Risk and Protective Factors of Emotional Exhaustion in Teachers. A Moderating Mediation on Emotional Exhaustion

Emotional exhaustion negatively influences teachers’ professional development. The main aim of this study was to analyze how the perception of attention to diversity, emotional dissonance, and social support were related to emotional exhaustion. To carry out this study, 567 teachers (64.9% women, mean age = 44.80, SD = 0.48) answered a questionnaire. Emotional dissonance mediated the relationships that established with emotional exhaustion the perception of attention to diversity (a) derived from special educational needs and (b) derived from cultural diversity. These mediations were moderated by social support, by confirming the interaction effect between social support and (a) the perception of attention to cultural diversity and (b) emotional dissonance. Teachers’ perceptions of having to attend to diversity and not being able to express the real emotions they feel to students are stressor factors that influence emotional exhaustion levels. Moreover, social support acts as a protective factor that diminishes the negative effects of perception of attention to diversity and emotional dissonance on emotional exhaustion. These results highlight the need to promote strong support networks in educational settings within the center’s cloister, to stimulate a healthier educational environment that reverts to lower levels of emotional exhaustion among teachers.