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Moving the Debate Forward: A Cross‐Sectional Study Examining Marxist and Interactionalist Perspectives of Emotional Labor in Teaching

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACT The Marxist perspective asserts that teachers' emotional labor is alienating because it is prescribed by institutional forces such as external accountability, leading to burnout. However, the interactionist perspective disagrees with this perspective; it posits that teachers possess subjectivity, such as a sense of calling, which enables them to intentionally manage their emotions to achieve self‐actualization. Thus, this study aims to contribute to the debate by examining the relationships amongst teachers' emotional labor, external accountability, sense of calling, and burnout in China. The findings reveal (1) a negative relationship between external accountability and burnout that is mediated by various forms of emotional labor and (2) a significant moderation effect of a sense of calling on the relationship between external accountability and emotional labor. The findings generally support the internationalist perspective but show that the Marxist perspective may be applicable in explaining emotional labor amongst teachers with a weak sense of calling.

Source: European Journal of Education

DOI: 10.1111/ejed.12814

Authors: Kwok Kuen Tsang, Ying Zhang, Guanyu Li, Huan Song

Institutions: Education University of Hong Kong, Purdue University West Lafayette, Beijing Normal University

Language: English

Topic: Emotional Labor in Professions

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities