Psychology Research and Behavior Management (Sep 2019)
Association between a teacher’s work passion and a student’s work passion: a moderated mediation model
Abstract
Faheem Gul Gilal,1 Nisar Ahmed Channa,1 Naeem Gul Gilal,2 Rukhsana Gul Gilal,1 Syed Mir Muhammad Shah1 1Department of Business Administration, Sukkur IBA University, Sukkur, Sindh, Pakistan; 2School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Faheem Gul GilalSukkur IBA University, Delhi Muslim Housing Society, Sukkur, Sindh, PakistanTel +923337113635Email [email protected]: Research in the education domain has noted the importance of work-based passion and has repeatedly highlighted how passion influences positive work outcomes. However, far too little attention has been given to investigating whether one’s passion can be transferred to others. Using two theoretical lenses – crossover theory (CT) and emotional contagion theory (ECT) – the present study intends to deepen our understanding by examining whether a teacher’s work passion can be transferred to a student.Methods: To address this knowledge gap, we recruited students and their subject teachers (n=226 teacher-student dyads) from the major business schools of Pakistan, based on the convenience sampling method, during the period from November to December 2018. An exploratory factor analysis was run to extract the dimension underlying each construct. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using AMOS 24.0 to assess the discriminant and convergent validity of the measurement model. The SPSS PROCESS macro was used to test the hypotheses using SPSS 24.0.Results: Consistent with the hypotheses, our results show that a teacher’s work passion can be transferred to a student’s work passion indirectly via emotional contagion. Our data further establish that the transference of a teacher’s work passion to a student’s work passion via emotional contagion is more significant when the teacher is educated at PhD level than when she/he is non-PhD educated.Conclusion: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study has been one of the first attempts to thoroughly examine work passion transference from teachers to students in the area of higher education and offers several managerial and theoretical implications alongside future opportunities for practitioners and research scholars.Keywords: work passion, emotional contagion, teacher’s education, moderated mediation model
