Teachers’ emotional labor and occupational commitment: Teaching efficacy as a mediator and perceived COVID-19 crisis strength as a moderator

Scholars have previously established a link between emotional labor and teachers’ occupational commitment, but the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain largely unexplored. Guided by social cognitive theory, event system theory, and the job demands???resources model, in this study we explored the mediating effect of teaching efficacy and the moderating effect of perceived COVID-19 crisis strength on the relationship between teachers’ emotional labor and their occupational commitment. The participants were 889 primary and secondary school teachers, who completed measures of emotional labor, occupational commitment, teaching efficacy, and perceived COVID-19 crisis strength. The results showed that deep acting, but not surface acting, was significantly associated with teachers’ occupational commitment. Furthermore, this relationship was partially mediated by teaching efficacy. Perceived COVID-19 crisis strength moderated the direct and indirect relationships between deep acting and teachers’ occupational commitment. These findings offer valuable implications for developing effective interventions to bolster teachers’ occupational commitment.