Exploring the Structure of Teachers’ Emotional Labor in the Classroom: A Multitrait–Multimethod Analysis

Abstract

This study tests whether teachers’ emotional labor in classroom settings is optimally conceptualized according to the type of emotional labor strategy involved (genuinely expressing, hiding, and faking emotions), the specific type of emotion being performed in class (e.g., enjoyment vs. pride vs. anxiety), or both strategy type and emotion type. Multitrait–multimethod analyses of 1,086 Canadian teachers’ survey responses showed teachers’ responses to emotional labor items to be most reliably differentiated according to both specific types of emotional labor strategies as well as the valence of the emotion being performed. Findings were largely consistent with common “display rules” encouraging expression of positive emotions and hiding of negative emotions by teachers in classroom settings. Results further showed teachers’ emotional labor strategies for negative emotions to be particularly contingent on the specific discrete emotion involved, highlighting the complexity of expressing negative emotions as a behavior management strategy.

“Teachers' Emotional Labor” Publications in Web of Science: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…Since the early 2000s, more systematic empirical research has been emerging; for instance, Näring et al ( 2006 ) were among the first researchers in the field of education to adopt the emotional labor scale originally developed for organizational behavior research (see Brotheridge and Lee, 2003 ). Most recently, scholars have used the multimethod research approach embedding a series of independent studies within one single research project in response to the complexity of emotion (see Burić and Frenzel, 2019 ; Wang et al, 2020 ).…”

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

“…For instance, when the felt emotions are inconsistent with display rules, individuals may use strategies of surface acting (hereafter SA, in which one regulates emotions through faking unfelt emotions and/or hiding felt emotions) and deep acting (hereafter DA, in which one consciously modifies feelings to express the desired emotions, Brotheridge & Lee, 2003 ; Grandey, 2000 ; Hochschild, 1983 ). In empirical studies, emotional labor strategies can be measured to reflect individuals’ emotional labor (Grandey & Gabriel, 2015 ; Wang et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Classrooms, the main focal point in formal education systems at all learning levels (UNESCO, 2015 ), are essential in translating the curriculum (Remillard & Heck 2014 ), delivering academic knowledge (Pekrun et al, 2017 ), and promoting students’ social competence (Frenzel et al, 2009 ). In classroom settings, teachers “engage in complex emotional labor” (Wang et al, 2020 , p. 10) and verify their identity as learning supporters that prevail over others (e.g., colleagues, school employees, De Costa et al, 2018 ), which may endow TEL with more pedagogical features. First, display rules of classrooms require teachers to maintain positive emotions, repress negative emotions and use emotions as a teaching tool (Waldbuesser et al, 2021 ; Yin & Lee, 2012 ).…”

“…Since the 1990s, TEL and factors related to it have drawn increasing attention from scholars (Burić & Frenzel, 2021 ; Hargreaves, 2000 ; Yin & Lee, 2012 ; Zembylas, 2004 ). However, prior research explored TEL in teachers’ broader settings, while studies on TEL in classrooms (TELC), the fundamental teaching setting, are limited (Wang et al, 2020 ).…”

“…As the “working environment does influence display rules” (Grandey & Gabriel 2015 , p. 328), in classrooms teachers are required to perform the expected or desirable emotions according to classrooms’ display rules that besides displaying positive emotions and hiding negative ones, teachers also instrumentalize emotions to achieve teaching goals (Waldbuesser et al, 2021 ; Yin & Lee, 2012 ). Moreover, teachers face emotional events among teachers, students, and teaching in classrooms where TELC is mainly used to assist their class instructions (e.g., teachers apply emotional labor to combine their teaching beliefs with curriculum requirements; Loh & Liew, 2016 ; Miller & Gkonou, 2018 ), support students’ learning (e.g., teachers’ faking of emotions is positively related to students’ academic engagement; Burić & Frenzel, 2021 ; Nyanjom & Naylor, 2021 ; Zembylas, 2004 ), and deal with their own emotions (Isenbarger & Zembylas, 2006 ; Wang et al, 2020 ). Changes in environment, display rules, purpose, and other factors can impact how teachers apply emotional labor strategies (Brotheridge & Lee, 2003 ; Trougakos et al, 2011 ).…”