulties rationally” (regulation of emotion).

Attention to student needs. Based on a review of the literature on teachers’

supportive behavior, a 15-item exploratory measure was created to assess teachers’ attention

to student needs. Responses were measured on a 5-point response scale ranging from 1

(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). A sample item is “I help my students whenever they


really need help.” An exploratory factor analysis was conducted by using principal axis

factoring with a promax rotation. This analysis revealed two factors with eigenvalues of 3.71

and 1.22, which together accounted for 42.43% of the total variance. The two factors had a

high intercorrelation (i.e., .61); therefore, we calculated one total value. Five items were

excluded because of corrected item-total correlations and communalities that were too low.

The 10 items addressed the relationship between the teachers and their students and consisted

of topics such as giving feedback, encouraging the students, and supporting the students.

Cronbach’s alpha was calculated at .82, indicating that the scale had good internal consistency.

Student misconduct. To assess student misconduct as perceived by teachers, we used

an adapted version of the Pupil Behavior Patterns (PBP) Scale (Friedman, 1995) with a 5-

point response scale: 1 (strongly disagree), 2 (disagree), 3 (neither agree nor disagree), 4

(agree), 5 (strongly agree). The teachers were asked to indicate the extent to which the

students misbehaved.The scale consists of eight items that assess the negative behavior of the

students in the classroom such as making noise in the classroom and interrupting each other.

An example item is “My students pick on one another.” The internal consistency was .84.

Demographics. Teachers reported their age, gender, level of education, and teaching

experience.

Results

Table 1 shows descriptive statistics for the main measures of interest. Perceived

overall emotional intelligence and attention to student needs were significantly skewed. Age,

gender, level of education, and teaching experience were unrelated to teachers’ perceived

overall emotional intelligence, attention to student needs, and student misconduct. Other-

emotion appraisal increased with teaching experience (rs = .15, p < .01).

Spearman correlations are presented in Table 2. Teachers’ perceived overall emotional

intelligence as well as self-emotion appraisal and emotion regulation were negatively related

to student misconduct, which partially supported Hypothesis 1. In line with Hypothesis 2,

perceived overall EI and all dimensions of emotional intelligence were positively related to

attention to student needs. Attention to student needs was negatively related to student

misconduct (rs = -.17, p < .01), which supported Hypothesis 3.

To examine mediation, we tested indirect effects using the nonparametric

bootstrapping approach (see Preacher & Hayes, 2004). Bootstrapped estimates are reported in

Table 3. Perceived overall emotional intelligence exerted an indirect effect on student

misconduct through attention to student needs (γ = -.08, SE = .04, 95% CI [-.16, -.02]), which

supported Hypothesis 4. Controlling for attention to student needs, the direct effect of


perceived emotional intelligence on student misconduct became nonsignificant, indicating full

mediation1 (see Figure 1). With regard to the dimensions of perceived EI, we found indirect

effects of self-emotion appraisal on student misconduct through attention to student needs (γ =

-.07, SE = .03, 95% CI [-.12, -.02]). Controlling for attention to student needs, the direct

effect of self-emotion appraisal on student misconduct became nonsignificant, reflecting full

mediation. Regulation of emotion had an indirect effect on student misconduct through

attention to student needs (γ = -.06, SE = .02, 95% CI [-09, -.02]). Controlling for attention to

student needs, the direct effect of emotion regulation on student misconduct became smaller

but was still significant, thus indicating partial mediation

Discussion

Our finding that teachers’ perceived EI was negatively related to student misconduct

in the classroom supports and extends previous findings on the importance of emotional

intelligence for shaping and improving social relationships (e.g., Lopes, Salovey, Côté, &

Beers, 2005). Results suggest that teachers’ ability to appraise, use, and regulate emotions

plays an important role in classroom interactions2. Teachers high in perceived emotional

intelligence were more attentive to their students’ needs. We reason that teachers who are

emotionally balanced have more resources for attending to their students and can see more

clearly what their students need. Attention to student needs, additionally, is negatively

associated with student misconduct. It seems plausible that students who feel well-attended to

are less inclined to misbehave. Thus, it can be argued that the process through which teachers’

emotional abilities are linked to student conduct seems to be due to a sincere focus by the

teachers on the individual student and his or her specific desires, problems, resources, and

weaknesses. It was surprising that we did not find a significant relation between other-

emotion appraisal and student misconduct, whereas the relation between other-emotion

appraisal and attention to student needs was positive. It seems that teachers’ abilities to

understand their students’ emotions help the teachers to be emotionally close to their students

and thus to give attention to their students’ needs, but the teachers cannot effectively control

the behavior of their students.

Self-emotion appraisal was found to be directly negatively related to student

misconduct as well as indirectly related through attention to student needs. Teachers who

were aware of their students’ feelings were able to use such emotional information to pay

attention to the needs of their students. This may have had a positive influence on the

behavior of the students, who were then less likely to misbehave. Regulation of emotion was

negatively linked to student misconduct, and this relation was mediated by attention to student


needs. It seems that teachers who have control over their emotions are better at noticing and

appropriately responding to the needs of their students. Providing attention to the needs of the

students is related to less student misconduct. There was no significant correlation between

other-emotion appraisal and student misconduct; therefore, we did not test attention to student

needs as a mediator of the relation between other-emotion appraisal and student misconduct.

Limitations and Implications for Future Research

Some limitations of this study should be noted. First, because of our cross-sectional

design, we cannot infer causality. Second, self-reports might be limited by problems with self-

knowledge and social desirability. Third, the relation between perceived emotional

intelligence and student misconduct may vary across cultural contexts and should be studied

in other cultures too.

Although we cannot infer causality, our findings suggest that teacher selection could

be improved by assessing teachers’ emotional and interpersonal skills. Furthermore, teacher

training programs could be extended by using modules that strengthen emotional abilities.

Participating in such programs might advance the quality of teaching: Teachers with high

levels of perceived EI reported being more attentive to their students’ needs. In turn,

awareness of a student’s needs seems to be related to the student’s efforts in class and can

thus improve classroom interactions. In sum, strengthening teachers’ emotional abilities may

entail benefits for both teachers and students.


Footnote

1 To check whether the nested structure of the data distorted these analyses, we conducted

multilevel analyses (Raudenbush & Bryk, 2002) that took into account variability between

schools. Results were consistent with the analyses reported here.

2 A later version of this research was published by Nizielski, Hallum, Lopes, and Schütz.


Table 1

Descriptive Statistics

M SD α

1. Self-emotion appraisal 5.98 0.77 .83

2. Other-emotion appraisal 5.57 0.92 .84

3. Regulation of emotion 5.77 0.99 .84

4. Overall emotional intelligence 5.81 0.65 .88

5. Student misconduct 2.41 0.79 .84

6. Attention to student needs 4.32 0.44 .82


Table 2

Spearman Correlations between Variables in the Study

1 2 3 4 5 6

1. Self-emotion appraisal - .45** .45** .73** -.16** .31**

2. Other-emotion appraisal - .32** .68** -.07 .24**

3. Regulation of emotion - .78** -.30** .30**

4. Overall emotional intelligence - -.24** .41**

5. Student misconduct - -.17**

6. Attention to student needs -

** p < .01, two-tailed.


Table 3

Results of Bootstrapping Analyses Testing Attention to Student Needs as a Mediator of the

Relation between Perceived Emotional Intelligence and Student Misconduct

BCa 95% CI

Mediation model γ SE Lower Upper

1. Self-emotion appraisal (X) → attention to student needs

(M) → student misconduct (Y)

-.07 .03 -.12 -.02

2. Regulation of emotion (X) → attention to student needs

(M) → student misconduct (Y)

-.06 .02 -.09 -.02

3. Overall EI (X) → attention to student needs (M) →

student misconduct (Y)

-.08 .04 -.16 -.02

Note. BCa = mean-bias-corrected bootstrap; 1,000 bootstrapped resamples; CI = confidence

interval; γ = indirect effect, X = predictor, M = mediator, Y = criterion.


Figure 1. Illustration of full mediation. Perceived overall emotional intelligence exerted an

indirect effect on student misconduct through attention to student needs.


