How Social-Emotional Competence of Chinese Rural Kindergarten Teachers Affects Job Burnout: an Analysis Based on Mediating and Moderating Effects

Although teacher social-emotional competence (SEC) has been recognized as a crucial indicator of teacher professional development as well as an effective predictor of their psychological well-being, little is known about how teachers’ SEC contributes to job burnout. The objectives of the present research were to explore the impact of SEC on job burnout and its internal mechanisms among rural kindergarten teachers in China. In total, 446 rural kindergarten teachers were assessed using SEC, burnout, self-efficacy, job satisfaction and organizational trust scales. The results showed that the SEC of rural kindergarten teachers not only directly predicted job burnout, but also indirectly impacted it via the separate mediating effects of self-efficacy and job satisfaction and the chain-mediating effects of both variables. Furthermore, organizational trust can effectively moderate the effect of teachers’ SEC on burnout. These results suggest that attention is needed to develop rural kindergarten teachers’ individual resources (e.g., SEC and self-efficacy) and establish a more supportive and trustworthy organizational environment to alleviate their job burnout.