Emotional Labor of Early Childhood Educators: Relationships With Students and Parents

This study examines the emotional labor of early childhood educators and its relationship with interactions involving children and parents, with a focus on emotional regulation and demographic influences. This study aimed to investigate the impact of emotional regulation strategies and demographic variables on educators’ emotional well-being during professional interactions. A quantitative approach was adopted, with data collected through structured questionnaires. The analysis concentrated on emotion suppression and surface acting in relation to well-being. Results indicated that teachers experienced considerable emotional burden, with emotion suppression being more prevalent than surface acting, particularly in interactions with parents. Fifty-three percent of educators reported a high emotional burden in parent-related suppression, compared to 38% in interactions with children. Additionally, 38% reported high suppression in self-regulation, while 29% experienced no burden from surface acting. Emotion suppression in parent interactions had the most significant impact on well-being (standardized coefficient = 0.4044, p < .001), followed by education level (coefficient = 0.1646, p < .001). Factors such as generation, teaching experience, salary, and certification were not statistically significant. The model explained 18.7% of the variance in emotional well-being. These findings align with existing literature that highlights the emotional burden of teaching and the psychological toll of unaddressed regulation challenges. Therefore, culturally and contextually appropriate suppression-management training, together with enhanced institutional support, is essential to reduce the emotional burden on Indonesian early childhood educators.