.31** -.28**

-.08 (-.21**)

Attention to

student needs

Perceived overall

emotional intelligence Student misconduct

25

5.2 Emotional Intelligence, Proactive Coping, and Burnout in Syrian Teachers:

Examination of a Mediation Model

Teacher Emotional Intelligence, proactive coping, and burnout 26

Abstract

Burnout is a serious problem in the teaching profession. Previous studies (e.g., Chan, 2006)

have found that emotionally intelligent teachers suffer from burnout less frequently than

others. The aim of this study was to investigate the process underlying this relation. We tested

proactive coping as a potential mediator. Moreover, we assumed that support from a

supervisor could be crucial when dealing with stress at work. Three hundred teachers

participated voluntarily in this study. They completed self-report measures on emotional

intelligence, proactive coping, burnout, and work demands. Additionally, they rated the

support they received from their supervisors. Mediation analyses showed that proactive

coping fully mediated the relation between emotional intelligence and emotional exhaustion

as well as the relation between emotional intelligence and depersonalization. Additionally,

results indicated partial mediation of the relation between emotional intelligence and burnout

as well as between emotional intelligence and reduced personal accomplishment. Via

moderated mediation analyses, we found that the indirect negative effect of emotional

intelligence on reduced personal accomplishment through proactive coping was larger for

teachers who received strong support from their supervisors. Results are discussed with

respect to the prevention and intervention of teacher burnout.

Keywords: teachers, emotional intelligence, proactive coping, burnout


Emotional Intelligence, Proactive Coping, and Burnout in Syrian Teachers:

Examination of a Mediation Model

Three months of holidays and half days of work for the other nine months—these are

common ideas about teaching in the general population, and many people consider teaching to

be an easy job. However, there is evidence to the contrary: Teachers have to deal with severe

stressors such as student misbehavior (Burke et al., 1996; Kokkinos, 2007; Nizielski, Hallum,

Lopes, & Schütz, 2012), heavy workloads (Kokkinos, 2007; van Dick & Wagner, 2001), poor

relationships with colleagues and supervisors (Burke et al., 1996; Kokkinos, 2007), and

criticism from parents (Stoeber & Rennert, 2008). Teacher stress is a widespread problem in

different educational settings, and burnout accumulates in teachers more than in other public

service employees (Kokkinos, Panayiotou, & Davazoglou, 2005).

Burnout can lead to serious consequences for the teacher, the students, and the

organization. Teachers are at risk for high levels of psychological distress and physical health

complaints (Burke et al., 1996). Burnout is often linked to lower job satisfaction (Lee &

Ashforth, 1993; Tsigilis, Koustelios, & Togia, 2004). Moreover, employees who suffer from

burnout show reduced job performance (Low, Cravens, Grant, & Moncrief, 2001; Parker &

Kulik, 1995), and work-family conflicts are frequent (Burke & Mikkelsen, 2006).

It is, however, clear that teachers do not react uniformly to these common stressors,

and high levels of job stress do not always lead to burnout. For these reasons, it is important

to explore why some teachers are less impaired than others in the face of similar work stress.

In our study, we examined emotional intelligence as a factor that may render teachers better

able to cope more adaptively with stressors.

Teacher Emotional Intelligence

Previous research has pointed to the importance of teacher emotional intelligence (EI)

in the context of school (e.g., Chan, 2004, 2006, 2008; Di Fabio, & Palazzeschi, 2008;

Palomera, Fernández-Berrocal, & Brackett, 2008; Platsidou, 2010). The concept of EI, which

is currently defined in a two-fold way, was proposed by Salovey and Mayer (1990).

According to the ability model, EI is a specific type of intelligence that is involved in

processing emotional information. It comprises four dimensions: perceiving, understanding,

using, and regulating emotions (Mayer & Salovey, 1997). By contrast, mixed models do not

classify EI as a cognitive ability, but rather as a trait conglomerate that combines emotional

competencies


with other personality facets such as optimism, interpersonal sensitivity, or resilience

(Dulewicz & Higgs, 1999; Mikolajczak, Luminet, Leroy, & Roy, 2007).

There is much debate not only about the conceptualization of EI but also about the

measurement model. First, there are performance tests that assess a person’s actual capacity

within a laboratory context. Second, there are self-report measures that focus on a person’s

self-efficacy with regard to his or her emotional skills; these reports are usually based on

subjective experiences in everyday interactions. Ability EI can be assessed via self-reports or

tests, but trait EI can be assessed only via self-reports (Zeng & Miller, 2001). Taken together,

there are three distinct construct-method pairings that all tap into different aspects of

emotional intelligence. In our study, we focused on the ability model of EI as it is well-

grounded in theory and has received sufficient empirical support. We assessed teacher EI by

self-report because performance test scores do not indicate whether teachers are actually able

to effectively apply their disposable skills and knowledge in the school setting. The small

association between performance test ability EI and self-report ability EI (e.g., .12; Joseph &

Newman, 2010) suggests that general abilities and everyday behavior are only weakly related.

Thus, we considered it advantageous to rely on teachers’ self-reports of their actual

experiences.

Coping

Emotional intelligence seems to provide a personal resource that helps people cope

with stress. Coping has been defined as “the cognitive and behavioral efforts made to master,

tolerate, or reduce external and internal demands and conflicts among them” (Folkman &

Lazarus, 1980, p. 223). There are two different strategies for coping: A person can approach

stress-producing factors in a direct, constructive way (i.e., active coping) or can act passively

by modifying the emerging psychological reaction (i.e., passive coping; Lechner, Bolman, &

van Dalen, 2007). Proactive coping can be considered “an effort to build up general resources

that facilitate promotion toward challenging goals and personal growth” (Schwarzer &

Taubert, 2002, p. 9).

Burnout

Some people do not cope adequately with stressors and consequently suffer from

health impairments (Chan, 1998). Burnout is often the consequence of chronic stress, arising

from intense interactions with other people in particular (Maslach & Goldenberg, 1998).

Teachers who are burnt out may experience one or more of three typical components

(Maslach & Jackson, 1984). Emotional exhaustion refers to “feelings of being emotionally

overextended and depleted of one’s emotional resources.” Depersonalization refers to “a


negative, callous, or excessively detached response to other people, which often includes a

loss of idealism.” Reduced personal accomplishment refers to “a decline in feelings of

competence and productivity at work” (Maslach & Goldenberg, 1998, p. 64).

Emotional Intelligence and Coping

Empirical studies on emotional intelligence and coping have suggested that teachers

with high ability EI tend to cope in an active manner: Intrapersonal EI, in particular, and

interpersonal EI, to a lesser extent, have been found to be significant predictors of active

coping (Chan, 2008). Perry and Ball (2007) found that teachers with high ability EI reported

dealing more constructively with negative situations and were more likely to look for positive

solutions. We believe that emotional intelligence might predispose people toward effective

problem solving, whereby emotional intelligence functions as an antecedent to active coping.

Persons high in emotional intelligence are able to accurately appraise their own emotions and

thus need less time and effort to identify their emotional states. One study found that

emotional clarity was negatively associated with avoidant coping strategies (Montes-Berges

& Augusto, 2007). Emotions arise from particular events and the subject’s interpretation of

that event (Smith & Lazarus, 1990). The resulting emotional information can be used to make

sense of a person’s own reactions to stressors. Zhu and Thagard (2002) showed that emotions

correspond to specific action tendencies, which guide a person toward adaptive responding

(Zhu & Thagard, 2002). In conclusion, EI seems to enhance a person’s capacity to engage

constructively in stressful situations (Birks, Mckendree, & Watt, 2009).

Emotional Intelligence and Burnout

Certain components of (self-reported) ability EI seem to be adaptively related to

burnout. Chan (2006) found that emotional appraisal and positive regulation of emotions were

negatively associated with emotional exhaustion. A recent study by Moon and Hur (2011)

demonstrated that appraisals of emotions were negatively correlated with emotional

exhaustion. Durán, Extremera, Rey, Fernández-Berrocal, and Montalbán (2006) reported that

mood repair was also negatively linked to that component of the burnout syndrome.

Furthermore, attentions to feelings, mood clarity, as well as mood repair were positively

linked to academic efficacy and negatively linked to cynicism (Durán, Extremera, Rey,

Fernández-Berrocal, & Montalbán, 2006).

Coping and Burnout

As already mentioned, inadequate coping responses to stressful encounters at school

may lead to burnout. Previous research has demonstrated that active coping is related to lower

levels of burnout (Brown & O’Brien, 1998; Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001). Furthermore,


Greenglass (2002) found that proactive coping was linked to negative outcomes such as

depression or burnout. With regard to the different syndrome components, depersonalization

was positively associated with reduced personal accomplishment and negatively associated

with active coping strategies (Anderson, 2000). Another study by Garrosa, Rainho, Moreno-

Jiménez, and Monteiro (2010) showed that active coping was negatively related to

depersonalization and a lack of personal accomplishment.

