Latent Profiles of Teachers’ Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation: A Counseling Psychology Perspective on Resilient Educational Workplaces

Teachers’ emotional resilience is increasingly recognized as a target for counseling-informed workplace interventions that support sustainable professional functioning in demanding educational environments. Grounded in Ellen Langer’s socio-cognitive theory, this study examined the association between teachers’ mindfulness profiles and their use of emotion regulation strategies, highlighting implications for counseling and professional support. Socio-cognitive mindfulness conceptualizes mindfulness as active engagement, novelty seeking, and novelty producing, qualities closely aligned with reflective and adaptive processes fostered in counseling contexts. A sample of 402 in-service teachers completed self-report measures assessing mindfulness and emotion regulation. Latent Profile Analysis identified four distinct mindfulness profiles: Moderate–Stable, High Mindfulness, Novelty-Oriented with Lower Engagement, and High Engagement–Seeking with Lower Novelty Producing. Multivariate analyses revealed significant, though small, differences in emotion regulation across profiles. Teachers in the High Mindfulness profile reported greater use of active modification than those in the Moderate–Stable profile and lower avoidance than those in the High Engagement–Seeking with Lower Novelty Producing profile. Overall, findings partially supported the hypotheses, suggesting that certain socio-cognitive mindfulness profiles are associated with differences in emotion regulation strategies. These findings may inform future research on counseling-informed approaches to teacher professional development. The cross-sectional design and small effects do not establish causal mechanisms or the effectiveness of profile-specific interventions. Resilience and well-being were not directly assessed.