Linking personal resources to burnout and work engagement in high school teachers: Does emotional intelligence exhibit differential relationships?

Abstract

This study examined the role of emotional intelligence on burnout and engagement at work in teachers. On the basis of the job demands-resources model, the authors predicted that emotional intelligence will be higher related to engagement dimensions (vigour and dedication) rather than burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation). This study hypothesis was tested with Spanish high school teachers from different educational school centres from the province of Málaga (Spain). In line with this hypothesis, correlation and linear regression analysis exhibit preliminary support of these differential relationships. In particular, emotional intelligence showed higher associations and accounted for more explained variance for vigour and dedication compared to emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. The fact that teacher burnout and engagement exhibit different patterns with this job resource suggests that an emotional intelligence intervention program might be more benefitial in enhancing work engagement than reducing teacher burnout. Implications for burnout and engagement research and teacher management practices are discussed.