Coping as a Mediator

Although research on possible mechanisms above and beyond mere associations has

been scarce, Devereux and others (2008) indicated that wishful thinking coping partially

mediated the relation between work demands and emotional exhaustion, but practical coping

did not mediate the relation between work demands and emotional exhaustion (Devereux,

Hastings, Noone, Firth, & Totsika, 2009). Bauld and Brown (2009) found that the relation

between ability EI and physical health was partially mediated by proactive coping. For this

reason, we proposed a mediation model with EI as a resource because teachers high in EI

seem to experience less burnout. Proactive coping might operate as a mediator because

teachers high in EI are capable of using adaptive coping strategies and thus are less likely to

experience burnout.

Context as a Moderator

Moreover, teachers might be differentially influenced by certain aspects of the context,

and several teachers may share a certain context, which may make it harder or easier for them

to handle difficult situations. In the Syrian school system, teachers work in groups headed by

a supervisor. The leadership style of these supervisors seems to differ significantly, and some

supervisors may provide more support to the teachers in their group than others (Hakel, 1985).

Social support can be considered to be an important personal resource when coping

with stressors (Thoits, 1986). The importance of supervisor support in the burnout process has

been demonstrated in previous research. Supervisors seem to influence the selection of coping

responses. For example, Lewin and Sager (2008) found that salespersons who feel supported

by their supervisors use problem-focused coping more often than others. Several studies have

confirmed the direct effect hypothesis of social support. High levels of supervisor support

have been associated with reduced emotional exhaustion (Gibson, Grey, & Hastings, 2009;

Lambert, Altheimer, & Hogan, 2010; Lewin & Sager, 2008; Snyder, 2009; Sundin,

Hochwälder, Bildt, & Lisspers, 2007; Yildirim, 2008), reduced depersonalization (Gibson,

Grey, & Hastings, 2009; Lambert et al., 2010; Snyder, 2009;Yildirim, 2008), as well as with

increased personal accomplishment (Gibson et al., 2009;Yildirim, 2008). Moreover, social


support seems to serve as a buffer, especially for persons facing high levels of stress.

Kirmeyer and Dougherty (1988) found that people who had a high work load but who also

had high social support engaged in more coping behavior. Gibson, Grey, and Hastings (2009)

reported that supervisor support moderated the impact of work demands on personal

accomplishment. Therapists facing high work demands and low levels of supervisor support

had low scores on personal accomplishment (Gibson et al., 2009). Brackett, Palomera, Mojsa-

Kaja, Reyes, and Salovey (2010) found that supervisor support mediated the association

between emotion regulation and personal accomplishment.

We assume that supervisor support is a major type of social support within the school

context. Supervisors might have faced or are facing similar work stressors. For this reason, we

suppose that they are aware of the demands of the specific situation and provide appropriate

solutions. Additionally, supervisors are likely to be viewed as a credible source of advice

because of their position or their experience.

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the process underlying the

relation between emotional intelligence and burnout. Furthermore, we wanted to test whether

the relation between emotional intelligence and burnout would be moderated by context.

In particular, the study focused on testing the following hypotheses:

1. Emotional intelligence is negatively related to burnout. We expected effects

specifically for self-emotion appraisal and regulation of emotion, but we examined the

remaining dimensions in an exploratory manner.

2. The relation between emotional intelligence, proactive coping, and reduced personal

accomplishment is moderated by supervisor support.

3. Emotional intelligence is positively related to proactive coping. We expected effects

especially for intrapersonal emotional intelligence (i.e., self-emotion appraisal), but we

examined the remaining dimensions in an exploratory manner.

4. Proactive coping is negatively related to burnout.We expected effects specifically for

depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishement.

5. The relation between emotional intelligence and burnout is mediated by proactive

coping. We expected effects especially for emotional exhaustion, but we examined the

remaining dimensions in an exploratory manner.


Method

Participants

Three hundred teachers (68.3% women, 31.7% men) from 13 schools in Syria

participated voluntarily in the study. Thirty-one supervisors of the teachers (58.1% women,

41.9% men) also participated. Teachers’ ages ranged from 23 to 59 years (M = 40.37, SD =

7.77). They had an average work experience of 15.37 years (SD = 7.94), ranging from 1 to 36

years. Supervisors’ ages ranged from 27 to 54 years (M = 42.71, SD = 6.95). They had held

office between 4 and 30 years (M = 18.97, SD = 6.95).

Procedure

The study took place during regular school days. We asked 400 teachers to participate.

After having received agreement from 300 teachers and their supervisors, all of them received

oral instructions and were assured that the data would be treated confidentially. The teachers

answered questionnaires concerning emotional intelligence, proactive coping, burnout, and

work demands. Because the instruments were published in languages other than Arabic, they

were translated into Arabic by experts. The back-translation revealed equivalent contents.

Additionally, teachers rated the support provided by their supervisors. We received

demographic information (i.e., gender, age, work experience) from the teachers and

supervisors. The completed questionnaire was returned on the same day.

Measures

Emotional intelligence. EI was assessed by the Wong and Law Emotional

Intelligence Scale (WLEIS; Wong & Law, 2002), a self-report measure based on the Mayer

and Salovey (1997) ability model of EI. The scale consists of four dimensions: self-emotion

appraisal, other-emotion appraisal, use of emotion, and regulation of emotion. Responses

were made on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (totally disagree) to 7 (totally agree). The

global EI score1 was computed by adding the scores of all subscales. Internal consistencies

ranged between .76 (use of emotion) and .88 (global EI).

Burnout. Burnout was measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI; Maslach,

Jackson, & Leiter, 1996). The scale consists of three dimensions: emotional exhaustion,

depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. Responses were made on a 5-point

Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all true) to 4 (exactly true). The global burnout score2 was

computed by adding the scores of all subscales. Internal consistencies ranged between .77

(depersonalization) and .90 (emotional exhaustion).


Proactive coping. Proactive coping was assessed by utilizing the proactive coping

subscale of the Proactive Coping Inventory (PCI; Schwarzer, Greenglass, & Taubert, 1999).

Responses were made on a 4-point Likert scale with end points labeled 1 (not true at all) and

4 (completely true). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was .81.

Supervisor support. Supervisor support was measured by the satisfaction with

supervisor subscale of the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS; Spector, 1995). The teachers were

asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed with each item on a 6-point Likert scale

ranging from 1 (disagree very much) to 6 (agree very much). The Cronbach’s alpha

coefficient was .64.

Work demands. Work demands were measured by using an adapted version of job

demands, which was developed by Jones, Fletcher, and Ibbetson in 1991. For each item,

respondents were presented with five alternatives: Strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), neither

agree nor disagree (3), agree (4), and strongly agree (5). A sample item for this scale is “I

have more work than I have time to do.” The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was .79.

Results


Descriptive statistics are listed in Table 1. The variables were significantly skewed.

Neither age, sex, nor teaching experience was significantly related to emotional intelligence,

proactive coping, burnout, or work demands except for the relation between other-emotion

appraisal and teaching experience (rs= .15, p < .01).

Correlations between the Variables

Spearman correlations between the variables are listed in Table 2. Emotional

intelligence was significantly negatively linked to burnout. The strongest link was between

emotional intelligence and reduced personal accomplishment (rs = -.60, p < .01). Associations

between other-emotion appraisal and depersonalization (rs = -.11, p > .01) and other-emotion

appraisal and emotional exhaustion (rs = -.03, p > .01) were exceptions. Furthermore, overall

or dimensions of emotional intelligence were significantly positively correlated with proactive

coping, and proactive coping was significantly negatively associated with overall or

dimensions of burnout.

Mediation Analyses

Based on the results of the relation between emotional intelligence and burnout, we

were interested in mechanisms underlying the link between them such as proactive coping.

The variables were not normally distributed; therefore, a nonparametric bootstrapping

approach was used to examine the indirect effects of emotional intelligence on burnout


through proactive coping (see Preacher & Hayes, 2004). Results of the mediation analyses are

listed in Table 3.

Regarding emotional exhaustion, there was a significant indirect effect of overall

emotional intelligence on emotional exhaustion through proactive coping (γ = -.12, p < .05,

95% CI [-.20, -.03]), and the direct effect of emotional intelligence on emotional exhaustion

became nonsignificant after controlling for proactive coping (γ = .03, t = 0.41, p = .68),

indicating full mediation.

