Relationship between Emotional Labor, Perceived School Climate and Emotional Exhaustion: A Study on Public School Teachers

Abstract

Teachers’ emotional labor strategies have increased their importance in recent years. Teaching as a profession requires the high level of emotional labor which is a new area of research and it needs to be examined in terms of causes and consequences. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between emotional labor, perceived school climate, and emotional exhaustion. The sample included 212 primary, middle and high school teachers in Istanbul. As a survey instrument questionnaire was used to learn the respondents’ perception of school climate, emotional labor strategies, and emotional exhaustion. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze if; school climate is an antecedent of emotional labor, emotional exhaustion is a consequence of emotional labor and there is a relationship between school climate and emotional exhaustion. Results indicated that Turkish school teachers’ emotional exhaustion was negatively affected by the school climate. In contrast, teachers’ perceptions of school climate did not have a significant effect on emotional labor strategies. On the other hand, teachers’ surface acting strategies had a positive and significant effect on emotional exhaustion but teachers’ deep acting behaviors had no significant effect on emotional exhaustion.