Emotion experiences and emotional dissonance of teachers during class and how they relate to emotional exhaustion : An experience-sampling study

Abstract

There is a distinct lack of research addressing emotional processes within the context of teacher burnout. The present study investigated teachers’ emotional exhaustion and how it relates to teachers’ in-situ emotional experiences and emotional dissonance on an inter- and intraindividual level. Employing the Experience Sampling Method, N = 39 teachers of German Gymnasium were equipped with handheld computers and reported on their emotions and emotional dissonance while teaching in class (state-level), thus yielding a total of N = 717 stateassessments. Additionally, teachers rated their emotional exhaustion in a previously issued trait-questionnaire. Descriptive results on a state-level show that teachers report to suppress their emotions in 38% of the lessons, and in about 28% of the lessons to fake emotions. Multilevel structural equation modeling reveals that emotional exhaustion is positively related to teachers’ experience of anger, and negatively related to enjoyment, yet not to their experience of anxiety. On an interindividual level – that is between teachers – only anger is a significant contributor to teachers’ emotional dissonance, while on an intraindividual level – that is within teachers – all emotions significantly predict emotional dissonance. Implications will be discussed in the presentation.