Preschool teachers’ emotional labor, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction: Social support as a moderator

Using conservation of resources theory, this study investigated emotional labor, emotional exhaustion, social support, and job satisfaction among preschool teachers. The sample comprised 304 teachers working at kindergartens and early education institutions where electronic monitoring systems had been installed. The results showed that among the three examined emotional labor strategies, surface acting was negatively correlated with job satisfaction, while genuine expression and deep acting were positively correlated with job satisfaction. Mediating effect testing revealed that emotional exhaustion partially mediated the link between the three emotional labor strategies and job satisfaction. Moderating effect testing revealed that social support mitigated the relationships of surface acting and genuine expression with emotional exhaustion; however, there was no moderating effect of social support between deep acting and emotional exhaustion. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.