A person-centered analysis of Hong Kong kindergarten teachers' emotion regulation: Profiles, characteristics and relations

Abstract

With a sample of 470 kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong, this study first examined these teachers' emotion regulation strategies assessed by a newly adapted scale, the Kindergarten Teacher Emotion Regulation Scale. Then, the study adopted a person-centred approach and conducted the latent profile analysis, identifying different profiles of teachers' use of the emotion regulation strategies. It also examined the relationships between these profiles and teachers' self-efficacy and two contextual antecedents, instructional leadership and trust in colleagues in kindergartens. The study validated a three-dimensional measurement of kindergarten teachers' emotion regulation in Hong Kong, namely cognition-focused regulation, (negative) emotion-focused regulation, and behaviour-focused regulation. Moreover, it identified four profiles of kindergarten teachers' emotion regulation strategy use with distinctive characteristics, and revealed some significant relationships between teachers' emotion regulation and self-efficacy as well as school contexts. The findings highlight the role of beneficial school climate in eliciting teachers' effective emotion regulation and thereby enhancing their self-efficacy.