Abstract

Although the role of positive teaching emotions in enhancing instructional quality is increasingly recognized amid educational reforms and rising professional demands, the mechanisms linking teachers’ emotional intelligence (EI) to these emotions remain underexplored among middle school English teachers. Grounded in Conservation of Resources (COR) theory and the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, this study examined how EI predicts positive teaching emotions by exploring the mediating roles of job satisfaction and work engagement. Data were collected from 370 middle school English teachers in China, and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test a hypothesized chain mediation model. Results indicated that EI was positively associated with positive teaching emotions, with work engagement serving as a significant mediator. Furthermore, EI indirectly predicted positive teaching emotions through a sequential pathway from job satisfaction to work engagement; notably, job satisfaction alone did not function as a significant mediator. These findings underscore EI as a critical personal resource for sustaining positive affect and provide theoretical and practical insights for promoting teacher well-being and supportive classroom environments in secondary education.

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