How Stress Mindset Mitigates Burnout: The Role of Hope in Work–Family Conflict Among Chinese Teachers

Teacher burnout is a pressing global issue with significant implications for educational quality. Although work-family conflict (WFC) is a well-documented cause of teacher burnout, the psychological mechanisms underlying this relationship remain insufficiently understood and warrant examination through the lens of individual resources and positive psychology. This study investigated the relationship between work-family conflict (WFC) and burnout among Chinese elementary and middle school teachers, with a specific focus on the mediating and moderating roles of hope and a stress-is-enhancing mindset. Data were collected from 452 teachers (including 355 females) using well-validated scales. The results revealed that: (1) WFC was found to be directly and positively associated with burnout, as well as indirectly associated through the mediating role of hope. (2) A stress-is-enhancing mindset moderates the negative association between WFC and hope. Specifically, the negative association between WFC and hope was significantly weaker among teachers with a high level of this mindset compared to those with a low level. These findings suggest that fostering hope and cultivating a stress-is-enhancing mindset can mitigate burnout risk, pointing to a viable pathway for promoting occupational well-being by developing teachers' psychological resources.