Financial stress, emotional labor and teacher outcomes in educational institutions: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Financial stress and emotional labor are interconnected occupational pressures among teaching faculty in educational institutions, yet their combined influence on teacher outcomes has rarely been examined within a unified conceptual framework. This systematic literature review investigates how financial stress shapes faculty emotional labor and explores emotional labor as a mediating mechanism linking financial stress to teacher turnover and performance. Following the PRISMA framework, a comprehensive multi-database search was conducted, yielding 47 peer reviewed articles selected for thematic synthesis after rigorous screening and eligibility assessment. Thematic analysis reveals that financial stress affects faculty emotional labor primarily through three pathways: psychological strain, effort and reward imbalance, and emotional dissonance. Financial inadequacy intensifies surface acting demands, depletes emotional resources, and accelerates burnout and erosion of teaching effectiveness. Faculty experiencing financial hardship who are simultaneously required to regulate and display contextually appropriate emotions face heightened emotional exhaustion, which in turn elevates turnover intention and diminishes performance. These findings carry significant implications for educational administrators and policymakers, highlighting the need for equitable compensation structures, institutional emotional support systems, and proactive faculty wellbeing initiatives. Future empirical research employing structural equation modelling is recommended to test and extend the proposed conceptual model.