Conscious Self-Regulation and Life Satisfaction as Resources for Professional Engagement and Burnout Prevention in Modern Teachers

The relevance of searching for psychological resources to maintain professional engagement and prevent emotional burnout is determined by the high workload and stressful working conditions of modern teachers. The purpose of this study was (1) to identify regulatory resources of teacher involvement and (2) to consider them as a way for the teachers to be protected against burnout depending on life satisfaction and length of service. The study sample consisted of secondary-school teachers from Moscow, Moscow region and Kaluga ( N = 142, aged = 44,61±12,29; average length of service = 19,62 ± 12,73), divided into three groups: average length of service = 0-5 years ( N = 21, aged = 27,5±6,64), average length of service = 5-20 years ( N = 52; aged = 38.35 ± 8.23); and 20 and older (n = 69, aged = 54.7 ± 6.7). The diagnostic tools included: The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) ; The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) ; The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) ; and V.I. Morosanova’s Questionnaire of Self-Regulation Style of Behavior, SSMS-2020 . The authors found positive relationships between engagement and conscious self-regulation of goal achievement, satisfaction and professional performance, but negative relationships with burnout symptoms. It has been shown that the level of engagement and satisfaction do not depend on length of service, in contrast to manifestations of burnout and regulatory resources, which differ among teachers with different lengths of service. For the first time, the meta-resource role of self-regulation has been demonstrated, the development of which makes a significant contribution to all components of engagement. Teachers with different lengths of service use different regulatory resources to maintain it, depending on the meaningful tasks of their professional activity. Life satisfaction is especially important at the initial stage of work at school, while low burnout is a condition for high involvement for teachers with medium and long experience. The obtained results are discussed in the context of the resource approach, as well as practical technologies for maintaining engagement and reducing burnout in teachers.