Teachers’ Professional Identity and Burnout among Chinese Female School Teachers: Mediating Roles of Work Engagement and Psychological Capital

Abstract

Burnout is a serious phenomenon among female kindergarten, primary, and secondary school teachers in China. Previous research has shown that professional identity negatively predicts burnout. However, little is known about the mediating mechanisms underlying this relationship. This study examined the relationship between professional identity and burnout and the mediating roles of work engagement and psychology using a sample of Chinese teachers. A total of 2220 female teachers participated (kindergarten: 16.9%; primary school: 56.7%; secondary school: 26.4%). They answered four questionnaires measuring their professional identity, work engagement, psychological capital, and burnout. PROCESS macro (SPSS 21.0) was used to conduct mediation analyses of work engagement and psychological capital in the relationship between professional identity and burnout. Working simultaneously, work engagement, and psychological capital partially mediated the aforementioned relationship, which could reduce burnout. Working sequentially completely mediated the relationship between professional identity and burnout, and hence, the latter was the lowest. Specific implications are discussed, such as the improvement of professional identity and psychological capital.