Special education teachers' emotional intelligence and its relationships with social support, work engagement and job performance: a job demands-resources theory's perspective.

ABSTRACT

Based on the Job Demands-Resources theory, this research investigated the multiple mediating role of special education teachers' social support and work engagement in the relationship between their emotional intelligence and job performance. Data of 710 Chinese mainland teachers in special education schools were analyzed. The results showed that emotional intelligence directly predicted job performance. Both social support and work engagement partially mediated the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance. Furthermore, social support and work engagement serially mediated the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance. The limitations and implications for future studies and practices are discussed.