Concerning depersonalization, the indirect effect of emotional intelligence through

proactive coping was significant (γ = -.13, p < .05, 95% CI [-.22, -.07]). After controlling for

proactive coping, the direct effect of emotional intelligence on depersonalization became

nonsignificant (γ = -.09, t = -1.73, p = .09), indicating full mediation.

Proactive coping partially mediated the link between emotional intelligence and

reduced personal accomplishment. The indirect effect was significant (γ = -.19, p < .05, 95%

CI [-.25, -.13]), whereas the direct effect between emotional intelligence and reduced personal

accomplishment was reduced but still remained significant after the mediator was entered (γ =

-.34, t = -8.73, p = .00).

As expected, proactive coping partially mediated the relation between emotional

intelligence and burnout. The indirect effect was significant (γ = -.15, p < .05, 95% CI [-.21, -

.09]), whereas the direct effect between emotional intelligence and burnout decreased but still

remained significant after proactive coping was controlled (γ = -.13, t = -3.20, p = .00).

Moderated Mediation Analyses

To examine the influence of the context on the relations between teacher EI, proactive

coping, and reduced personal accomplishment, we also applied a moderated mediation

(Model 5 in Preacher, Rucker, & Hayes, 2007). In detail, we tested whether the relations

between emotional intelligence, proactive coping, and reduced personal accomplishment

would be moderated by supervisor support after controlling for work demands and experience

as covariates. Results are presented in Tables 4. By testing the moderating effect of supervisor

support on the model, the analyses revealed (emotional intelligence → proactive coping →

reduced personal accomplishment) that the relation between emotional intelligence and

proactive coping was moderated by supervisor support ( = .08, t = 2.13, p = .03), but the

relation between proactive coping and reduced personal accomplishment was not moderated

by supervisor support ( = -.09, t = -1.37, p = .17).


Discussion

In the current article, we focused on emotional intelligence as a personal resource for

dealing with stressors at work4. In line with previous studies, the likelihood of burning out

increased with decreasing emotional intelligence. We expected especially strong effects with

respect to intrapersonal aspects of EI.

We found a significant relation between overall and dimensions of emotional

intelligence and overall or dimensions of burnout, except for the link between other-emotion

appraisal and either emotional exhaustion or depersonalization. The strongest effects were

found with respect to the link between overall or dimensions of emotional intelligence and

reduced personal accomplishment.

Furthermore, we investigated proactive coping as a potential mediator of the impact of

emotional intelligence on burnout. We found a significant positive relation between emotional

intelligence and proactive coping. Emotional intelligence enhances teachers’ abilities to cope

with demands proactively.

Last but not least, we assumed a negative relation between proactive coping and

burnout, and indeed our results indicated that proactive coping is accompanied by a lower risk

of burnout.

Additionally, we were interested in whether the relations between emotional

intelligence, proactive coping, and reduced personal accomplishment would be moderated by

perceived support from supervisors. There was a stronger negative effect of emotional

intelligence on reduced personal accomplishment through proactive coping for teachers who

had more support from their supervisors in the model (emotional intelligence → proactive

coping → reduced personal accomplishment).

This suggests that EI as a resource can work better in a context in which there is

supervisor support. We suggest that supervisor support helps teachers to implement their

emotional abilities by keeping them on task and focused on solving problems (i.e., proactive

coping). Moreover, supervisors may encourage teachers to control their emotions to be able to

use their resources to cope with stress.

To our knowledge, little attention has been given to the relations between emotional

intelligence, proactive coping, and burnout. We had hypothesized that emotional intelligence

would be positively related to proactive coping and negatively related to burnout.

We found that proactive coping fully mediated the link between overall EI and either

emotional exhaustion or depersonalization. Proactive coping partially mediated the relation


between overall emotional intelligence and reduced personal accomplishment and the link

between emotional intelligence and burnout.

Limitations of the Current Study and Implications for Future Research

Because the current study was cross-sectional, the question of whether emotional

intelligence reduces risk from a longitudinal perspective is still open. We were not able to

determine whether emotional abilities affected burnout because the reverse effect may be

relevant too: It is possible, for example, that burnout constrains emotional abilities. However,

because EI is considered to be a stable trait whereas burnout is not, and because burnout is

caused by many antecedents such as low emotional intelligence, we believe there is reason to

believe that EI contributes to the prevention of burnout.

In our study, we focused on proactive coping, but could not study other strategies such

as emotion-focused coping. The effects of other strategies should likewise be studied in future

research because active coping may be helpful only in the face of controllable stress.

Regarding perceived supervisor support, we asked the teachers whether or not they

received support from their supervisors. Unfortunately, we could not collect information on

the type of support. In future studies, supervisor support should be investigated with regard to

different types of support (i.e., emotional, informational, or instrumental support). For

example, Prins et al. (2007) found that dissatisfaction with emotional support from

supervisors was the best predictor of burnout (Prins et al., 2007).

In this study, we used self-reports. On the one hand, this might have inflated the

strengths of the relations between the variables due to common method variance. Also, self-

reports are susceptible to socially desirable responses (Paulhus, 1991). It is possible that the

teachers exaggerated their ratings of desirable variables (i.e., emotional abilities, proactive

coping) and downplayed their ratings of undesirable variables (i.e., burnout). Beyond that,

some teachers might not have given accurate reports about their emotional intelligence,

proactive coping, and burnout. Brackett, Rivers, Shiffman, Lerner, and Salovey (2006) found

that persons high in emotional intelligence tended to overestimate their performance on an

emotional intelligence test and persons with low levels of emotional intelligence tended to

underestimate their scores.


On the other hand, self-ratings but not other-ratings might be appropriate as only the

teachers know about their own levels of burnout and their personality resources. Future

research could complement the use of self-reports by using ability measures or peer reports as

well.

Conclusions and Practical Implications

In sum, our results revealed that emotional intelligence and proactive coping seem to

protect teachers from the risk of burnout. Hence, it would be useful to test the teachers when

they begin their jobs with regard to both emotional intelligence and proactive coping in

addition to having them attend programs to strengthen their proactive coping.

However, teacher burnout is associated not only with the characteristics of the teacher

himself or herself. Supervisors seem to protect teachers from burnout too. The relation

between emotional intelligence and reduced personal accomplishment through proactive

coping was stronger for teachers who sustained support from their supervisors. Therefore,

supervisors and teachers should be requested to participate in communication training

programs.


Footnotes

1 In the following, the global EI score is called “emotional intelligence” or “EI.”

2 In the following, the global burnout score is called “burnout.”

3 Because there were no significant correlations between other-emotion appraisal and either

emotional exhaustion or depersonalization, we did not test these variables in the multilevel

models. 4A later version of this research was published by Nizielski, Hallum, Schütz, and Lopes.


Table 1


M SD α

1. Age 40.37 7.77 --

2. Teaching experience 15.37 7.94 --

3. Supervisor support 4.39 1.05 .64

4. Emotional intelligence 5.81 0.65 .88

5. Self-emotion appraisal 5.98 0.77 .83

6. Other-emotion appraisal 5.57 0.92 .84

7. Use of emotion 5.91 0.77 .76

8. Regulation of emotion 5.77 0.99 .84

9. Proactive coping 3.39 0.43 .81

10. Burnout 1.69 0.84 .89

11. Emotional exhaustion 1.97 0.67 .90

12. Depersonalization 1.63 0.54 .77

13. Reduced personal accomplishment 1.57 0.52 .85

14. Work demands 2.89 0.80 .79

Note. Cronbach’s alpha is reported for all scales except for demographic variables.


