Department of English and Linguistics, Faculty of Language and Literature, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran.
10.22077/ali.2026.10189.1208
Abstract
Teacher burnout threatens educator well-being and educational quality, particularly within the demanding English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. While personal resources like self-compassion and mindfulness are known protective factors, the psychological mechanisms through which they mitigate burnout remain underexplored. This study investigated the mediating role of emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) in the relationship between these resources and the core dimensions of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment). Using a cross-sectional survey of 315 practicing Iranian EFL instructors, we tested a hypothesized structural equation model (SEM) with formal bootstrapping for mediation. The model demonstrated excellent fit, explaining substantial variance in emotional exhaustion (48%), depersonalization (41%), and personal accomplishment (44%). Results revealed that self-compassion was a potent protective factor against all burnout dimensions, while mindfulness also directly predicted lower exhaustion and higher accomplishment. Critically, mediation analysis confirmed that emotion regulation was a key mechanism; expressive suppression, in particular, emerged as a significant risk pathway linking lower self-compassion to higher burnout. The findings underscore the multifaceted role of self-compassion and have significant implications for teacher training and professional development. They suggest that fostering self-compassion and adaptive emotion regulation skills is a crucial strategy for mitigating burnout in the EFL profession.
Soleimani, H. , Fathi, J. and Ghaslani, R. (2026). Protective Resources Against Teacher Burnout: A Structural Equation Model of Self-Compassion, Mindfulness, and Emotion Regulation Among EFL Teachers. Applied Linguistics Inquiry, 4(1), 39-56. doi: 10.22077/ali.2026.10189.1208
MLA
Soleimani, H. , , Fathi, J. , and Ghaslani, R. . "Protective Resources Against Teacher Burnout: A Structural Equation Model of Self-Compassion, Mindfulness, and Emotion Regulation Among EFL Teachers", Applied Linguistics Inquiry, 4, 1, 2026, 39-56. doi: 10.22077/ali.2026.10189.1208
HARVARD
Soleimani, H., Fathi, J., Ghaslani, R. (2026). 'Protective Resources Against Teacher Burnout: A Structural Equation Model of Self-Compassion, Mindfulness, and Emotion Regulation Among EFL Teachers', Applied Linguistics Inquiry, 4(1), pp. 39-56. doi: 10.22077/ali.2026.10189.1208
CHICAGO
H. Soleimani , J. Fathi and R. Ghaslani, "Protective Resources Against Teacher Burnout: A Structural Equation Model of Self-Compassion, Mindfulness, and Emotion Regulation Among EFL Teachers," Applied Linguistics Inquiry, 4 1 (2026): 39-56, doi: 10.22077/ali.2026.10189.1208
VANCOUVER
Soleimani, H., Fathi, J., Ghaslani, R. Protective Resources Against Teacher Burnout: A Structural Equation Model of Self-Compassion, Mindfulness, and Emotion Regulation Among EFL Teachers. Applied Linguistics Inquiry, 2026; 4(1): 39-56. doi: 10.22077/ali.2026.10189.1208
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