Volume-XII, Issue-V, September 2026 |
Emotion Regulation and Work–Life Balance Among School Teachers in India: A Systematic Review Ms. J. Roopa, Research Scholar (Part Time), M. K. University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India Dr. M. Selvi, Guide, Vice-Principal, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, MSCIMHR, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India |
Received: 25.09.2026 | Accepted: 29.09.2026 | Published Online: 30.09.2026 | Page No: 189-195 | ||||
DOI: 10.29032/ijhsss.vol.12.issue.05W.384 | |||||||
ABSTRACT | ||
Teaching is a noble and emotionally demanding profession. Indian school teachers have to deal with a large class size, administrative tasks, assessing students’ performance, interacting with students and parents; a few of them even have to commute a long distance with additional domestic duties at the end of the day, leaving them emotionally and physically exhausted and work -life balance (WLB) difficult to sustain. James J. Gross defined Emotion regulation (ER) as “the processes by which individuals influence which emotions they have, when they have them and how they experience and express them”, and it can be taken as a key personal resource that helps teachers manage workplace demands without exhausting the energy needed for family and personal life. This paper presents a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature examining the relationship between Emotion Regulation and Work-Life Balance among school teachers, with particular attention given to studies set in India and other comparable educational contexts. According to Gross's process model of emotion regulation, the review finds that antecedent-focused strategies, such as cognitive reappraisal, are generally linked to greater wellbeing and work–life balance, whereas response-focused strategies, such as suppression and surface acting, are associated with exhaustion and role conflict. The review finds that while emotion regulation training and supportive school environment can reduce burnout, Emotion Regulation alone does not resolve structural sources of imbalance such as workload and inflexible schedules. This paper discusses implications for teacher training, school policy, and future Indian research. | ||
Keywords: emotion regulation; work-life balance; school teachers; India; teacher burnout; occupational stress, teaching |