Table 2

Correlations between Emotional Intelligence, Proactive Coping, Burnout, and Work

Demands

*p < .05, two-tailed. **p < .01, two-tailed.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1. Emotional

intelligence - .73** .68** .76** .78** .55** -.37** -.16** -.23** -.60** -.09 .07

2. Self-emotion

appraisal - .45** .51** .45** .39** -.34** -.16** -.21** -.44** -.09 .02

3. Other emotion

appraisal - .35** .32** .43** -.18** -.03 -.11 -.45** -.00 .15**

4. Use of emotion - .55** .49** -.32** -.12* -.25** -.51** -.08 .01

5. Regulation of

emotion - .38** -.30** -.15** -.16** -.42** -.06 .02

6. Proactive coping - -.43** -.22** -.32** -.64** -.02 .02

7. Burnout - .89** .67** .64** .42** -.03

8. Emotional

exhaustion - .49** .30** .48** -.00

9. Depersonalization - .43** .29** -.06

10. Reduced

personal

accomplishment

- .08 -.10

11. Work demands - -.07

12. Experience -


Table 3

Results of Bootstrapping Analyses to Test Proactive Coping as a Meditor of the Relation

between Perceived Emotional Intelligence and Burnout

BCa 95% CI

Mediation model SE Lower Upper

15. Overall EI (X) → proactive coping (M) → emotional

exhaustion (Y) -.12 .04 -.20 -.03

16. Overall EI (X) → proactive coping (M) → depersonalization

(Y) -.13 .04 -.22 -.07

17. Overall EI (X) → proactive coping (M) → reduced personal

accomplishment (Y) -.19 .03 -.25 -.13

18. Overall EI (X) → proactive coping (M) → burnout (Y) -.15 .03 -.21 -.09

Note. BCa = mean-bias-corrected bootstrap, 1,000 bootstrapped resamples; CI = confidence

interval; covariates: work demands and experience; γ = indirect effect, X = predictor, M =

mediator, Y = criterion.


Table 4

Supervisor Support as a Moderator of the Relation between Emotional Intelligence, Proactive

Coping, and Reduced Personal Accomplishment

SE t p

1.a. Overall EI (X) → proactive coping (M) → reduced personal

accomplishment (Y)

Overall EI × Supervisor Support

.08* .04 2.13 .03

1.b. Overall EI (X) → proactive coping (M) → reduced personal

accomplishment (Y)

Proactive Coping × Supervisor Support

-.09 .06 -1.37 .17


interval; covariates: work demands, teaching experience; γ = coefficient, X = predictor, M =

mediator, Y = criterion.


Figure 1. Illustration of partial mediation. Perceived overall emotional intelligence exerted an

indirect effect on burnout through proactive coping.


Perceived overall

emotional intelligence

Burnout

.40** -.37**

-.13** (-.15**)

Proactive coping


Figure 2. Illustration of perceived supervisor support as a moderator of the relations between

emotional intelligence, proactive coping, and reduced personal accomplishment.


Perceived overall

emotional intelligence

Reduced personal

accomplishment

.40** -.48**

-.34**

.08*

Proactive coping

-.09

Perceived

supervisor

support

Perceived

supervisor

support

45

5.3 The Role of Job Satisfaction as a Mediator between Positive Affect and Burnout

Positive affect, job satisfaction, and burnout 46

Abstract

This study focused on the relations between positive affect, job satisfaction, and burnout. It

investigated the role of job satisfaction as a mediator between positive affect and burnout.

Three hundred teachers from 13 schools in Syria completed questionnaires on positive affect,

job satisfaction, burnout, and work demands. Results indicated that positive affect was

negatively associated with burnout but positively linked to job satisfaction, whereas job

satisfaction was negatively related to burnout. Mediation analyses revealed that job

satisfaction mediated the link between positive affect and burnout. Suggestions for further

research as well as the implications of the current study are also discussed.

Keywords: positive affect, job satisfaction, teachers, burnout, bootstrap


The Role of Job Satisfaction as a Mediator between Positive Affect and Burnout

Job satisfaction plays an important role in the teaching process. Compared to teachers

who have low levels of job satisfaction, teachers who are satisfied with their careers provide

more instructional support in their classes, especially in classes with low abilities (Opden-

akker & van Damme, 2006). Teachers with job satisfaction also have a high sense of personal

achievement and are less likely to burn out (George, Louw, & Badenhorst, 2008). Burnout

can be viewed as an outcome of circumstance. Maslach and Goldberg (1998) argued that

“Teachers are expected to achieve unrealistic goals of not only educating students but

handling all their personal problems as well. In many professions, real wages have declined

and job benefits have been cut back. These and numerous other examples highlight the fact

that burnout is very much a product of situational context, even if it is expressed on an

individual level” (p. 64). Negative or positive affect arises from working conditions that make

people either satisfied or dissatisfied with their work (Meeusen, van Dam, van Zundert, &

Knape, 2010). Similarly, positive affectivity was found to be positively related to job

satisfaction (Heller, Judge, & Watson, 2002). A recent study by Diefendorff and others (2011)

pointed out that negative affectivity was positively related to burnout, whereas positive

affectivity was negatively associated with burnout (Diefendorff, Erickson, Grandey, &

Dahling, 2011). Poor job satisfaction might lead to the emergence of burnout (van Humbeeck,

van Audenhove, & Declercq, 2004). Although positive affect has been found to act as an

important predictor of job satisfaction and burnout, no study has yet tested the extent to which

job satisfaction may mediate such a relation between positive affect and burnout. In addition,

not enough attention in the literature has been given to the relation between positive affect

and dimensions of job satisfaction. Therefore, I examined the link between positive affect and

the dimensions of job satisfaction (satisfaction with coworkers, satisfaction with the nature of

one’s work, and satisfaction with communication).

Positive Affect

Positive affect reflects “the extent to which a person feels enthusiastic, active, and

alert” (Watson, Clark, &Tellegen, 1988, p.1063). It has been assumed that persons who have

high levels of positive affect are higher in energy and are more engaged with their jobs.

Positive affect has been associated with work-related outcomes such as job satisfaction

(Johnson & Johnson, 2000).


Job Satisfaction

Positive affect seems to be a stable personaltity trait, whereas job satisfaction is a

more temporary attitude toward one’s job. Therefore, it was expected that positive affect

would predict job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is “simply how people feel about their jobs and

different aspects of their jobs. It is the extent to which people like (satisfaction) or dislike

(dissatisfaction) their jobs” (Spector, 1997, p. 2).

Burnout

Burnout is defined as “a psychological syndrome of emotional exhaustion,

depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. Emotional exhaustion refers to

feelings of being emotionally overextended and depleted of one’s emotional resources.

Depersonalization refers to a negative, callous, or excessively detached response to other

people, which often includes a loss of idealism. Reduced personal accomplishment refers to a

decline in feelings of competence and productivity at work” (Maslach & Goldenberg, 1998, p.

64).

Positive Affect in Relation to Burnout

The relation between negative affect and burnout was found to be positive, in contrast

to the negative relation that was found between positive affect and burnout (Little, Simmons,

& Nelson, 2007). Another study by Cenkseven-Önder and Sari (2009) also reported that

positive affect was negatively associated with burnout, whereas negative affect was positively

linked to it. Concerning the dimensions of burnout, a negative relation was found between

positive affect and emotional exhaustion, whereas the latter was positively related to negative

affect (Janssen, Lam, & Huang, 2010). A recent study by Brackett et al. (2010) indicated that

strong relations were found between positive affect and personal accomplishment and

between negative affect and emotional exhaustion. Another study found that positive affect

significantly predicted both dimensions of burnout, namely, personal accomplishment and

depersonalization (Papastylianou, Kaila, & Polychronopoulos, 2009). An additional study

found that positive affect was negatively related to emotional exhaustion and

depersonalization (Zellars, Perrewe, Hochwarter, & Anderson, 2006). Finally, Thomas and

Rose (2010) found that positive affect was negatively related to emotional exhaustion and

depersonalization and positively related to personal accomplishment.

In the current study, I predicted that positive affect would be negatively related to

burnout. Specifically, I expected that this effect would hold for the component of reduced

personal accomplishment (Hypothesis 1).


Job Satisfaction and Burnout

Job satisfaction may contribute to lower levels of burnout. Platsidou and Agaliotis

(2008) found that teachers who had high perceived satisfaction toward the job itself, the

system’s organization as a whole, the school principal, and the prospects of promotion were

significantly less likely to suffer from burnout. Ozyurt, Hayran, and Sur (2006) noted that job

satisfaction was negatively associated with both emotional exhaustion and depersonalization,

whereas it was positively associated with personal accomplishment. Regarding the

components of burnout, a recent study by Moon and Hur (2011) found that emotional

exhaustion was negatively related to job performance with regard to organizational

commitment and job satisfaction. The current study proposed that job satisfaction would be

negatively associated with burnout. Specifically, the effect was expected for the emotional

exhaustion component (Hypothesis 2).

Positive Affect in Relation to Job Satisfaction

Previous findings have indicated that positive affect is positively correlated with job

satisfaction, whereas negative affect is negatively related to it. A meta-analysis conducted by

Bowling, Hendricks, and Wagner (2008) argued that positive affectivity is related to global

job satisfaction as well as to facet satisfaction, namely, satisfaction with work itself, and

satisfaction with supervision, co-workers, and promotion (Bowling, Hendricks, & Wagner,

2008). In my study, I predicted a positive relation between positive affect and overall as well

as dimensions of job satisfcation. Specifically, I expected this to hold for overall job

satisfaction and satisfaction with coworkers (Hypothesis 3).

