Teachers’ personality, emotions and performance: a dynamic perspective

In recent years, research into the emotions and emotional regulation of teachers has been on the rise. It has been recognized that different discrete teacher emotions and emotional regulation strategies are related to teacher well-being (Burić and Frenzel, 2019; Burić et al., 2019; Chang, 2013), their work performance (Frenzel, 2009), and student outcomes (Frenzel et al. ., 2018). Despite these significant insights, a number of important questions still need to be answered. For example, empirical evidence on the role of teacher emotions and emotional regulation in predicting their teaching quality and student cognitive, affective, and motivational outcomes is still very rare and almost exclusively based on transversal studies that cannot determine causal mechanisms. In addition, taking into account the fact that personality traits affect emotions and emotional regulation (Carver and Connor-Smith, 2010) and teacher performance (Kim et al., 2019), research into the role of more stable teacher personality characteristics in predicting their emotional processes and work performance is of great importance. Finally, despite the fact that contemporary theories of emotions clearly emphasize their dynamic and adaptable nature (e.g., Kuppens, 2015) and that newer theoretical frameworks of personality emphasize the dynamic integration of traits, contexts, and current psychological states (e.g., DeYoung, 2015), teachers' emotions and emotional regulation have so far been largely defined as stable traits or as short-lived static states over time. Therefore, the aim of this project is to explore the role of emotions and strategies of emotional regulation of teachers in explaining their work performance, taking into account the effects of stable personality traits and changing situational characteristics and taking into account the dynamic nature of teachers' emotional experiences. To achieve this goal, data will be collected from teachers and their students and sophisticated longitudinal methods will be implemented to identify underlying causal mechanisms that could explain the connections between these constructs. The results of research conducted within this project will make a significant contribution to the development of theories in the field, but also serve as a basis for creating practical implications for improving the professional well-being and performance of teachers, which can ultimately contribute to raising the quality of education as a whole.

Project funded by Croatian Science Foundation