The interplay among EFL teachers' emotional intelligence and self-efficacy and burnout

Considering the essential role of teachers and their characteristics in language education, their emotions are the main focus of recent studies. Emotions such as burnout which usually happens due to stress, can hinder their career progress so it needs to be addressed as it affects both learners and teachers respectively. Another construct is self-efficacy which contemplates the teachers' confidence in their aptitudes and it may reduce the probability of burnout and prevent job stress. Also, Emotional intelligence (EI) is an eminent variable in this field that is a significant predictor of job performance. Therefore, this study attempted to address English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' burnout by associating the effects of these factors such as EI and self-efficacy. Accordingly, 400 EFL teachers agreed to participate and were given three relevant questionnaires. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized and the findings indicated that both teacher self-efficacy (beta = -0.123, p < .05) and emotional intelligence (beta = -0.14, p < .05) are significant predictors of burnout. The two variables jointly could explain 4.3 % of variances in teacher burnout. Teacher self-efficacy has a significant direct effect on burnout with standard estimate of -0.123 (p = .03). It also has a positive effect on emotional intelligence with standardized estimate of 0.245 (p = .000). Emotional intelligence, in turn, has a negative effect on burnout with standardized estimate of 0.14 (p = .16). The mediation analysis showed that the indirect effect of teacher self-efficacy is 0.034 (p = .017). Finally, some implications and recommendations for EFL stakeholders are presented.