Job Satisfaction as a Mediator

In the relevant literature, there is little evidence that suggests that job satisfaction

could function as a mediator. Ngo and Mathies (2010) demonstrated that job satisfaction

mediated the relation between psychological climate perceptions (in particular, service

climate, team support, and job security) and job performance. Kaplan, Bradley, Luchman, and

Haynes (2009) indicated that job satisfaction also mediated the relation between negative

affectivity and organizational citizenship behavior. However, it did not mediate the link

between positive affectivity and task performance (Kaplan, Bradley, Luchman, & Haynes,

2009). Research by Grayson and Alvarez (2008) revealed that the relation between school

climate and either emotional exhaustion or depersonalization was mediated by teacher

satisfaction. Positive affect has been found to predict job satisfaction because positive affect is


regarded as a stable personality variable, whereas job satisfaction is a temporal

attitude toward work.Thus, positive affect would be more likely to predict job satisfaction. It

was expected that job satisfaction would mediate the relation between positive affect and

burnout. Specifically, this effect was expected to hold for the components of emotional

exhaustion and depersonalization (Hypothesis 4).

Method

Sample

The sample was comprised of 300 Syrian volunteer teachers of whom 68.33% were

female and 31.67% were male. Teachers’ ages varied from 23 to 59 years (M = 40.37, SD =

7.77), and their teaching experience ranged from 1 to 36 years (M = 15.37, SD = 7.94).

Ninety-three percent of these teachers had a graduate degree, whereas 7% had a diploma.

Measures

Burnout. Burnout was assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI; Maslach,

Jackson, & Leiter, 1996). The MBI is comprised of 22 items rated on a 4-point scale ranging

from 1 (not at all true) to 4 (exactly true). The three different aspects of burnout are emotional

exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. Nine items comprise

emotional exhaustion. An example item is “I feel exhausted at the end of the work day.”

Depersonalization is estimated using five items such as “I have become more callous toward

students since I took this job.” Reduced personal accomplishment consists of eight items. A

sample item is “I can easily create a relaxed atmosphere with my students.” The internal

consistencies of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, reduced personal accomplishment,

and burnout were .90, .77, .85, and .89, respectively.

Positive affect. Positive affect was assessed using an adapted version of the positive

and negative scale (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Positive affect consists of a

number of words, each describing different feelings and emotions experienced during the last

year. Examples include words such as proud and strong. The answers range from 1 (very

slightly or not at all) to 5 (extremely). The internal consistency of positive affect was .76.

Job satisfaction. Job satisfaction was assessed using the job satisfaction survey (JSS;

Spector, 1995). The three subscales are satisfaction with coworkers, satisfaction with the

nature of one’s work, and satisfaction with communication. Each subscale has four items,


which are rated on a 6-point scale ranging from 1 (disagree very much) to 6 (agree

very much). Cronbach’s alpha for satisfaction with coworkers, satisfaction with the nature of

one’s work, satisfaction with communication, and overall job satisfaction were .62, .64, .67,

and .74, respectively.

Work demands. Work demands were measured by using an adapted version of job

demands (Jones, Fletcher, & Ibbetson, 1991). Responses on the seven items range from

strongly disagree to strongly agree. An example item is “Having a wide variety of tasks

makes my job difficult.” The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was .79.

Procedure

We asked 400 teachers to participate in this study. Three hundred of them agreed.

They received instructions for completing the questionnaire, and they were assured that the

data would be used only for scientific purposes. They all filled out the questionnaires on

positive and negative affect, burnout, job satisfaction, and work demands. They completed the

questionnaires during their breaks and returned the questionnaires on the same day. All

instruments were translated by experts into Arabic and then translated back into their original

languages in order to assure similar interpretations.

Results

Descriptive statistics. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test showed that none of the

variables in this study were normally distributed. Descriptive statistics for the variables are

presented in Table 1. None of the demographic variables were significantly associated with

overall or dimensions of job satisfaction, with overall or dimensions of burnout, with positive

affect, or with work demands.

Correlations among the variables. Spearman correlations were used to test the

relations between the variables. Table 2 shows the intercorrelations among them. Positive

affect was negatively correlated with overall and dimensions of burnout but positively

correlated with overall and dimensions of job satisfaction. Overall and dimensions of job

satisfaction were negatively related to both overall and dimensions of burnout.

Mediation analyses. A nonparametric bootstrapping test was carried out in order to

measure the potential mediating effect of job satisfaction on the relation between positive

affect and burnout (see Preacher & Hayes, 2004). Work demands was entered as a covariate.

The results are presented in Table 3.


In contrast to our expectations, overall job satisfaction did not mediate the influence of

positive affect on emotional exhaustion (γ = -.03, p > .05, 95% CI [-.09, .00]). The indirect

impact of positive affect on depersonalization through overall job satisfaction was significant

(γ = -.07, p < .05, 95% CI [-.14, -.03]), and the direct effect became nonsignificant when

overall job satisfaction was entered as the mediator (γ = -.01, t = -0.12, p = .91), signifying

full mediation.

The relation between positive affect and reduced personal accomplishment was

partially mediated by overall job satisfaction (γ = -.10, p < .05, 95% CI [-.18, -.03]), and the

direct effect was smaller after controlling for overall job satisfaction (γ = -.27, t = -4.85, p

= .00), thus indicating partial mediation. Last, the indirect contribution of positive affect on

burnout through overall job satisfaction was significant (γ = -.07, p < .05, 95% CI [-.12, -.03]),

whereas the direct effect was reduced after introducing the mediator (γ = -.12, t = -2.35, p

= .02), thus revealing a partial mediation (see Figure 1).

Discussion

The purpose of this research was, first, to test the associations between positive affect,

job satisfaction, and burnout. A second aim was to determine whether job satisfaction would

mediate the link between positive affect and burnout. Positive affect was found to be

negatively associated with overall and dimensions of burnout, and the strongest relation was

found between positive affect and reduced personal accomplishment in the direction predicted

by the first hypothesis. Similar results were found regarding the relation between positive

affect and dimensions of burnout (Brackett et al., 2010). Positive affect was positively

associated with overall and dimensions of job satisfaction. The strongest association was

found between positive affect and overall job satisfaction, which partially supported the third

hypothesis. The positive link between positive affect and job satisfaction is in line with past

work (Duffy & Lent, 2009). Overall job satisfaction and dimensions of job satisfaction were

negatively related to overall burnout and dimensions of burnout, respectively. The smallest

link was found between overall job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion. Thus, the second

hypothesis was not supported; rather, these results confirmed the findings of a previous study

that found a negative relation between job satisfaction and burnout (Jamal & Baba, 1997).

Overall job satisfaction mediated the relation between positive affect and overall and

dimensions of burnout, except for the mediating role of overall job satisfaction on the relation

between positive affect and emotional exhaustion, thus providing partial support for the fourth

hypothesis.This means that teachers who


experience positive emotions from their jobs tend to have a generally good mood. This helps

them to enjoy their work and to be satisfied with their careers. This might enhance job

performance and prevent burnout. It might be that teachers who experience high positive

affect are more likely to be engaged in their jobs as they find the work of teaching interesting

despite the wide range of potential problems that can be encountered. They may be able to

face these issues and continue to work in their preferred careers, making them more satisfied,

productive, and creative, which protects them from burnout.

Limitations and Implications for Further Research

All of the results reported here were based on self-reports. Whereas self-reports

provide important information, they may be subject to the influence of teachers, and the

findings might be due to common method variance. Future studies should include both self-

and objective reports from supervisors or other teachers in the schools. No information about

either the students, such as their relationships with the teachers, or about the schools was

collected, which may have influenced the relations between the variables used in this study.

Last, because of the cross-sectional nature of the data, no conclusions can be drawn regarding

causality. We still do not know whether burnout in teachers influences their emotions. Thus,

more longitudinal research is needed.

Conclusions

This study highlighted the relations between positive affect, job satisfaction, and

burnout. It explained the importance of positive affect and job satisfaction at work in

preventing burnout. Hence, teachers who exhibit positive affect are less likely to suffer from

burnout, as opposed to those who exhibit negative affect. On the one hand, training programs

might be helpful for buffering the role that negative affect plays in creating job dissatisfaction

and, in turn, in developing burnout. On the other hand, it might also be possible that more

support from the team (i.e., supervisors) could prove to be a useful way of protecting the

teachers from burnout. The schools should also improve the working conditions to increase

job satisfaction levels, which might help to prevent burnout.


