Emotional Labor, Role Overload, and Burnout: Understanding Workplace Struggles of High School Teachers

Abstract

The current research was carried out to explore emotional labor (EL), role overload (RO), and burnout among high school teachers. It was hypothesized that there is a significant correlation between emotional labor, burnout, and role overload among high school teachers. To study the variables, the Teacher Emotional Labor Strategy Scale (TELSS), Riley’s Role Overload Scale, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) were employed, all of which have reliable psychometric properties. A cross-sectional research design with a convenient sampling technique was used for data collection from 150 high school teachers, both male 24 and female 126 with an age range from 22 to 60 years, teaching in Rawalpindi and Islamabad public and private schools. The results of the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation denoted that Emotional Labor and its sub-scales, Surface Acting and Deep Acting, were found to have a significant positive correlation with Role Overload.  Emotional Labor was also significantly positively correlated with Burnout and its sub-scales (Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonalization). Burnout and its sub-scales were found to have a substantial positive correlation with role overload. Emotional exhaustion and surface acting were revealed to be significantly positively correlated. Emotional exhaustion and deep acting did not have a significant correlation, whereas emotional exhaustion and role overload were revealed to be significantly positively correlated. The study will be helpful for educationists and policymakers at the school level to understand Emotional labour, Role overload, and Burnout associated with teachers’ performance and well-being at the workplace.