Emotional wellbeing in teachers

Abstract

Wellbeing is determined by happiness and both positive and negative affects. These constructs are, in turn, related to emotional intelligence and play an important role in individual behaviour. This study examined the relationship between happiness, emotional intelligence, and positive and negative affects in a sample of 344 (121 men 35.17 % and 223 women 64.83 %) trainee teachers, with an average age of 22.36 years. Happiness and affects yielded lower values, which may be related to the age of the participants. All variables under study were found to be correlated, which suggests that they are measuring the same construct: subjective wellbeing. Network analysis indicated that the self-regulation of emotions was the axial factor in the relationship. Finally, it was found that only the factor of emotional intelligence that measures the self-regulation of emotion and affects (both positive and negative) can be used to predict happiness. The present investigation reveals that more research is needed that takes more variables into consideration to describe the effect of these variables on personal wellbeing. The study offers empirical support to models that argue for a relationship between happiness, emotional intelligence, and affects, and emphasises the need to work on future teachers during their training to address their psychological wellbeing.

Keywords: Affects; Emotional intelligence; Emotional wellbeing; Happiness; Teachers.