Table 1


M SD α

1. Age 42.71 6.95 --

2. Teaching experience 15.37 7.94 --

3. Positive affect 3.55 0.47 .76

4. Satisfaction with coworkers 5.05 0.97 .62

5. Satisfaction with the nature of one’s work 5.21 0.92 .64

6. Satisfaction with communication 4.37 1.41 .67

7. Overall job satisfaction 4.82 .76 .74

8. Emotional exhaustion 1.98 0.76 .90

11. Depersonalization 1.36 0.54 .77

12. Reduced personal accomplishment 1.57 0.52 .85

13. Burnout 1.69 0.48 .89

14. Work demands 2.89 0.80 .79

Note. Cronbach’s alpha is reported for all scales except for demographic variables.


Table 2

Correlations between Positive Affect, Job Satisfaction, Burnout, and Work Demands

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1. Positive affect - 20** . 24** .18** .25** -.15** -.13* -.32** -.26** -.07

2. Satisfaction with coworkers - .37** .40** .72** -.23** -.32** -.30** -.35** -.21**

3. Satisfaction with nature of work - .19** .56** . -.13* -.17** -.31** -.28** -.06

4. Satisfaction with communication - .84** -.15** -.20** -.31** -.25** -.22**

5. Overall job satisfaction - -.21** -.28** -.35** -.33** -.22**

6. Emotional exhaustion - .49** .30** .89** .48**

7. Depersonalization - .43** .67** .29**

8. Reduced personal accomplishment - .64** 08

9. Burnout - 42**

10. Work demands -

*p < .05, two-tailed. **p < .01, two-tailed.


Table 3

Results of Bootstrapping Analyses to Test Job Satisfaction as a Mediator of the Relation

between Positive Affect and Burnout

BCa 95% CI

Mediation model SE Lower Upper

1. Positive affect (X) → overall job satisfaction (M) → emotional

exhaustion (Y)

-.03 .02 -.09 -.00

2. Positive affect (X) → overall job satisfaction (M) →

depersonalization (Y)

-.07 .03 -.14 -.03

3. Positive affect (X) → overall job satisfaction (M) → reduced

personal accomplishment (Y)

-.10 .04 -.18 -.03

4. Positive affect (X) → overall job satisfaction (M) → burnout (Y) -.06 .02 -.12 -.03


interval; covariate: work demands; γ = indirect effect, X = predictor, M = mediator, Y =

criterion.


Figure 1. Illustration of partial mediation. Positive affect exerted an indirect effect on burnout

through overall job satisfaction.


Overall job satisfaction

Positive affect Burnout

.36** -.18**

-.07** (-.12**)

General Findings of the Three Studies 58

6 General Findings of the Three Studies

6.1 Emotional Intelligence, Attention to Student Needs, and Student Misconduct

Teachers high in emotional competence tend to develop and maintain supportive relationships

with their students, manage the classroom effectively, and promote positive social, emotional,

and academic outcomes for their students (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009).

Emotional intelligence seems to help the teachers recognize the needs of their students and to

respond to those needs.Thus, it improves relationships between teachers and students and

helps the students to behave in appropriate ways rather than in disruptive ones. The findings

of the first study revealed that emotional intelligence was positively related to attention to

student needs and negatively related to student misconduct. Attention to student needs

mediated the relation between emotional intelligence and student misconduct.

6.2 Emotional intelligence, Proactive Coping, Burnout, and Supervisor Support

Previous studies have reported that emotional intelligence protects individuals from being at

risk of burnout (e.g., Awa, Plaumann, & Walter, 2010), but the role of variables such as

proactive coping in mediating such a relation is still unclear.

The results of our second study revealed that emotional intelligence fosters teachers’ abilities

to use their resources to cope proactively with stressful situations and to try to find solutions

for their difficulties instead of avoiding them, thus preventing burnout. A similar finding was

reported by Schwarzer and Taubert (2002), who found that teachers who engaged in proactive

coping reported lower levels of emotional exhaustion, less cynisim, and more personal

accomplishment than reactive teachers.

Teachers who work in teams receive benefits that are not as available to those who work

alone, including higher levels of skill, variety in their jobs, knowledge of students, general

satisfaction, work group helpfulness and effectiveness, professional commitment, internal

work motivation, and teacher efficacy (Pounder, 1999). One study found that informational

support from supervisors buffered emotional exhaustion, whereas emotional support

functioned as a buffer against depersonalization (Greenglass, Fiksenbaum, & Burke, 1996).In

our research, we found that proactive coping mediated the impact of emotional intelligence on

General Discussion 59

burnout, and the indirect negative affect of emotional intelligence on reduced personal

accomplishment through proactive coping was stronger for teachers who perceived more

support from their supervisors.

6.3 Positive Affect, Job Satisfaction, and Burnout

Positive emotions at work aid teachers in finding their jobs more interesting and in enjoying

their jobs. Thus, they feel satisfied with their jobs regardless of their job demands. Thereby,

this process protects them from being at risk of burnout. As expected, the third study

indicated that the relation between positive affect and job satisfaction was positive in contrast

to the association between positive affect and burnout. Job satisfaction was found to be

negatively related to burnout and positively related to positive affect. Positive affect seems to

help teachers to be happy with their jobs and to enhance their job performance, thus

preventing burnout. Our results also showed that job satisfaction mediated the impact of

positive affect on burnout.

7 General Discussion

The aim of this research was to test whether emotional intelligence and proactive coping are

potential protective factors against burnout in Syrian teachers as well as to test the influence

of emotional intelligence on the behavior of the students. The manner in which teachers

respond to their students was related to the behavior of the students as reflected in a study by

Dobbs, Arnold, and Doctoroff (2004), who found a positive association between commands

as a specific type of teacher response and the misbehavior of students (Dobbs, Arnold; &

Doctoroff, 2004). By contrast, in my first study, I found that attention to student needs was

negatively related to student misconduct. As expected, emotional intelligence was positively

related to attention to student needs and negatively related to student misconduct. In addition,

attention to student needs mediated the relation between emotional intelligence and student

misconduct.

Thus, emotional intelligence seems to foster the abilities of teachers to pay attention to the

needs of their students. On the one hand, emotionally intelligent teachers can percieve,

reappraise, and express accurate emotions as well as receive emotional information from their

students. This helps teachers to understand their students and attend to their students’ needs.

On the other hand, emotional intelligence facilitates the abilities of teachers to regulate their

emotions so they can be in a good mood and meet the needs of their students. Furthermore,

General Discussion 60

they are aware of the feelings of their students and are sensitive to these feelings. This can

promote teacher effectiveness as was found in a study by Jha and Singh (2012), who

demonstrated that the components of emotional intelligence, namely, emotional stability, self-

motivation, managing relations, self-awareness, and integrity were the best predictors of

teacher effectiveness. Students who have enough attention paid to their needs know that the

teachers are interested not only in providing information to them but also in them personally.

These students understand that their teachers like them and care about them. Thus, attention to

student needs enhances the relationships between the teachers and their students, and the

students respond in acceptable ways to the teachers.

In the light of these data, emotional intelligence may be viewed as a factor that can protect

against burnout by enhancing the abilities of the teachers to cope proactively. Emotional

intelligence seems to foster the abilities of teachers to cope with challenges by managing their

emotions and enabling them to think effectively and focus on problem-solving, thus reducing

the risk of burnout. Due to their proactive coping strategies, these teachers apparently

perceive demands as a chance to improve their personal growth rather than as threating harm

(Schwarzer & Taubert, 2002). Another resource that enhances the ability of emotionally

intelligent teachers to combat stress is perceived support from their supervisors. The influence

of emotional intelligence on reduced personal accomplishment through proactive coping was

stronger when the teachers received more support from their supervisors. Supervisors can

provide support by giving teachers assistance, encouragement, and guidance in solving their

problems. In turn, the teachers feel good about working as a team, and they discuss their

problems with their supervisors and other teachers to find solutions. The supervisors may also

help the teachers to think more positively in order to find an adequate response to stress, and

this may prevent reduced personal accomplishment.

