Spillover of Positive Family Events to Teacher Work Role Performance: Evidence From Chinese County‐Level Schools

ABSTRACT Objective While prior research has extensively examined the influence of individual and work‐related factors on teachers' performance, the cross‐domain impact of positive experiences in family life remains underexplored. Grounded in affective events theory, this study investigates how positive family events influence the work role performance of primary and secondary school teachers in China and explores the underlying mechanisms. Methods This study employs a multi‐wave, multi‐source questionnaire design, targeting married primary and secondary school teachers and their spouses from 25 county‐level schools across eastern, central, and western China. To test the hypotheses, a structural equation model (SEM) is constructed to examine the mediating path, followed by the mean‐anchoring method to establish and analyze the moderating effect. Results The results revealed that positive family events significantly enhanced teachers' life satisfaction, which in turn positively predicted their work role performance. Life satisfaction served as a partial mediator in this relationship. Moreover, spouses' emotional intelligence was found to moderate both the direct effect of positive family events on teachers' life satisfaction and the indirect effect on work role performance through life satisfaction. Conclusions These findings deepen our understanding of how family domain resources spill over to influence work performance, highlight the critical role of spousal support (via emotional intelligence) in this process, and extend the application of affective events theory to the family–work interface in the context of Chinese education.