Can empathy lead to emotional exhaustion in teachers? The mediating role of emotional labor

Objectives: The present study was designed to examine the links between empathy, emotional labor (both surface and deep acting), and emotional exhaustion as well as determine if emotional labor mediates the relationship between empathy and emotional exhaustion in teachers. It was assumed that emotional labor can take two opposite directions (positive mood induction and negative mood induction). Thus, the additional aim of the study was to analyze the mediating role of mood regulation strategies in the relationship between empathy and emotional exhaustion. Materials and Methods: A sample of 168 teachers from Łódź and its surroundings completed a set of questionnaires: Emotional Labor Scale; Mood Regulation Scales, Maslach Burnout Inventory, and Empathic Sensitivity Scale. Results: The results provided mixed support for the hypotheses indicating that both types of emotional labor, negative mood induction and emotional exhaustion were positively intercorrelated. Moreover, deep acting was a significant mediator in the relationship between empathy and emotional exhaustion. The analyzed link was also mediated by negative mood induction, whereas positive mood induction did not emerge as a significant mediator. Conclusions: The study provided insight into the role of empathy and emotional labor in the development of teacher burnout. It also confirmed that deep acting and negative mood induction mediate the relationship between empathy and emotional exhaustion in teachers

Motor and sensory dissociative phenomena with induced catalepsy

Contains fulltext : 55645.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)The purpose of this study was to investigate dissociative symptoms that may occur as an epiphenomenon of tactile-induced catalepsy. In 15 participants, catalepsy was induced in the right arm, and dissociative symptoms were evaluated using a self-report questionnaire. In comparison with the left, noncataleptic arm, the right cataleptic arm was perceived differently. In addition to increased rigidity, the cataleptic arm was characterized by the presence of paresthesias, a decreased perception of sense and a decreased awareness of the arm. Moreover, the self-reported changes in perception were significantly correlated to the hypnotically induced arm-immobilization part of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale. In conclusion, catalepsy induction elicits a variety of dissociative symptoms and provides a useful research paradigm for the study of motor-perceptual dissociative phenomena