The degree to which teachers have control over the demands of their work and how satisfied

they are with their jobs have strong influences on the level of burnout they experience

(Pomaki & Anagnostopoulou, 2003). Negative emotions that arise from work also play an

important role in the onset of burnout. For example, judgments made by teachers regarding

the behavior of their students and other teaching tasks have also been found to contribute to

the experience of unpleasant emotions, which in turn has led to burnout (Chang, 2009). The

third study indicated that teachers who experience positive affect from their jobs seem to

enjoy their jobs, believe their jobs are valuable, and feel satisfied with their work. Being

satisfied with one’s job might create pleasant and effective working conditions, enhance job

Limitations and implications for future research 61

performance, and thus reduce burnout. This result was consistent with research by Buunk,

Zurriaga, and Peíro (2010) who demonstrated that nurses who responded at the first

measurement occasion with more positive affect to upward comparison reported less burnout

at the second measurement occasion.

8 Limitations and implications for future research

Several limitations of the present research should be noted. First,we did not test the

antecedent factors that might play an important role in contributing to burnout and we also did

not examine the consequences of burnout. Hence, future studies should examine these issues.

Second, we did not know whether the teachers suffered from other problems outside their

work, which might deplete their resources and lead to burnout. Thus, future studies should

determine the kinds of problems that teachers have.

Third, an adapted version of the PANAS scale was used to test the positive and negative

affect of the the teachers with regard to work. They were asked to answer the PANAS with

regard to the emotions and feelings that they had experienced during the previous year. This

was sometimes difficult for the teachers to recall. Future studies should require that positive

and negative affect be tested at the relevant moment.

Emotional intelligence was assessed by using the Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale,

but it would have been better to use the MSCEIT emotional intelligence scale, which is an

objective test and thus more accurate than the Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale.

With regard to perceived support from supervisors, we did not test whether the teachers

received social support from their colleagues or from the director. Such information might be

able to provide more information about the process of burnout in future research.

Other limitations are that the questionnaires consisted of self-reports from the teachers, there

was no clinical diagnosis of burnout, and we did not observe the behavior of the teachers. In

other words, this means that we could not verify whether the teachers actually suffered from

burnout or not. Future studies should test this. In addition, the assessment of burnout was

limited to one measurement occasion that occurred in the third month of the first semester.

Future research should test the burnout of teachers at the end of the semester. We also did not

ask about the teachers’ relationships with other teachers, which might also have an impact on

job satisfaction. Therefore, more studies are needed to explore this relation.

Limitations and implications for future research 62

Furthermore, we also did not assess change in the misconduct of the students. It could be that

some students who had problems asked the psychological counselors at school for help and

thus solved their problems. Therefore, we do not know whether misconduct decreased

because the teachers paid more attention to the students’ needs or because the students

received help from counselors. Longitudinal research or an experimental design would be

required to ascertain the causes of the decreases in misconduct. The findings revealed that on

the one hand, emotional intelligence is related to attention to the needs of the students, and

emotional intelligence is negatively associated with student misconduct. On the other hand,

emotional intelligence promotes the abilities of the teachers to cope with demands at work

and is negatively related to burnout. Unfortunately, we still have no information about the

relation between student misconduct and burnout. Future research should examine the

psychological mechanisms that link student misconduct with the onset of teacher burnout.

However, some teachers are asked to teach other students when there is a lack of staff, and

they may have more stress than other teachers. We did not inquire about this in our studies,

but this might play a role in the development of burnout. Future research should address

whether the teachers teach other students outside of their classes. It might also be that case

that some teachers suffer from illness, not because of burnout, but for a physical reason. This

would reduce the abilities of the teachers to perform well. Unfortunately, the question of

whether or not the teachers had such a problem was not asked in these studies.

Last,the students were of various ages, but it was unknown whether the teachers in secondary

schools were different from those in high schools, and there was also no information about the

number of students in each classroom. These factors could play a role in the occurrence of

burnout. The relationship between the teachers and their students was also not examined.

Their relationship may have affected the students’ conduct. Future research should take the

teacher-student relationship into account. Although teachers in our studies had low levels of

burnout, we used only self-reports; thus, we could not verify whether or not teachers actually

suffered from burnout because clinical diagnostics were lacking. We also did not observe the

behaviors of the teachers. Furthermore, long-term studies based on clinical diagnoses are

necessary to assess the process of burnout over time.

Conclusions 63

9 Conclusions

Emotional intelligence helps teachers to recognize the needs of their students and has a

positive effect on the behavior of the students. Emotionally intelligent teachers regard their

students as important and enjoy working with them. Thus, the students become engaged in the

learning process, and they tend to behave appropriately.Emotional intelligence also helps

teachers to be calm and to have more control over their emotions. They are able to think

clearly and use their resources to proactively cope with stressors. Regarding the important

role of emotional intelligence in the teaching process, training programs can aid teachers in

focusing on eliminating ambiguity in stressful conditions and in dealing with stress by

facilitating the capacity to make informed choices about what should be done and how to do it.

The teachers might benefit from these programs in that they might be able to deal with

professional and personal situations more effectively. This may prevent burnout as was found

in a study by Van Dierendonck, Garssen, and Visser (2005), who suggested that emotional

intelligence can be enhanced by training programs that help people to recognize their

emotions, to repair their negative emotions, as well as to prevent burnout. It might also be

useful if teachers, supervisors, and directors take part in training programs involving various

schools. This can help the teachers to acknowledge their frequent difficulties at school, to

cope with stress, and to avoid suffering from psychological illnesses. The supervisors can

help the teachers with the problems that they encounter at the schools and can provide support

and encouragement for the teachers. This would be particularly helpful for new teachers who

often struggle with the fact that the reality of the classroom is not what they expected.

However, these training programs should also concentrate on helping the directors to work

better and manage the schools in collaboration with the teachers and the supervisors. Based

on the results of our studies, the schools should assess teachers’ emotional intelligence and

proactive coping when they begin working as teachers.

Also, the students may not know they are being disruptive. Hence, the teachers should explain

the rules of the classroom. They should also be aware of the events that tend to promote such

disruptive behavior and try to reduce the occurrence of these events. The students who

misbehave may also be having problems at school or in their homes. The teachers should be

careful when dealing with these students, and these teachers should work together with the

psychological counselors at the schools in order to help the students. It might also be helpful

to administer psychological tests to the students to learn more about them such as the specific

Conclusions 64

kinds of difficulties the students are experiencing, and counselors at the schools should help

students to understand their problems and to find solutions for these problems.

There are various working conditions that make these teachers’ jobs more difficult; thus,

changing some of these working conditions might help to alleviate the stress of the teachers.

A serious problem is the curriculum, mainly because it is too long and most of the teachers

are not able to complete it. Therefore, the curriculum should be shortened. Another issue is

that the director of the school selects the team, which sometimes does not work as it should,

and the director controls the work of teachers. This adds a lot of stress to the teachers and

increases the probability of burnout. Therefore, the director should understand his job and

should work to help the teachers rather than controlling them.

Perceived supervisor support as a social resource seems to protect teachers from burnout by

providing information, help, and the sense that they are not alone in facing their problems.

Teachers and supervisors both need to be certain that they are interested in working together

as they will both benefit from working together, and the teachers need to feel that the

supervisors care about them rather than that the supervisors are just there to monitor or critize

them as sometimes happens in schools in Syria. Another problem the teachers encountered

was large classroom size. This allowed for fewer opportunities for the students to ask

questions and to interact with the teacher. It was also difficult for the teacher to attend to the

needs of all students in the classroom.

The findings of the third study showed that teachers’ positive affect at work was positively

related to their job satisfaction and negatively related to burnout. The schools should develop

policies to allow teachers to obtain positive affect and enjoy their work. For example, the

schools should create a supportive climate for the teachers to enable them to meet the

demands they face. The schools should also care about the needs of the teachers, try to

improve interactions between the teachers and their students, help teachers to share their

thoughts by providing avenues for discussion, increase teachers’ feelings of autonomy, and

provide them with more feedback than criticism. This might provide feelings of job

satisfaction and protect them against burnout.

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Curriculum vitae

Suhair Hallum

Date of birth: 18.09.1979

Place of birth: Lattakia. Syria.

Address: Max-Schäller-Straße 4/701, 09122 Chemnitz

Study: 2008-2011: PHD psychology, TU Chemnitz

2005-2008: FU Berlin

2001-2002: Diploma in Counseling Psychology at Damascus University.

Syria

1997-2001: Bachelor in Pedagogy at Tishreen University. Lattakia,

Syria

emotional intelligence and positive affect as protective - qucosa

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