The effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model is a theoretical model of a psychosocial work environment with adverse effects on health and well-being that focuses on a mismatch between high efforts spent and low rewards received at work. This study aimed to develop and psychometrically test an effort-reward imbalance questionnaire for teachers (Teacher ERIQ) based on the ERI model. The structure validity, reliability, and criterion validity of the new questionnaire’s scores were evaluated in a sample of 475 Chinese teachers. The results of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed that a structure of four factors of effort (workload, emotional demands, student-related issues, and social responsibility) and two factors of reward (emotional reward and material reward) in accordance with the ERI model had significant factor loadings and acceptable model fit. The Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients of all dimensions’ scores showed that the questionnaire scores had good reliability. Criterion validity was indicated by significant correlation coefficients of scores of most dimensions along with teachers’ self-reported job burnout and non-reciprocal social relations, as well as the ANOVA results showing that the differences of the scores of the two criterion scales in different ERI ratio levels were significant. The results also showed that teacher’s ERI level varied with demographic variables such as age, gender and school type. The Teacher ERIQ is a valid and reliable new measurement for assessing teachers’ psychosocial work characteristics. It can be an important tool to provide new explanations of stress-related health risks among teachers and to guide the development of preventive measurements.

As an important dimension of emotional assessment, valence can refer to affective valence reflecting an emotional response, or semantic valence reflecting knowledge about the nature of a stimulus. A previous study has used repeated exposure to separate these two similar cognitive processes. Here, for the first time, we compared the spatiotemporal dynamics of the affective and semantic modes of valence by combining event-related potentials with repeated exposure. Forty-seven female participants were assigned to the feeling-focused and semantic-focused groups and thereafter repeatedly viewed the pictures selected for the study. Self-report behavioral results showed that post-test scores were significantly lower than pre-test scores in the feeling-focused group, while the differences between the two tests were not significant in the semantic-focused group. At the neural level, N2 amplitudes decreased and early late positive potential amplitudes increased in both groups, suggesting that the participants perceived the repeated pictures more fluently and retrieved the traces of the stimulus spontaneously regardless of the valence they judged. However, the late positive potential amplitudes in anterior areas and the activity of the middle frontal gyrus were attenuated in the feeling-focused group; however, this component in posterior areas and the activity of the precentral gyrus were increased in the semantic-focused group. Therefore, the processes of affective and semantic valence are similar in the early stages of image perception and retrieval, while in the later stage of valence judgment, these processes show different brain activation patterns. The results provide electrophysiological evidence for the differences in psychological processes when judging the two modes of valence.