An Investigation into Chinese English Teachers’ Organizational Commitment: Do Emotion Regulation and Workplace Buoyancy Matter?

Considering the key role of organizational commitment in teachers’ professional performance, many researchers have studied the predictors of this variable in different educational institutions. However, a short glance at the pertinent literature displays that most of the previous studies on this variable have been conducted in general education contexts. Furthermore, to date, limited attention has been paid to the role of emotional attributes in teachers’ organizational commitment. In response to these omissions, the present research explored the role of two emotional attributes, namely emotion regulation (expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal) and workplace buoyancy, in English teachers’ organizational commitment (affective, normative, and continuance commitment). To this end, three self-report questionnaires were administered to 270 Chinese English teachers. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and linear regression analysis (LRA) were performed using the latest version of Amos software to analyze participants’ answers to the self-report measures. Results obtained from the CFA indicated strong, direct associations between Chinese English teachers’ workplace buoyancy, emotion regulation, and organizational commitment. Moreover, the outcomes of LRA uncovered that emotion regulation and workplace buoyancy, as two emotional attributes, could bring significant, favorable differences in Chinese English teachers’ organizational commitment. These outcomes could be instructive for educational authorities and teacher educators.